Junee will have a rare visit from a set of historic and diesel trains next weeks.
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Performing a six-day loop journey from Melbourne to Sydney, various heritage trains will make several stops throughout the Riverina.
Beginning in the early hours of next Thursday, a 1966-built diesel locomotive 42103 will haul carriages from Sydney Central through the Southern Highlands.
At Goulburn, a switch to the 1952-era steam locomotive 5917 will be made. This kind of model has not been seen on tracks in two years.
Built in America during the aftermath of the Second World War, the goods locomotive was the 17th of 20 in her class.
"She was used to pull heavy loads, so she's big and black, and not as pretty as the other passenger carriages," said volunteer driver Simone de Beuzeville.
Before her restoration, the steam train was saved from the scrap heap and put back into use.
Capable of carting eight tonnes of coal, it is a far cry from Ms de Beuzeville's day-job on-board larger trains carrying up to 12,000 tonnes.
The 5917 will arrive in Junee at 2:03pm on Thursday May 30.
The Hunter Valley based Ms de Beuzeville has been piloting historic and current steam and diesel trains for 20 years.
"I actually grew up at the foot of the Zig Zag Railway in Lithgow," she said.
"Basically ever since I could walk, I'd be going over there and asking the drivers, 'can I have a ride'?"
When, in 2000, she received her train licence, she became the first female in the state, and possibly in the nation, to be hailed as a professional driver.
"It is a job that you need to be physically fit for," Ms de Beuzeville said.
"It's intense work, but it's a lovely time. I get to meet a lot of great people, and share my passion for steam trains with the kids - or as I call them, the future drivers. I love it when they come up and say to their parents 'I want to drive that!'"
The 5917 train will stay overnight in Junee between May 30 and 31, and Ms de Beuzeville hopes the train's enthusiasts will join her and the other drivers for a chat.
Up to 150 passengers will change to a 42103 diesel locomotive for the next leg through Wagga and Albury.
The Spirit of Progress will depart from Albury the following morning, en route to Melbourne.
The 'Great Southern Loop' will include Junee, Yass, Cootamundra, Wagga and Albury on its way through NSW.
On the return, the journey will meander through Echuca in a steam locomotive R711, built in 1952.
It will stop in Deniliquin and be the first time this route has been taken in a R711 in 17 years.
A diesel 42103 will journey through Griffith and Narrandera before once again arriving in Junee by 9:57am on Monday June 3.
Departing Junee at 11:30am, a steam train 5917 will travel via the heritage listed Bethungra Spiral to Cootamunda and Parkes.
The final leg of the journey will be made on Tuesday, when a steam train 5917 travels from Parkes to Orange and on through Bathurst to Lithgow.
A diesel locomotive 42103 will then make the final journey from Lithgow, through Katoomba and arriving back in Sydney by 8.37pm on Tuesday.
This will be the third historic travel tour run by company Cruise Express.
"As life speeds up, more of us want to slow down and return to simpler, more graceful times and these beautiful old trains offer us an opportunity to step back in time for a few days," said managing director Meg Hill.
"Even if people see and hear these great old trains thunder past their train, they can experience a little of that nostalgia and charm."
