R711 coupling to S313 at Southern Cross - Warrnambool Westcoaster

Steam locomotive R711 coupling to diesel loco S313 at Melbourne's Southern Cross station, before running Steamrail Victoria's 'Warrnambool Westcoaster' on October 12th, 2019. During the late 90's and early 00's, the Warrnambool line was privately operated by West Coast Railway. WCR used R711 on revenue passenger services every Saturday, and made numerous modifications to modernise the locomotive. Since returning to service with Steamrail many of the mods have been removed, however one interesting feature to be retained is the diesel control stand, allowing 711's driver to control a diesel via multiple unit. In WCR service the R class usually ran with either an S or B class diesel as second unit, so this scene is very reminiscent of that era.