The railway station was where countless communities waved their last goodbyes to young men heading to the war, tens of thousands of soldiers never to return.
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From flag waving and patriotic songs at the time of departure to the sombre return of men without their friends years later, the Canberra Railway Museum will recreate life on the home front with a train ride to Bungendore on Sunday .
Museum manager Garry Reynolds said the Our Boys Train would leave a station with troopers drilling, band playing and recruitment officers spruiking as two soldiers departed for service on April 19, 1915.
"We're trying to create a snapshot in time and have got away from the original idea of telling it, now we're going to be living it and breathing it," he said.
After a short stopover in Queanbeyan where present-day mayor Tim Overall will pass on his farewells, the 1903 steam locomotive will pull its six World War I-era carriages to Bungendore, where time will move forward to the relief and grief of the end of the war in 1918.
Mr Reynolds said the museum had spent the last three months creating a country railway station feel, which would reflect the time when soldiers departed from Queanbeyan and surrounds to head to Sydney before the journey to the Middle East.
"I spent 20 years in a small country town in the central west of NSW and I see that spirit in Canberra sometimes, but it doesn't get the chance to come out often," he said.
From the food and drinks to the songs and language of the time, details for the six-hour event have been meticulously researched, including with help from The Australian Great War Association and The Australian Light Horse Association.
Mr Reynolds' own free e-book, the 330-page Land Fit for Heroes – the Bushman Anzacs, was prepared for the Department of Agriculture for the Anzac centenary and will be released this month.
Remaining tickets for the unique event, part of the ACT and Region Heritage Festival, can be bought at the railway museum at Geijera Place, Kingston, at 10am.
