A relic of British Columbia's historic BC Electric Railway Interurban line is back in the Lower Mainland following an absence of more than 50 years.

On Saturday, train enthusiasts got to see inside Car 1304 again after it was returned to Surrey on the back of a flatbed truck. Crews lifted the train piece by piece with heavy cranes and set it in a barn, where it is expected to be rebuilt.

"I was overwhelmed. I got a 60-year flashback, right to the West End of Vancouver, where I grew up,'' said one veteran train spotter.

Train 1304 ran between Chilliwack and Vancouver from 1912 to 1955 before it was retired in 1955 and sent to a museum in Oregon.

Once the century-old train - known as the Duke of Connaught car -- has been restored, the Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society hopes it will eventually ride the rails again.

Car 1304 was built in New Westminster in 1912 by the BC Electric Railway. It was outfitted by the Royal Livery to serve as a vehicle to transport the then Governor General and his family on a royal tour of B.C.'s Fraser Valley that year.

With a report by CTV British Columbia's Jon Woodward.