With the privatisation of regional passenger operations in Victoria in the mid-1990s, two R class locomotives were brought back into normal revenue service by the West Coast Railway, for regularly scheduled mainline passenger trains between Melbourne and Warrnambool. The locomotives underwent a number of modifications to allow for reliable high speed operation, including dual Lempor exhausts, oil firing and the addition of a diesel control stand for multiple unit operation. The use of these R class locomotives on the Warrnambool line did not continue after the demise of the private operator in 2004.