Harry Potter fans are in for a treat on October 27 when the Hogwarts Express steams through Oxfordshire.

The special Fantasy Express excursion from Birmingham will bring more than 400 fans to Oxford for a day out including a tour of Christ Church, where scenes from the Harry Potter films, The Philosopher's Stone, and The Chamber of Secrets -- due to be released next month -- were filmed.

More fans will board the train at Oxford at 12.15pm bound for the Great Western Society's Didcot Railway Centre where witches and wizards will be waiting to entertain the children, while the red steam engine No 5972 Hogwarts Castle takes on coal and water and is turned on the turntable.

The trip was due to run on September 29 but the special excursion using the actual train which appeared in the films was cancelled at short notice because of a faulty valve on the steam locomotive, which has been repaired.

Given the option of a refund or a chance to ride on the train which carried Harry Potter and his friends to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, most of those who booked for the September trip switched their bookings to Sunday. As well as the chance to get a close-up view of the Hogwarts Castle at the railway centre, there will be a display of owls, a magic show, a Harry Potter shop and Halloween entertainment.

Admission to the railway centre for anyone not travelling on the Hogwarts Express is £7.50 for adults or £6 for children.

The excursion organiser, Excellence Travel, of Cambridgeshire, is running another Harry Potter special to Oxford and Didcot on November 3.