Puffing Billy Railway, Melbourne
Encyclopedia : P : PU : PUF : Puffing Billy Railway, Melbourne
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| Puffing Billy Railway | ||||||||||||||||
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Puffing Billy is a 2' 6" (762 mm) narrow gauge heritage steam railway in the Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne, Australia.
General
The line was opened in 1900 to serve the local farming and timber community. It originally ran from Upper Ferntree Gully station (now a suburban station on the broad gauge Belgrave line); it now begins at the Belgrave narrow gauge station, adjacent to the Belgrave broad gauge station.
The original line ran from Upper Ferntree Gully (where the suburban network ended) through the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges to Gembrook. It was one of four experimental narrow gauge (2'6") railways built by the Victorian Government: Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook; Wangaratta to Whitfield; Moe to Walhalla; and Colac to Beech Forest, which was later extended to Crowes. Each line was built under the premise that smaller and narrower trains would more efficiently open up rough mountainous plains than the larger broad gauge (5'3") trains. Unfortunately this expectation was not met and each line was eventually closed. The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook train, known to the locals as 'Puffing Billy', was the last to close in 1954 when a landslide closed the line between Selby and Menzies Creek. Today the former line between Upper Ferntree Gully and Belgrave is serviced by Connex suburban trains, while the line beyond Belgrave still operates today and every day (except Christmas Day).
Preservation
The Victorian Railways closed the line in April 1954 after a landslide blocked the line the previous year. Shortly after, the Puffing Billy Preservation Society was formed and restored services over the remaining usable section, Upper Ferntree Gully to Belgrave. This continued for four years until the line was closed for conversion to a broad-gauge, electrified suburban line. The society then started work on restoring the Belgrave to Lakeside section, and in 1962, restored trains operations between Belgrave and Menzies Creek.
Subsequently operations were gradually extended over the remainder of the original line to Emerald and then Lakeside in the 1970s before reaching Gembrook, which was completed in 1998, and reopened on October 19 of that year. Today the railway operates daily (except for Christmas day) as a popular tourist activity over 24km with original steam engines, and is operated by a band of dedicated volunteers which still perform some of the practices of a railway person from the Victorian Railways 1900 to 1930 era, such as using the "Staff and Ticket" safeworking method and having conductors on board the trains.
List of stations
Only stations that are listed in bold print are stopped at by regular Puffing Billy services.
- Belgrave (Puffing Billy station), adjacent to the Belgrave suburban station
- Selby
- Menzies Creek
- Clematis
- Emerald
- Nobelius Siding
- Nobelius
- Lakeside
- Wright
- Cockatoo
- Fielder
- Gembrook
External links
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