Puffing Billy Railway

The original line was opened in 1900 with the intention of serving timber traffic out of Gembrook as well as local farming produce along the whole route of the line and to serve the Nobelius nursery & orchard. Holiday goers heading to Belgrave also became a massive draw card in the 1920s for passenger traffic. The railway was popular with locals living in the area throughout its operational history as public transport and services never ceased although they reduced with the end of world war 2 and dwindled in the early 1950s reduced to 1 train a week and a road motor service. Operations stopped in 1953 after a landslide blocked the line between Selby and Menzies Creek, and it was formally closed in 1954. with the Victorian Railways not deeming the endeavour financially viable to reopen as the railway had not made a single profit since its opening in 1900. Preservation west of Gembrook station Following closure, a few farewell specials operated on the remaining usable section to Belgrave, and these proved very popular. On 1 October 1955, the Puffing Billy Preservation Society was formed by Harold L. Hewett to keep the railway running indefinitely. The Society arranged for the Victorian Railways to run the train on weekends and holidays, with the Society guaranteeing the Government against losses from insufficient ticket sales. Society volunteers took the roles of conductors, selling and checking tickets on the train, and fund-raising. This arrangement continued until the Upper Ferntree Gully to Belgrave section was closed in 1958, when services again ceased for conversion to a broad-gauge, electrified suburban line. The Society immediately started work on restoring the Belgrave to Lakeside section. Rover Scouts attending the 7th World Rover Moot held at Wonga Park assisted in the clearing of the line between Belgrave and Menzies Creek as part of the event's community service component. On 28 July 1962 trains resumed running between Belgrave and Menzies Creek. When the line reopened, Society volunteers took a larger role, manning stations, selling and checking tickets, and doing non-safety-critical maintenance on the train, and track maintenance under the supervision of a qualified, recently retired Victorian Railways track repair expert. As with the weekend and holiday trains in the mid to late 1950s, ticket revenue went into an account on which the Railways drew to pay for their staff (primarily the drivers, firemen and guards) involved in running the line. Operations were extended over the remainder of the original line, opening to Emerald on 31 July 1965 and Lakeside on 18 October 1975 before reaching Gembrook, which was opened on 18 October 1998. The first trains to Gembrook carried children from the primary schools along the Belgrave–Gembrook corridor, two of which directly adjoin the railway and the remainder not more than a street away. The railway operates daily (except for Christmas day and adverse weather days) Its infrastructure is restored and recreated to reflect the heyday of the line between 1900 and 1930, and is operated with some of the railway practices from the Victorian Railways of that era, such as using the "Staff and Ticket" safeworking system. In the 2016/17 financial year, Puffing Billy carried 487,237 passengers, up more than 60,000 from the previous financial year. == Services and events ==

The railway runs daily (except Christmas day), with a timetable of between three and six services leaving Belgrave for Menzies Creek, Lakeside and/or Gembrook. As of 2025, tickets must be purchased in advance and cannot be purchased on the day. Passengers are required to check in an hour before scheduled departure, and may only travel in specific carriages and on return trips. As of February 2026, the timetable for Mondays to Thursdays inclusive has 10 am, 11 am, 12:30 pm and 2:15 pm departures from Belgrave to Lakeside, returning 1:20 pm, 3:10 pm, 4:10 pm and 5:10 pm respectively, plus a 10:35 am departure from Belgrave to Menzies Creek which returns at 11:55 am. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays trains are extended to Gembrook, so departures from Belgrave are 10 am Lakeside (return 1:20pm), 10:35 am Menzies Creek (return 12 pm), 11:10 am Lakeside and Gembrook (return 4:50pm, whether travelling to Lakeside or to Gembrook; passengers may also travel Lakeside-Gembrook return), 12:30 pm Lakeside (return 4:10 pm), and 2:15 pm Lakeside (return 5:30 pm). Special timetables apply for certain event days. The Lakeside trains give passengers one to two hours at Lakeside (depending on the specific trip), while the Menzies Creek train gives only half an hour there. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays the Gembrook train has a 1 hour 50 minute turnaround time, or passengers may choose to spend 2 hours 55 minutes at Lakeside. and occasional Dinner Train services, though no reference is made to these sorts of services on the Puffing Billy website as of February 2026. Similarly, the "Day out with Thomas" events, "Drive a Steam Train" and other themed events which were advertised as late as 12 January 2020 are now absent. ==Structure==

6A at Lakeside station When the Puffing Billy Preservation Society was formed in 1955, the line was still under the control and ownership of the Victorian Railways (V.R.). The society arranged for the V.R. to run the train on weekends and holidays, with the Society guaranteeing the V.R. against losses from insufficient ticket sales. Society volunteers took the role of conductors, checking tickets on the train, and fund-raising. That arrangement continued until the Upper Ferntree Gully to Belgrave section of the line was closed in 1958. When the line reopened in 1962, between Belgrave and Menzies Creek, society volunteers took a larger role, staffing stations, selling and checking tickets, doing non-safety-critical maintenance on the train, and track maintenance under the supervision of a V.R. ganger. Ticket revenue went into an account on which the V.R. drew to pay its staff involved in running the line. The V. R. was not in the preservation or tourism business, and the arrangement was less than ideal, so the Victorian Government passed the Emerald Tourist Railway Act 1977 (No. 9020), which set up the Emerald Tourist Railway Board (ETRB) as a statutory authority to take over ownership and operation of the railway from the V. R. after 1 October 1977. The act required that the Board have between five and ten members, four of whom were to be nominated by the Puffing Billy Preservation Society. The ETRB was defined as the operator of the Railway, with the Puffing Billy Preservation Society providing the volunteer support. All volunteers on the railway were directly engaged by the ETRB and were required to register and complete a range of induction processes. The railway still relied heavily on the volunteers, who welcome guests from all parts of the world and are highly trained to supply the safe and successful operation of the railway. There are many roles required to operate a heritage steam railway in compliance with modern obligastions. They include signalmen, guards, firemen, engine cleaners, drivers, track patrollers, fire patrollers, safeworkers, station-masters, conductors, booking clerks, refreshment staff, gardeners, maintenance workers, researchers, and administration. Staff also operate across management, finance, human relations (HR), Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S), child safety, workshops, way and works, and operational staff who support the volunteer roles. In 2022, the Emerald Tourist Railway Act 1977 was replaced by the Puffing Billy Railway Act 2022. That move was partly influenced by the recommendations in the 2018 report by the Victorian Ombudsman on the activities of child sex offender Robert Whitehead at the Puffing Billy Railway and other Victorian heritage railway organisations. The new act replaced the ETRB with the Puffing Billy Railway Board, the role of which was "to operate, manage and maintain the infrastructure and assets of the Puffing Billy Railway". Volunteer roles The Railway started with a majority volunteer workforce in the 1950s and 1960s, with only a handful of paid employees seconded from the Victorian Railways. Over time that balance has shifted. As of June 2025, the railway listed 461 total staff, of which there were 327 volunteers and 134 employees; the latter category accounting for 102 full-time-equivalent positions. By 2023 this had dropped to "over 300" volunteers,, although the latter number seems to refer to "active volunteers" rather than total numbers. As of early 2026 roles like Engine Cleaner and Passenger Guide were marked as unavailable, and others previously listed like Events Team Member and Workshop Team Member had been removed.. In 2023 there had been 332 volunteers, up from 297 in 2022. The 2020 annual report noted that volunteers were valued at for that year. Additionally, the 2025 annual report makes no mention of the Puffing Billy Preservation Society; the report of the previous year listed fifteen organisations, including the Preservation Society, the Volunteer Representative Group and the Youth Advisory Group as being represented on the Stakeholder Committee. == Controversy ==

In January 2025 an internal notice was put out forbidding any volunteers and employees from participating in Australia Day celebrations. The notice was leaked to the Herald Sun with an article on the issue published on the 24 January prior to Australia Day 2025. == 2018 Ombudsmans report on child safety & sexual abuse ==

In 2014, Robert Whitehead, a long-serving volunteer of various positions and roles on the railway most notably the Railways secretary was charged and convicted of dozens of child sexual offences between 1959 and 2015. He died while serving out his sentence in prison in 2015. Whitehead had been convicted and jailed in 1959 for molesting a boy scout, but he returned to his job at the Victorian Railways. He joined the Puffing Billy Railway as a volunteer in 1961 In 2018, the ombudsman's report on the case found that the board of the railway had known about Whitehead's activities and had actively protected him. The Victorian Ombudsman Report has made a number of changes and recommendations all of which have been met by the railway since. In 2022 a new Victorian Parliamentary Act was passed that reorganised the Emerald Tourist Railway Board into the Puffing Billy Railway Board. As a victorian state government entity with members appointed by the state government with no independent representation for volunteers The Act modernised the governance of the railway which was noted by the Ombudsman to have failed in regards to the protection from abuse by its high-ranking members. ==Locomotives and rolling stock==

Locomotives crossing the Monbulk trestle bridge The railway owns or controls all the surviving Victorian Railways narrow-gauge locomotives and has restored all but one to operating condition, although not all are running at any one time. This includes 2-6-2 NA class locomotives 3A (unrestored), 6A, 7A, 8A, 12A and 14A, and G class Garratt locomotive G42. Some of these were transferred from the Victorian Railways to the Emerald Tourist Railway Board in October 1977, others were purchased privately or by the Puffing Billy Preservation Society and have since found their way onto the Puffing Billy Railway. In December 2019 NG G16 Garratt locomotive 129 imported from South Africa entered service. It had been purchased in 1996, and was rebuilt and re-gauged for the Puffing Billy. It complements the operational capabilities of G42. The NA class locomotives are limited to pulling a maximum of 12 carriages, while the Garratts can haul up to 18. The railway has a number of smaller steam locomotives at museum at Menzies Creek, either on static display or in operating condition. These include a Peckett , two Decauvilles (one is a , and the other a ) all three originally from the West Melbourne Gasworks, and a Climax geared locomotive from the Tyers Valley Tramway. They occasionally operate special trains and formerly at events such as Thomas the Tank Engine days. The Climax engine has been restored for this purpose as it has a large driving cab and is unique in Australia. The railway operates three diesel locomotives which are used on days of total fire ban, plant or works trains, or when too few steam locomotives are available, including in emergencies. D21 is former Tasmanian Government Railways V class V12, while DH5 and DH59 are ex Queensland Railways DH class. All were regauged and rebuilt for the railway. Diesel Rail Tractor (NRT 1) is mainly used for shunting rolling stock at the carriage workshops. VR Original Other steam Carriages, goods vehicles and brake vans The mainstay of the carriage fleet are the 15 NBH open-sided carriages built specially for tourist traffic on the Gembrook line by the V.R. between 1918 and 1919, and a further 23 vehicles built to the same or similar designs in the preservation era. However, there are also a number of enclosed carriages, both saloon and compartment cars. In addition, four carriages were obtained from the Mount Lyell railway line in Tasmania after its closure in 1963, and regauged and reclassified for Puffing Billy use, numbered 1 to 4 NBL. They are named Mt Lyell, Rinadeena, Teepookana and Dubbil Barril respectively, reflecting their Tasmanian heritage. During the 1980s and 1990s they were all upgraded to first class carriages, recoded 1 to 4 NAL, and are now primarily used on the Luncheon train and Dinner trains. Several carriages have been temporarily converted to include a guard's compartment. A number of NQR low-sided goods trucks have also been modified for passenger use, making them similar to the NBH carriages. Another three NQR trucks have been fitted with seats but no roof and are only used during the summer peak season. Representatives of all classes of goods vehicles and brake vans (including combined brake van and passenger carriages) used on the narrow gauge lines of the Victorian Railways are to be found on the Puffing Billy line, and are used for works trains, storage, and occasional heritage trains recreating the look of trains in the 1920s. ==In popular culture==

Solo One was a TV police drama series produced by Crawford Productions that screened in 1976, filmed and set in Emerald, Victoria, about a local (fictional) policeman dealing with crime in the town, however it was aimed at a younger audience than most Australian TV police dramas. It featured Puffing Billy in the opening credits scene as well as being part of most story-lines. The ABC children's drama Come Midnight Monday was filmed in and around Belgrave, Emerald & Cockatoo and featuring Puffing Billy locomotive 12A—renamed "Wombat"—as the main character. Filming of A Country Practice in the fictional town of Wandin Valley (the towns of Wandin, Wandin North and Wandin East are however 30 km north of Emerald) was moved to Emerald when the show moved to Network 10, and occasionally featured Puffing Billy. The 1966 television special The Seekers at Home filmed a segment at Puffing Billy, where The Seekers sing "Morningtown Ride" to a group of children. Filming of Round the Twist was in and around Belgrave to Lakeside. In 1997, the soap opera Neighbours filmed scenes set on and around the train. The characters of Darren Stark and Libby Kennedy lost young Louise Carpenter and chased after the train en route to Belgrave on a motorbike to catch up with her after discovering she had boarded it. == Notes ==