The Puffing Billy Railway is a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge heritage railway in the southern foothills of the Dandenong Ranges in Melbourne, Australia. The railway was one of the five narrow gauge lines of the Victorian Railways which opened around the beginning of the 20th century. It is close to the city of Melbourne and is one of the most popular steam heritage railways in the world, attracting tourists from Australia and overseas. The railway aims to preserve and restore the line as near as possible to how it was in the first three decades of its existence, but with particular emphasis on the early 1920s.
Emerald is a town in the Greater Melbourne area of Victoria, Australia, 44 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shires of Cardinia and Yarra Ranges local government areas. Emerald recorded a population of 5,890 at the 2021 census.
Belgrave is a town and outer suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 36 km east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Belgrave recorded a population of 3,894 at the 2021 census.
Selby is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 37 km east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Selby recorded a population of 1,626 at the 2021 census.
Upper Ferntree Gully railway station is located on the Belgrave line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the eastern Melbourne suburb of Upper Ferntree Gully, and opened on 4 December 1889.
Tecoma railway station is located on the Belgrave line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the eastern Melbourne suburb of Tecoma, and opened on 1 February 1924.
Belgrave railway station is the terminus of the suburban electrified Belgrave line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the eastern Melbourne suburb of Belgrave, and opened on 18 December 1900 as Monbulk. It was renamed Belgrave on 21 November 1904.
The Belgrave railway line is a commuter rail line operating between Flinders Street in the Melbourne central business district and Belgrave through Melbourne's eastern suburbs including Richmond, Cremorne, Burnley, Hawthorn, Hawthorn East, Camberwell, Canterbury, Surrey Hills, Mont Albert, Box Hill, Blackburn, Nunawading, Mitcham, Ringwood, Heathmont, Bayswater, Boronia, Ferntree Gully, Upper Ferntree Gully, Upwey, Tecoma and Belgrave. It is part of the Melbourne rail network, which is operated by Metro Trains Melbourne.
Rail transport in Victoria, Australia, is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government-owned railway lines. The network consists of 2,357 km of Victorian broad gauge lines, and 1,912 km of standard gauge freight and interstate lines; the latter increasing with gauge conversion of the former. Historically, a few experimental 762 mm gauge lines were built, along with various private logging, mining and industrial railways. The rail network radiates from the state capital, Melbourne, with main interstate links to Sydney and to Adelaide, as well as major lines running to regional centres, upgraded as part of the Regional Fast Rail project.
The Walhalla Goldfields Railway is a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge tourist railway located in the Thomson River and Stringers Creek valleys in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, near the former gold-mining town and tourist destination of Walhalla.
Gembrook is a town in Victoria, Australia, 54 kilometres (34 mi) south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Cardinia local government area. Gembrook recorded a population of 2,559 at the 2021 census.
The former Victorian Railways, the state railway authority in Victoria, Australia, built a number of experimental 2 ft 6 in narrow-gauge lines around the beginning of the 20th century. Although all were closed by the early 1960s, parts of two have been reopened as heritage railways.
Rail transport in Australia involves a number of narrow-gauge railways. In some states they formed the core statewide network, but in the others they were either a few government branch lines, or privately owned and operated branch lines, often for mining, logging or industrial use.
The Victorian Railways G class is a class of steam locomotives built for the Victorian Railways 2 ft 6 in gauge branch lines by Beyer, Peacock & Company. They were introduced in 1926 to increase train sizes, eliminate the practice of double heading NA locomotives and reduce losses on these lines. Their tractive effort was comparable to the most powerful branch line locomotives on the Victorian Railways 5 ft 3 in, the K class.
The Victorian Railways NA class is a 2-6-2 tank locomotive built for their four 2 ft 6 in gauge branch lines.
Unlike the broad-gauge, the Victorian Railways' 2 ft 6 in narrow-gauge network never had four-wheeled trucks. Instead, a single design of 249 underframes was constructed, with identical structure, bogies, couplers and brake equipment. Different bodies were provided on these frames for each purpose. The most common, by far, was the convertible flat/open truck, followed by cattle, louvred, insulated and boxcar types.
This article outlines the history and types of passenger rolling stock and guards vans on the narrow-gauge lines of the Victorian Railways in Australia. The types were constructed in parallel with very similar designs.
