The Restoration of Puffing Billy
End of the Line -
Closure of the Gembrook railway.
From the early 1930's, the Gembrook railway
earned a reputation for being a financial liability on the Victorian Railways.
The steep grades on the line limited the amount of goods that could be
transported and the change of gauge at Upper Ferntree Gully added extra expense
as goods had to be transhipped manually to broad gauge wagons. It was claimed
around 1930 that it cost more per train-mile to carry an average 60 tons per
trip than it did for the Melbourne - Sydney Express to carry 360 tons per
trip. A Victorian Railways bus service competed for passengers on its own
railway and trucks on improved roads competed for the goods. So it was in a
climate that the railway lost $26,000 for the financial year 1952/53 that
Puffing Billy's days were numbered.
 Interest
in saving Puffing Billy was latent with a number of local people, but it took
the closure of the line due to a landslide at the Water Tanks between Selby and
Menzies Creek in August 1953 and the subsequent decision to close the line on
April 28 1954 to crystallise a movement which became the Puffing Billy
Preservation Society.
Photo: The landslide that closed the line
in 1954
Puffing Billy's
'Farewell'
Early in November 1954 David Burke, a
journalist on the Melbourne newspaper 'The Sun', was looking for a topic for his
column in the 'Young Sun' , a children's page. A local railway enthusiast
suggested
to him that he write to the Victorian Railways and suggest one last trip on
Puffing Billy before the whole line was torn up. With the blessing of the
railway commissioners special trips from Upper Ferntree Gully to Belgrave were
organised for Saturday December 11, 1954 with tickets being made available to
'Young Sun' readers. On that day 30,000 people came to farewell the train and
2,500 had rides. The success of this day led to a second day being organised for
December 27. The continued success of these Farewell specials led to a number of
people thinking that something could be done to retain Puffing Billy for future
generations to enjoy.
Photo: A Young Sun Special at Belgrave on
one of the 'Farewell' Trips
The Puffing Billy
Preservation Society is Formed
At the end of 1954, the railways desired a
scheme to minimise their financial risks if the train was to run indefinitely.
Harold L. Hewitt, a teacher at Melbourne Grammar School, was the driving
force behind a small group of people who organised a rally attended by 400
people at Upper Ferntree Gully station on January 4, 1955 to try to save the
train. After further negotiation, the railways commissioners agreed to reopen
the line between Upper Ferntree Gully and Belgrave for a trial period of 3
months provided a sum of 1,750 pounds was put up as a guarantee against
operating losses. This was duly raised and the first run under the new agreement
took place on April 9, 1955. 10,000 passengers were carried on the first 2
months of the trial period.
Continued interest in operating the line
beyond the trial prompted
a meeting of interested parties on June 8, 1955 in the Independent Church Hall,
Melbourne. On this day the Puffing Billy Preservation Society was formed to
assist in the operation of the train. 45 members joined that night and Harold
Hewett was elected President. The success of the experiment led to an indefinite
extension of operations, with the PBPS assisting the VR in many ways to keep the
train running.
Closure and
Electrification to Belgrave
In September 1957, the VR announced that
Puffing Billy would cease operating between Upper Ferntree Gully and Belgrave
early in 1958 to enable conversion of this section into an extension of the
electrified suburban train system. The Puffing Billy Preservation Society,
having passed its first major test was now faced with operating the train from
Belgrave toward Gembrook. After the last train ran on Sunday February 23, 1958,
the PBPS steeled itself to build a new station at Belgrave and to bypass the
landslide that originally closed the line in 1954.
Puffing Billy is
Reopened and Extended
The landslide was bypassed in 1959 by the
Citizen Military Force as a training exercise, but everything else had to
operate on a
shoestring budget as all work had to be financed by the Society. Four years of
extremely hard work paid off when it was announced that the official re-opening
of the line between Belgrave and Menzies Creek would take place on Saturday July
28, 1962. Successful operation of this new section of railway culminated in the
100,000th passenger being carried only ten months from the reopening.
Three years later, on July 31, 1965, the
first train steamed into Emerald, marking the reopening of the Menzies
Creek-Emerald section. Again a pause, before the line was extended to
Lakeside on October 18, 1975. The line was finally completely
reopened to Gembrook on 18 October 1998. All this work would have been
impossible if it were not for the continuous input from many volunteers, both as
train staff, coordinators and track workers.
Photo: 7A on a heritage mixed train in the
90's (Craig Potter)
The Emerald Tourist
Railway Board is Established
 In
1977 the railway was operating successfully to the new terminus and the degree
of professionalism achieved by the Puffing Billy Preservation Society in running
the train was recognised by the State Government with the creation of the Emerald
Tourist Railway Board by Act of Parliament on 1 October 1977. On that day
the last narrow gauge train operated by the Victorian Railways ran, hauled by
12A and 14A, followed by the first ETRB train.
Photo: On Inauguration day, 1/10/77, 7A,
14A, 12A and 6A line up at Belgrave. (PBPS)
Development and
Consolidation
 Since
the formation of the ETRB, further development has occurred, making the railway
more attractive to its customers and easier to operate. In 1981 a new, level,
station area was provided at Belgrave. Locomotive 8A
was rescued from a park and restored to traffic in 1982. The Nobelius Packing
Shed, long an eyesore, was restored in 1983 to provide a much needed and
valuable dining facility. A 1920's style Belgrave station building with 1990's
accommodation for Board staff and a new large shop area was built in 1991. Four
NA locomotives were completely rebuilt by the Board by the early 1990's, the
most recent to be completed being 12A. Locomotive 6A is currently being rebuilt
meaning 5 of the 6 surviving NA locomotives will be in running condition. The
track was completely re-laid with modern sleeper plates providing a much
smoother ride with less wear and tear on the rolling stock. A special
locomotive, the Climax, was completely restored
by volunteers adding more variety to the Puffing Billy experience.
The railway is now a professionally run
organisation which shows great credit to the members,
volunteers and paid staff that operate it.
It is a major tourist attraction and is on the route of many worldwide tourist
organisations. Over five million passengers have now been carried.
What of the Future?
Many exciting developments in Puffing Billy's
restoration lie
ahead. The return of the train to its original terminus at Gembrook which
includes rebuilding four trestle bridges, is completed - the first through
train since 1953 ran on 17 October, 1998. The Garratt locomotive G42
which last ran at Colac in 1962 is now fully restored and commenced regular
running on Saturday 17th April 2004. More
locomotives with the restoration of 3A will
reduce the wear and tear on the existing fleet. New Puffing Billy travel
products have been developed and introduced, such as the "Luncheon
Special" and the 'Dinner
Special', to
augment the traditional excursion trains. The popular children's engine "Thomas"
the Tank Engine also makes appearances at Puffing Billy's Emerald
station.
Puffing Billy has an exciting future but must
guard against complacency. The best way to help us achieve this is to become a
Puffing Billy Member or Volunteer.
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