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The Bellarine Railway, formerly know as the Bellarine Peninsula Railway, is a volunteer-operated steam-driven tourist railway located in Victoria, Australia. It operates on a 16 km section of a formerly disused branch line on the Bellarine Peninsula between the coastal town of Queenscliff and Drysdale, near Geelong.

History[]

The original line was commissioned in September 1878, and opened on 21 May 1879. It connected Queenscliff with South Geelong station, the terminus of the Geelong line, and the junction of the Warrnambool line. It was acknowledged at the time that although passenger traffic alone might not justify a railway line, military traffic from both the port and Fort Queenscliff—a key defence installation—would warrant its construction. It initially carried passenger, goods and military traffic, and continued to do so for several decades.

In the first few months of operation, it carried only one service per day, but at its peak, in January 1885, four trains per day ran in each direction, enabling the line to be used by commuters. However, this was decreased to three, and was cut back to two trains a day in 1910. Traffic on the line continued to fall over the next twenty years, and in 1931, passenger services were dropped completely—apart from the occasional Sunday excursion train. Freight services continued to run, although they were cut to back at first to twice-weekly, and then weekly operation.

The railway currently operates a Heritage Train Service between Queenscliff and Drysdale, along the southern shoreline of Swan Bay and through grazing land, with an intermediate stop at Laker's Siding.

The heritage service is available on Sundays, most public holidays, as well as Tuesdays and Thursdays during the Easter, June and September school holidays. During the summer school holidays, trains run every day from Boxing Day until the end of the first week in January, then every day until the Australia Day weekend, except for Mondays and Fridays. The Heritage Service does not run on Day Out With Thomas and Queenscliff Music Festival weekends.

Carriage hire is available as part of the Heritage Service and suitable for children's parties or groups looking for the benefits of private train hire without the added cost.

Locomotive Roaster[]

Number Images Heritage Type Builder Built Status Notes
V8 TasmanianGovernmentRailwayV8 Tasmanian Government Railways TGR V Class Drewry Car Company 1948 Operational It operated used by AN Tasrail until 1987.
G33 AustralianStandardGarratt33 Australian Standard Garratt Islington Railway Workshops 1945 Under Restoration
1604
Train18
Queensland Railways RSE92C English Electric 1962 Operational It operated by Queensland Rail until 1991.
T251 Maxresdefault-11 South Australian Railway 4-8-0 Walkers 1917 Operational
4
640px-Bellarine-peninsula-railway-no4-steam-loco
0-6-0ST Vulcan Iron Works 1916 Stored
X20
Ausx20
TGR X Class English Electric 1950 Operational
Klondyke
Maxresdefaulttrain
0-4-2T Perry Engineering 1927 Operational
Pozières
13
0-6-0T Andrew Barclay Sons & Co. 1918 Operational
V1209
Queenscliff-railway
WAGR V class Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns 1955 Stored
1107
AVhg9sGuHXaEjUh5xw6QN7CmAoq5CCHA1-6UW75Lc3k
EBR 11 class Walkers Limited 1971 Operational
VA1
E108 3813 595
Tasmanian Government Railways TGR V Class Drewry Car Company 1947 Under Restoration
M6
BellarineRailwayM6
Tasmanian Government Railways 4-6-2 Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns 1951 Stored Dismantled
S547
Train10
WAGR 1947 Stored Dismantled

Trivia[]

  • The line saw a revival during World War II, carrying mines from the Swan Island military base, but returned to pre-war levels afterwards. After the war, services became less frequent, with passenger services dropped altogether, apart from occasional special trains, and with goods services cut back to one a fortnight. The line was closed on 6 November 1976.
  • The line is recognised as the oldest Victorian branch line still in operation.
  • During 1976 and 1977, the Society engaged in fundraising efforts and began regauging a short section of track around Queenscliff station, in order to enable its rolling stock to operate on the line. With the help of some government funding, it succeeded in operating its first services from Queenscliff to Laker's Siding in May 1979, and to Drysdale not long after.
  • The transportation of the locomotive took place on 31 May 2013, with the Bellarine Railway hoping to restore it to active service.
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