RAILNUTTERNEWS
THE PUFFING BILLY RAILWAY

Puffing Billy, mountain Steam

ALL ABOARD for Issue 7 of RailNutterNews. In this issue we continue the Railways of Australia featuring The Puffing Billy Railway (Steam) near Melbourne.


Puffing Billy
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If you are in Melbourne Australia, this is an absolute must day outing, not to be missed. There are some who might dismiss Puffing Billy as a contrived entertainment for kids. Hardly. Puffing Billy is a fully operational narrow gauge steam railway that is more fun than all the other railways put together. It is possible to spend an entire day riding the rails from Belgrave all the way through the mountains to Gembrook and back. There are parks and museums along the way, night rides and other special events. If you are a rail photography enthusiast, plan to bring along lots of film and then double that amount.

Trestle Pictures
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The passage up into the mountains, the vistas, the chuffing and smoke of the engine, the scent of the trees and the wind in your hair, the clacking of steel wheels on the tracks –all these things are only half of what makes a ride on Puffing Billy the most memorable train ride you will ever experience. The other half seems to be the story behind the existence of this railway; that is, it is about the people who run it. What if there were a railway run entirely by rail fans? This is what one has in Puffing Billy. Everyone from the engineers to the clerks to the executives have that glowing smile and look in their eyes that says, “I can’t believe they are paying me to have this much fun.” In fact, the railway has a large contingent of volunteers. It really makes all the difference; everyone goes out of their way to share their enthusiasm with you. There was the white-haired gentleman in a rather tattered Guard uniform to whom I mentioned that I create the obscure RailNutterNews web ‘zine. He immediately invited me to ride in the guard car with him, although I have no doubt that any expression of being a rail fan would have gotten me the same kindness and thrill. He turned out be one of the top executives of the company who had opted to fill in for the guard who was unable to work that day. He muttered about paperwork that was not getting done; but I could see that he was doing the thing he would more rather be doing than anything else –riding the rails. He took the trouble to point out every upcoming gorge traverse, curve, and trestle so that I could lean out the windows to take yet more pictures.

Water Tower


Inside the Engine
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On Puffing Billy one can do a lot more than lean out the window. Most of the cars are open sided and made so that children and even adults can sit on the specially made open window sills, with their legs dangling outside and their arms and heads leaning out above the safety bars. I do not work for this railroad but I would be willing to pay to do so. A number of people on the railway, in fact, are highly educated and skilled in advanced fields, but work there for the pleasure of living life as their hearts dictate. One of the engineers operating the steam locomotive, who was kind enough to let me ride in the engine during switching, is actually an aircraft engineer.

Engineers
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Getting there by train: From the centre of Melbourne take the Belgrave line of the Met to the Belgrave Station. There is a direct walkway from the head of the Belgrave Station platform to the Puffing Billy station.


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Full details about the Puffing Billy Railway can be seen at their website: http://www.pbr.org.au



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