Our May 2025 edition is a delight for fans of steam, with two features that present a magnificent collection of photos of VR steam on the main line.

Our cover features a striking image of an X Class locomotive taken by none other than the late great John Buckland. The photo introduces our feature article, an analysis by Max Michell of the events of 31 March 1943, when at the height of World War 2 the North East Line handled 94 freight and passenger trains in a single day, a record unlikely to be eclipsed any time soon. Max takes a look at the infrastructure, rolling stock, motive power and safeworking arrangements that enabled such an extraordinary throughput of freight and passengers in a single 24-hour period. The article is illustrated with a superb collection of photographs from the collections of Newport Railway Museum, John Thompson, Brian Goodwin, and others.

23 May 2025 marks exactly 100 years since the first of the N Class ‘Mikado’ locomotives went into service. We mark this anniversary with a concise article an a beautiful collection of photographs of N Class locomotives over the ensuring four decades, some (if not most) of which we believe have not previously been published.

Our News section leads with details of the recently released ATSB report into the 2020 derailment of a freight train on the North East line, an incident that saw one of the derailed vehicles strike an oncoming V/Line passenger service on the opposite track. We also note the Victorian rail commitments from each of the party leaders on the eve of the federalelection, with Melbourne Airport Rail being the winner.

And our usual other columns are there: