September Newsrail, another big 40-page edition, has a major feature article from the renowned author Nick Anchen, and news about the laying of new track through Tarrawarra Tunnel on the Yarra Valley Railway (YVR), part of a wider project to reconstruct the line through to Yarra Glen.

Our main feature, by Nick Anchen, is a must-read for anyone interested in the final days of steam of the Victorian mainline. Nick presents the stories of the late Brian Brooke, a well-known steam locomotive driver who later went on to become the Mayor of the City of Horsham. Brian’s stories from his time at the Horsham locomotive depot from 1958 to 1970 trace both his promotion from locomotive cleaner to locomotive driver, but also follow the gradual decline of steam during this period. That much said, the western district of Victoria was the last stronghold of steam in the late 1960s, and the superb photographs that accompany this article capture R, J, K and N Class steam locomotives in regular freight and passenger service.

Our news report from the YVR traces the history of the tunnel and some of its notable construction features, as well as details of the current reconstruction project. The photographs provide some fascinating illustrations of how the tunnel was originally constructed. Victoria has relatively few railway tunnels, so this story is a rare opportunity to get to see how they were built and how they’re maintained.

Our other regular sections are there:

• News and announcements
• General works
• Operations and sightings
• Tramways
• PTV service quality
• Where is it?
• Taildisc

August Newsrail is high on nostalgia, with an extended feature on rail operations at Hamilton in the 1960s, suburban goods trains on Royal Park Bank in the 1970s, and accounts of driving and firing X and S Class steam locomotives.

Our cover features a striking photo, by Braiden Beer, of N451 hauling the first passenger train to visit Mildura in several years.
David Watson has already entertained Newsrail readers with his wonderfully dry sense of humour as he remembers various moments from his long career on Victoria’s railways. This time he revisits Hamilton and remembers many events, ranging from an elephant attempting to escape Wirth’s circus train, R719 quietly driving itself into the turntable pit, and sheep being unloaded on the passenger platform. David was a keen photographer during this time, and shares some superb images in the article.

We have a second short feature by driver Chris Wurr, who shares some great photographs and memories from his time as fireman on the Fitzroy Goods and Coburg Goods during the 1970s.

Nick Anchen presents two further stories from railwaymen of old: Ron Snell recounts the day when, as a fireman he found himself driving AND firing an X Class on a goods train from North Melbourne to Spotswood, and Eric Holmes recounts a literal baptism of fire when he was suddenly called on to fire an S Class Pacific on the Spirit of Progress, having only ever fired on one around the the reversing loop and coal sidings at North Melbourne.

Our other regular sections are there:

• News and announcements
• General works
• Operations and sightings
• Tramways
• PTV service quality
• Where is it?
• Taildisc

This month’s 40-page edition is packed with great content, starting with our wrap-around cover photo taken by Benjamin Boehle-Mitchell, capturing C501 and N451 returning to Benalla with the first locomotive-hauled passenger train to Yarrawonga in many years.

Author Jeff O’Meara has written a wonderful personal history of journeys by rail from Wonthaggi to the lonely wayside station Joyce’s Creek, the site of which today sits beneath the waters of the Cairn Curran Reservoir, along the Castlemaine to Maryborough line. It is a delight to read.

Locomotive driver and Victorian Railways historian Trevor Penn has produced another of his wonderful essays for our Photos in focus column. This month, Trevor applies his expert knowledge to interpret a series of VR photographs detailing the workings of the Melbourne Goods Yard in the 1920s, including a stunning aerial image which forms our centre pages.

In late May, we were saddened by the passing of former VR driver, long-time Newsrail contributor and Public Records Office Victoria doyen Des Jowett. Des was a veritable font of knowledge who assisted an untold number of authors and researchers in producing articles and essays on Victorian rail history. We present a tribute that also includes a selection of Des’ own photographs; photography being another of his many talents.

Steamrail Victoria’s exciting plans for an expanded presence in Ballarat feature in our Tourist and Heritage Rail column this month. Noah Clancey tells us about the huge success of recent tours and shuttles operating into Ballarat, and the work that Steamrail’s eager Ballarat-based volunteers have been doing to establish the Ballarat East depot as a staging point for tours to places like Wycheproof.

Our other regular sections are there:

• News and announcements
• General works
• Operations and sightings
• Tramways
• PTV service quality
• Where is it?
• Taildisc

June Newsrail celebrates R Class locomotives, starting with a superb photograph, courtesy Matt Oaten, of R761 returning from Ballarat at sunset on the occasion of its first run since being repainted over summer. And doesn’t that paintwork look brilliant in the setting sun!

In our June 2021 edition, we had a major feature on the 1951 R Class. Now, three years on, we have another R Class feature article, but it’s not about the famous Hudsons! Phil Dunn concludes his special series of articles on the VR “standard” designs of Edward Jeffreys with a history of the New R Class of 1889. Despite sharing many common components with the other standard classes, the highly successful New A, D, E and Y Class locomotives, the New R initially had a poor reputation due to what the Locomotive Branch Inquiry Board described as “the injurious effect of this engine upon lines of not specially heavy construction”.

Our other feature article is by Norman Houghton, and follows on from Chris Banger’s recent article on the Ballarat Cattle Yards/Redan Line. Norman recalls his own experiences working in the Ballarat Goods Shed in the early 1970s, and stories of colleagues and relatives who also worked on the Redan Line in the 1960s, giving a detailed view of typical workings on the line at that time.

Our Tourist and heritage rail column this month visits the Bellarine Railway, where former WAGR Steam Crane No. 30 has been returned to operating condition. Michael Menzies provides a report on the project.
Our other regular sections are there:

• News and announcements
• General works
• Operations and sightings
• Tramways
• PTV service quality
• Where is it?
• Taildisc

A striking photograph of diesel-electric locomotive A62, now beautifully restored to its original 1984 V/Line livery, introduces the subject of this month’s Tourist and Heritage Rail column. Newsrail spoke to Tom Anderson at heritage group Seven-O-Seven Operations, who gave us the run-down on this exciting project.

Two very interesting feature articles are included this month. One is the second article written for Newsrail by the rail industry veteran (and lifelong railfan) David Parsons, who photographed and jotted down sightings of trains on the East Kew Line in its final days of operation in 1943.

Greg Michael has also written a feature on the the rail crossing at Inkerman Street, the site of one of Melbourne’s earliest level crossing removal projects, all the way back in 1893!

We also have another installment of our semi-regular Photo in focus series, this time featuring a scene of Swing Door (a.k.a. dog box) trains sitting in the Jolimont yards in 1925, with the city skyline forming the backdrop.

Our News section covers the 500,000 tonne increase in grain carried by rail during the current season, despite the poor condition of some key routes, as well as the construction commencement of the next batch of 23 VLocity sets (which will bring the total to 141) and progress on the testing of the Metro Tunnel ahead of its scheduled 2025 opening.

Our other regular sections are there:

• General works
• Operations and sightings
• Tramways
• PTV service quality
• Where is it?
• Taildisc

Buy an individual print copy of April 2024 Newsrail here

April Newsrail is yet another big 40-page edition, boasting three feature articles as well as all our regular columns.

A beautiful evening photograph (courtesy Matt Oaten) of Y112 steaming through the appropriately-named Lovely Banks towards Ballarat introduces our main feature article, a history of the class penned by Phil Dunn. This article is the latest in the series that Phil has written on the highly-successful “standard” locomotive designs of the 1880s prepared by Edward Jeffreys.

Features Editor Mark Cauchi presents two shorter articles he has written and researched. Once concerns a terrible level crossing accident that occurred in 1940 when a truck carrying petroleum collided with a suburban train. On a much lighter note, Mark explores the earliest railfan-chartered trains, retracing a Cup Day 1938 outing by the Victorian Model Railway Society that is, as far as we know, the first.

Enthusiast specials are also the subject of our Tourist and Heritage Rail column for this month, with Peter Donald tracing the early history of the Vintage Train, an enthusiast special that gradually led to the establishment of Steamrail. (Peter even tells how the name came about!)

Our News section covers the commencement of X’Trapolis 2.0 construction in Ballarat while at Newport, things are winding down following the completion of the last of the 70 HCMT sets. We also look at a near miss that took place on the Belgrave Line, the future of sleeping cars on the Melbourne to Sydney Route, the design of the new Melton Station, and more.

Our other regular sections are there:

• General works
• Operations and sightings
• Tramways
• PTV service quality
• Where is it?
• Taildisc

Buy an individual print copy of March 2024 Newsrail here

March Newsrail is another big 40-page edition, packed with great content.

Our superb cover photo (by John Kirk, courtesy Journey Beyond) and lead news story concerns the special arrangements that Metro, V/Line, Yarra Trams and Journey Beyond made to ensure that 288,000 “Swifties” (Taylor Swift fans) were efficiently transported to and from the MCG to attend the three concerts of the pop megastar.

Chris Banger has produced another of his definitive railway history articles, being a feature on the Ballarat Cattle Yards/Redan Line. Beginning as a short siding to serve a mine just west of Ballarat, the line was repeatedly extended with further sidings branching off to various industries and saw an interesting variety of motive power and freight traffic over the decades. Beautifully illustrated with photographs of rail operations dating back to the 1940s, Chris’ article includes statistics, timetables, and even details of special passenger trains that ventured along the line over the years.

While we were putting this edition together, we received the sad news that Geoff Oliver has passed away. After a long career in technical and engineering roles with Victorian Railways and V/Line, Geoff retired in 1999 to pursue his two passions: volunteering with Steamrail Victoria on projects such as the restoration of A2 986, and railway photography, with Geoff providing many beautiful images to Newsrail over the years. In its recent newsletter Steamrail published a wonderful tribute to Geoff, and now we at Newsrail present our own tribute with a collection of some of our favourite photographs from Geoff’s collection.

Our Tourist and Heritage Rail article this month looks at the efforts of the Friends of the Goulburn Valley Rail Trail to honour the history of the route of the former Mansfield Line through the installation of station nameboards at former station sites along the route. The nameboards are an authentic recreation of the white-on-black VR originals.

Our other regular sections are there:

• General works
• Operations and sightings
• Tramways
• PTV service quality
• Where is it?
• Taildisc

Buy an individual print copy of February 2024 Newsrail here

Our February edition has an exciting mix of present-day and historic articles.

This month’s cover photo, by Matt Oaten, leads into a report for our Tourist and Heritage Rail column from Steamrail Victoria’s Noah Clancey. 2024 marks 50 years of restoration of heritage rolling stock for main line use, and Steamrail will have much of the product of these efforts on display at next month’s Newport Workshops Open Days event.

Our main feature article is another magnificent article about the travels of legendary railfan Charles Gavan Duffy. In 1897, aged just 10, Gavan Duffy and his younger brother went on an expedition, walking along the entire length of the closed (but only partially dismantled) Outer Circle Railway. Gavan Duffy retraced his steps in 1924, and noted many changes. The article is superbly illustrated with photographs from many and varied sources.

Our occasional Photo in focus column makes a return this month, and it’s an absolute cracker! Taking our centre pages, a photo of Spencer Street Station, circa 1900, has a wealth of fascinating detail that Trevor Penn interprets for the reader.

We also have a second feature article courtesy of Nick Anchen, who is well-known for the wonderful tales and anecdotes he has compiled into books and articles over the years. This month, Nick presents the story of fireman Ron George, who tells of a particularly difficult day at the office when running the morning Up Lancefield passenger service.

Our News section has a number of stories, including the completion of Arden Station, details of Victoria’s record grain harvest and the arrangements made for rail freight, and Alstom’s success in securing the V/Line maintenance contract for the next decade.

Our other regular sections are there:

• General works
• Operations and sightings
• Tramways
• PTV service quality
• Where is it?
• Taildisc

Buy an individual print copy of January 2024 Newsrail here

For January, we have yet another big 40-page edition jam-packed with great reading.

This month’s cover photo, by Scott Gould, introduces our first feature, which marks the end of locomotive-hauled services to Bacchus Marsh. Mark Cauchi has put together an article, and Mark and Scott have both provided some great photos.

Our main feature article is a large-scale photo essay and memoir by Andrew Blair, John Thompson and John Hearsch on the rail tours of the late Tom Murray. Tom, as a schoolboy during the 1950s, reformed the Scotch College model railway club into a railfan organisation that arranged tours to various far-flung parts of the VR network, and he became widely known as “Tom Train”. Many of the locations visited by Tom’s tours can no longer be reached by rail, indeed, Andrew Blair’s photos of the Cudgewa Line tour record locations such as Old Tallangatta which today lie beneath the waters of Lake Hume. Each of the authors has provided photos from their own collection, and there are some absolutely stunning images in the collection!

Our Tourist and heritage rail column continues to check in on interesting restoration projects currently underway. This month we’re back to Bellarine Railway for an update on the restoration of the Australian Standard Garratt locomotive and Car 19. The Bellarine Railway workshop will open to the public on the weekend of 6 and 7 February 2024.

Our other regular sections are there:

• General works
• Operations and sightings
• Tramways
• PTV service quality
• Where is it?
• Taildisc