Our March edition is another one with an interesting variety of topics, both historic and current!

1 March 2025 marked 25 years since the Freight Australia brand came into being, and we thought we’d mark the occasion by featuring one of the locomotives still wearing that branding 25 years alter (albeit in a slightly modified form): S301. Photographer Benjamin Boehle-Mitchell snapped our cover photo was the veteran bulldog streamliner lead a Steamrail Victoria tour to Dunolly recently.

Phil Dunn, who recently authored a collection of articles about the Victorian Railways “standard” locomotive designs by Edward Jeffreys, has now turned his attention to another example of state-of-the-art engineering on the 19th Century Victorian Railways: the Dudley Dynagraph. Way back in 1878, Victorian Railways took delivery of precision machinery to record the drawbar pull of locomotives and rolling resistances of various types of carriages over different railway lines, a forerunner of the Victorian and South Australian Railways Joint Stock Dynamometer Car.

Norman Houghton presents another of his fascinating histories of less-well-known railway lines of Victoria, and this month it’s the Warrnambool Pier Line. Norman describes the history of the line, the fortunes of which rose and fell with the port, which at one point was one of the busiest in Victoria. Norman also investigates the various industrial sidings running off the line, servicing a range of local industries, including the concrete casting plant used to create the blocks that today form the breakwater.

Our Photo in focus column has attracted much attention, as one of our panel of experts dissects all the detail in a historic VR photo. This month we take a look at Williamstown Station in the year 1961, and what a very different station it was back then.

We also have a delightful couple of shorter stories from old VR railwaymen, as edited by Nick Anchen. This time it’s a story about an oily J at Warburton, an a story about being stuck on the Melton Viaduct.

Our News section covers the recent level crossing incident at Kilmany, some surprising political developments regarding the Champion Road level crossing removal, the new CF44 locomotives and an update on the tap and go fare system. Our Tourist and heritage rail section looks at some major recent successes at the Ballarat Tramway Museum.

And our usual other columns are there: