Fern Tree Gully and Gembrook line or the Puffing Billy Railway line

Puffing Billy is one of Victoria's most popular tourist attractions and is also one of the most popular tourist railways in the world, it has around 350,000 visitors each year. You can read all about Puffing Billy activities and access the time table on their website http://puffingbilly.com.au/  - the website also tells you how you can become  a volunteer with Puffing Billy - they have over 1,000 volunteers who undertake  a range of roles. 

The Fern Tree Gully and Gembrook line opened on December 18, 1900, closed in 1954 and re-opened as a tourist railway 1955 to 1958 and then  re-opened again  in July 1962 and had been going strong ever since. You can read more of the history here. Puffing Billy starts at Belgrave, the next stop is Menzies Creek and the other four stops - Emerald, Lakeside, Cockatoo and Gembrook  are in the Cardinia Shire, so here is look at some historic photos of the Puffing Billy or Free Tree Gully and Gembrook line as it was first called, from the State Library of Victoria photograph collection.

Since I have posted these photos I have had some correspondence from a reader, Andrew, who has provided some additional information about some of the photos. His comments are in italics. Thank you Andrew.

View of encampment near railway line, possibly Gembrook. This photo has Gembrook inscribed in pencil on the back and was possibly taken during the construction of the line, late 1890s.

Max Thomson Collection, State Library of Victoria Image H2013.70/9

  This is a construction camp taken on the bend just before "Pinnock's Cutting" which is just before Pinnocks Road on the approach to Emerald.

Gembrook, c 1900

State Library of Victoria Image H35215/27

A new railway line, a new opportunity for pranksters! This photo is called 

'Accident - Gembrook railway - a joke' Photographer: Mark James Daniel. Dated August 26, 1900.

State Library of Victoria Image H92.200/359

Railway Station, Gembrook, c, 1900

State Library of Victoria Image H35215/26

Gembrook Train, c. 1900

State Library of Victoria Image H35215/25

Taken at Upper Fern Tree Gully.

Railway line, Gembrook, c. 1907

State Library of Victoria Image H41019

The water tank between Selby and Aura (Menzies Creek), where the 1953 landslide happened (about where the photographer was standing).

Steam train dropping off passengers, Clematis Station, c. 1910s. This station was called Paradise Valley when it opened in 1902, the name was shortened to Paradise in 1908. The area was known as Paradise until 1921 when a public meeting voted to change the name to Clematis, after the wild clematis creeper that grew prolifically in the area. 

State Library of Victoria Image H2009.29/85

Gembrook Train, Victoria, c. 1912. This is a great photo - the women in their lovely hats, the interesting hand tinting of the photo, the lack of cars which is a reminder of the days when most people walked to all local activities.

State Library of Victoria Image H84.414/11

Taken at the level crossing just after leaving Upper Ferntree Gully about where the big bend is in the road at the bottom of the "mad mile".

Railway Station, Gembrook.

 Date range listed is 1920s to mid 1950s, but it is believed to be more likely taken around the time of the First World War.

Rose Series postcard, State Library of Victoria Image H32492/2159.

The narrow gauge train, Cockatoo.

Date range listed is 1920s to mid 1950s.

Rose Series postcard, State Library of Victoria Image H32492/2165

Taken just after the train had crossed the Cockatoo Creek bridge on its climb into Cockatoo.

Puffing Billy, 1950s. Photograph is dated at SLV as 1950-1954, but this may be taken between 1955 and 1958 when it first ran as a tourist line.  Photographer: Percy Spiden

State Library of Victoria Image H2008.121/51

This was taken at the Selby-Aura Road level crossing in Selby, and appears to be a works train just prior to the reopening to Menzies Creek in 1962.

Lakeside Station. Lakeside opened 1944, but this looks like it was taken late 1950s or early 1960s.

 I wonder who these people are?

State Library of Victoria Image H2010.137/17

This looks like it was taken early to mid-'50s (just before or after closure) as the track-bed isn't overgrown.

Greetings from, Emerald Lake, c. 1976

State Library of Victoria Image H41350

 This was taken sometime after 1965 on the same bend as the first photo on the approach to Emerald.

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The Railways - Puffing Billy line.

Photograph from The story of the Dandenongs by Helen Coulson. (Published by F.W.Cheshire, 1959

In this blog we will look at the third railway line in Casey Cardinia, the famous and much loved Puffing Billy line. The railway line had been extended from Ringwood to Upper Ferntree Gully in 1889 and locals were keen to have a rail service to Gembrook. A Gembrook Railway League was established, as was a Sassafrass Railway League. This community agitation paid off with the passing of the Fern Tree Gully and Gembrook Railway Construction Act on August 15, 1898. The railway that was built was of narrow gauge (2 feet 6 inches) and opened officially on December 18, 1900. The Stations on the line at the time of the opening were Upper Ferntree Gully, Monbulk (later called Belgrave), Menzies Creek (at one stage called Aura, until it was changed back to Menzies Creek), Emerald, Devon (later called Cockatoo Creek, then Cockatoo) and Gembrook. By the 1940s the Stations were Upwey, opened 1901; Tecoma, opened 1924; Belgrave; Selby, opened 1904; Menzies Creek; Paradise, later called Clematis, opened 1902; Emerald; Nobelius Siding, opened 1904; Nobelius, opened 1927; Lakeside, opened 1944; Wright, opened 1904; Cockatoo; Fielder, opened 1929 and Gembrook.

The Little Train ,as it was affectionately known to locals, was not allowed to travel at a greater speed than 15 miles per hour (about 24 kph) and the 40 mile (about 65km) journey from Melbourne to Gembrook took four hours.

Carl Nobelius of Gembrook Nurseries at Emerald was an early supporter of the line and he had his own Siding built in 1904, beside his packing shed. By the start of the First World war the Nobelius Nurseries occupied over 80 hectares and produced 3 million trees for sale.

Nobelius Siding in 1904. Taken from Nobelius Heritage Park : an illustrated guide by Jo Jenkinson.
(Published by Emerald Museum, 2002)

The Little Train was popular with the locals though the line generally made a loss. It was recommended for closure in 1936 but a public outcry kept the line open for timber, potatoes and market garden produce. A landslide near Menzies Creek, in August 1953, blocked the the line and it was announced that it would close permanently in mid 1954, but once again the public rallied. The Puffing Billy Preservation Society (P.B.P.S) was formed on June 8 1955. The name Puffing Billy, a nick name for the various locomotives, has been in use since 1903 but became prominent in the 1950s.

The Society operated Puffing Billy trains between Upper Ferntree Gully to Belgrave until February 23, 1958, after which the narrow gauge rails were replaced with a broad gauge and the line was electrified. This journey is pictured at the top.

The P.B.P.S spent the next few years working to re-open the line, beyond Belgrave. The landslide was was by-passed and a new track was built . This work was undertaken as a training exercise by the Citizen Military Forces (a forerunner of the Army Reserve). The track had to be re-sleepered in parts, rolling stock looked after, stations prepared. The Puffing Billy line was officially opened to Menzies Creek in July 1962. Three years later in July 1965 Puffing Billy returned to Emerald, ten years later in 1975 to Lakeside and finally on October 18 1998 it returned to Gembrook. Puffing Billy has carried 8 million passengers since it re-opened in 1962.

That the Puffing Billy train still runs today is a testament to the dedication of the volunteers of the Puffing Billy Preservation Society. The official Puffing Billy website can be found at www.puffingbilly.com.au

A number of books have been been published on the Puffing Billy line - click here to  see what the Library holds.

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