The Bellarine Railway, formerly the Bellarine Peninsula Railway, is a volunteer-operated steam-driven
tourist railway
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...
located in
Victoria, Australia
Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...
. It operates on a section of a formerly disused branch line on the
Bellarine Peninsula
The Bellarine Peninsula (Wadawurrung language, Wadawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together wi ...
between the coastal town of
Queenscliff and
Drysdale, near
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...
.
History as a working railway
The original line was commissioned in September 1878, and opened on 21 May 1879. It connected Queenscliff with
South Geelong station, the terminus of the Geelong line, and the junction of the
Warrnambool line
The Warrnambool line is a long-distance regional rail service in Victoria, Australia. Operated by V/Line, it is the state's fourth longest railway line at . The line runs from Southern Cross station in central Melbourne to Warrnambool statio ...
. It was acknowledged at the time that although passenger traffic alone might not justify a railway line, military traffic from both the port and
Fort Queenscliff
Fort Queenscliff, in Victoria, Australia, dates from 1860 when an open battery was constructed on Shortland's Bluff to defend the entrance to Port Phillip. The Fort, which underwent major redevelopment in the late 1870s and 1880s, became the he ...
—a key defence installation—would warrant its construction. It initially carried passenger, goods and military traffic, and continued to do so for several decades.
In the first few months of operation, it carried only one service per day, but at its peak, in January 1885, four trains per day ran in each direction, enabling the line to be used by commuters. However, this was decreased to three, and was cut back to two trains a day in 1910. Traffic on the line continued to fall over the next twenty years, and in 1931, passenger services were dropped completely—apart from the occasional Sunday excursion train. Freight services continued to run, although they were cut to back at first to twice-weekly, and then weekly operation.
The line saw a revival during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, carrying mines from the
Swan Island military base, but returned to pre-war levels afterwards. After the war, services became less frequent, with passenger services dropped altogether, apart from occasional special trains, and with goods services cut back to one a fortnight. The line was closed on 6 November 1976. The line is recognised as the oldest Victorian branch line still in operation.
Preservation and re-opening as a tourist railway
In 1968, when the Queenscliff line was still officially open, the
Fyansford Cement Works Railway
The Fyansford Cement Works Railway was an industrial railway near Geelong, Australia, built by the Australian Portland Cement Company to carry limestone from its quarry to its cement works at Fyansford.
The railway was notable for including a ...
near Geelong was closed. The cement company donated all its steam rolling stock to preservation groups, and the Geelong division of the
Australian Railway Historical Society
The Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) has been a railway organisation concerned with history and preservation of railway heritage at a national level.
It has had divisions in every state and the Australian Capital Territory, althou ...
(ARHS), which was still in its infancy, received two engines. While
Drysdale station was looked upon as a preferred site, this proved difficult to arrange, and a temporary site at the
Belmont Common was used.
The Geelong division of the ARHS registered itself as the Geelong Steam Preservation Society in 1970 and it constructed and operated a small tourist railway, the Belmont Common Railway, on the
Belmont Common. However, the site faced ongoing problems due to adjacent developments and its location on a flood plain, and by 1976, it was apparent that continuing on the Belmont Common site would not be feasible. When it became clear that
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...
intended closing the Queenscliff line, the GSPS saw an opportunity, and after the line was closed permanently in 1976, it began shifting operations to Queenscliff railway station.

During 1976 and 1977, the Society engaged in fundraising efforts and began
regauging a short section of track around Queenscliff station, in order to enable its rolling stock to operate on the line. With the help of some government funding, it succeeded in operating its first services from Queenscliff to
Laker's Siding in May 1979, and to Drysdale not long after.
Current operations

The railway currently operates a Heritage Train Service between Queenscliff and
Drysdale, along the southern shoreline of
Swan Bay
The Swan Bay is a shallow, marine embayment at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula in Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia. The township of Queenscliff lies at its southern end, and St Leonards at its northern. It is partly separated fro ...
and through grazing land, with an intermediate stop at
Laker's Siding.
The Railway currently operates a variety of scenic heritage train experiences along the line every weekend, with extra running days scheduled during the busy holiday periods. Additionally, the railway operates licensed family events including the ever popular "Day Out With Thomas" weekends, and THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride.
The railway is also home to The Q Train - an award winning gourmet restaurant train, alongside The Blues Train Live Music Experience.
The remainder of the line between Drysdale and South Geelong has fallen into disuse, and the GSPS has not attempted to extend its operations back to
Leopold
Leopold may refer to:
People
* Leopold (given name), including a list of people named Leopold or Léopold
* Leopold (surname)
Fictional characters
* Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons''
* Leopold B ...
or
South Geelong
South Geelong, also referred to as Geelong South, is a southern suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Its local government area is the City of Greater Geelong. At the 2016 census, South Geelong had a population of 993.
The suburb is adjace ...
. The sections of the former route from Drysdale to South Geelong, along with a walking track adjacent to the Queenscliff-Drysdale line, now form the
Bellarine Rail Trail
The Bellarine Rail Trail is a 32 km walking and cycling track on the Bellarine Peninsula, in Victoria, Australia, that follows the route of the former South Geelong, Victoria, South Geelong to Queenscliff, Victoria, Queenscliff branch line. ...
, accessible to cyclists and walkers.
The railway features a working collection of locomotives from all four state government-run gauge railway bodies in Australia;
Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
,
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
,
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
and
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
; as well as from a number of Australian industrial railways. In late 2011, the railway negotiated to relocate the last remaining
Australian Standard Garratt
The Australian Standard Garratt (ASG) was a Garratt articulated steam locomotive designed and built in Australia during World War II for use on the narrow-gauge railway systems owned by the Australian states of Queensland, South Australia, Tas ...
to the Bellarine Railway, from the
Newport Railway Museum
The Newport Railway Museum is located on Champion Road, Newport, Victoria, near the North Williamstown railway station, North Williamstown station.
History
The museum opened on 10 November 1962, after the Australian Railway Historical Society (A ...
.
The transportation of the locomotive took place on 31 May 2013, with the Bellarine Railway hoping to restore it to active service.
Locomotives
Steam locomotives
Diesel locomotives
Railcars
Restored passenger carriages
Stations
Gallery
File:Bellarine Rail1.jpg, Drysdale station
File:Goods Wagons at Drysdale Station.jpg, Goods Wagons at Drysdale station
File:Ausx20.jpg, Tasmanian Government Railways X class
The X class is a class of diesel locomotives built by English Electric for the Tasmanian Government Railways between 1950 and 1952. They were the first class of diesel locomotive to enter mainline service on a government owned railway in Austral ...
diesel electric locomotive as used in Tasmania, the first mainline diesel-electric locomotive purchased by an Australian government railway system
File:Ausv8.jpg, V class diesel shunting locomotive as used in Tasmania
File:EBR1107.jpg, 1107 parked just outside Queenscliff Station
File:AusV8.jpg, V8 parked outside of the Queenscliff Workshops
References
*
External links
Bellarine RailwayThe Blues TrainThe Q trainUsing the Bellarine Railway as part of a weekend adventure{{Victorian Railway Lines, selected=tourist
Tourist railways in Victoria (state)
1879 establishments in Australia
Railway stations in Geelong
Bellarine Peninsula
Borough of Queenscliffe
Transport in Barwon South West (region)