Page Text: JavaScript Kit
NEW ARRIVALS
April 13 2022: I have some sad news. Yesterday Rob O'Regan passed away after a long illness. Rob was a good friend and longtime workmate. He was also a great contributor to this website. He made his vast collection of rollingstock photos available to anyone that asked. He will be sadly missed. (MB)
April 12 2022: Courtesy of Steve Malpass, copies of the 1883 "Book of Circulars" and the 1900 "Appendix to the Book of Regulations and Working Time Table", (later known as the "General Appendix"), have been added to the Signalling page . (GW).
April 11 2022: The pages for Harcourt and Ravenswood have now been updated. The station histories, now being included on these pages, are very time consuming to consolidate. To also aid in their compilation, we have commenced a project of digitising an extensive amount of hand-written contemporary documentation. This in itself is quite a major undertaking, but is very much overshadowed by the mammoth task of transcribing all of the relevant information. If you think that you may be able to offer some assistance with this research, please let us know. (GW).
March 12 2022: A new page has been created to house photographs of Locomotives built prior to 1900 , pending the creation of individual 'Class' pages for these. Thanks to Ross Goonan, for providing a couple of excellent pics from his family's collection, to start this off. (GW)
March 10 2022: Missing page from the Bairnsdale - Orbost sections has been found. The plans and sections have been split up to reduce download sizes. (MB)
March 09, 2022: Some additional photos have been added to the Bowser page, thanks to Neville Gee and Doug Miles. (GW)
Mar 06, 2022: Plan and Section Drawings for Sandhurst (Bendigo) to Echuca have been added to the Grades Book page. (GW)
Mar 05, 2022: A new Station page has been created for Bowser . Assistance from anyone with css/bootstrap expertise would be much appreciated, in order to resolve some formatting issues with these pages. More Plan and Section Drawings added to the Grades Book page , this time; Inglewood to Charlton Track Plans as well as 1864 'Trial Line' Plans and Sections for both Ballaarat to Maryborough and Castlemaine to Maryborough. (GW)
Mar 04, 2022: Plan and Section Drawings for Benalla to Wodonga have been added to the Grades Book page. The trend for large files continues. (GW)
Feb 23 2022: Chris Wurr has written an excellent article on the history and description of signalling on double lines . (MB)
Feb 19, 2022: The Castlemaine page has now been updated and includes separate entries for the Thompson's Foundry siding and Barkers Creek. Any photographs or information, particulartly for the latter, would be much appreciated. (GW)
Feb 17 2022: Three more Plan and Section drawings have been added to the Grades Book page, this time for the Bendigo Line. They are Chewton to Bendigo track plans, 1904, (from the Estate Office) and Melbourne to Bendigo section drawings and Melbourne to Ravenswood track plans, both dating from 1856. Again, they very large files. (GW)
Feb 13 2022: Plan and Section drawings for Bairnsdale to Orbost added to Grades Book page. (Be aware, this is a huge file, 700+MB) also note page 2 of the sections drawings is missing. (MB)
Feb 01, 2022: Pages for Taradale , Elphinstone and Chewton are now online. A new page featuring various 'incidents' at Riddells Creek has also been created, as a trial to keeping noteworthy and interesting day-to-day events separated from the station detail pages.
Jan 31, 2022: The Carlsruhe , Kyneton and Malmsbury pages have been updated. Thanks to Norm Bray, for some extra pics for the latter. A new page has also been added for Redesdale Junction , but content so far is non-existent. If you have any photos or data, please send it through.
Major re-structuring will commence soon on the whole ‘Gallery’ section, bear with us as this progresses.
Jan 26 2022: Station pages from Diggers Rest along the line through to Woodend have now been updated and re-coded. Brief station histories are now included, along with more links to allow for easier navigation.
Jan 24 2022: Just woken up to what year it now is!... Continuing along with the Bendigo line station upgrades, the Riddells Creek and Gisborne pages have now been updated, and a new page has been added for Clarkefield .
Jan 20 2021: The new apprentice has been busy again. This time, the Sunbury page has been tidied, with some more early pics added.
Jan 19 2021: Updates have been a bit slow for a while, as a new admin assistant learns the basics, (in baby steps), and teething problems are sorted. To kick off, the Woodend page has been tidied up a little and had a few new photos added.
Dec 25 2021: Merry Christmas to everyone! Many new plans and some photos added to Coleraine page , Casterton page , Balmoral page .
Dec 20 2021: 4 new diagrams added to Z van page , photos added to the following pages: Carlshrue to Daylesford , Nth Creswick to Daylesford , AE , BE and CE . Ballarat to Ararat .
Dec 10 2021: A new lineside page, this time the long closed Nth Creswick to Daylesford line, if you have any old photos of this line please send them for inclusion on this page. New photos and diagrams added to Buffet/Dining car page, Carlshrue to Daylesford line page .
Nov 23 2021: Doug Miles has scanned a copy of the original ATC instructions, C15/31 . S class diesel page cleaned up and photos added. Photos added to A2page . Photo added to TW83 page .
Nov 19 2021: Seven diagrams of Jeparit added. Photos and info added to Dining car page . (still looking for pics of the restaurant cars Moyne and Kiewa)
Nov 15 2021: Doug Miles has sent some photos of Horsham in 1975, Neville Gee has filled in the gaps on the 102 Walker page , some historic photos of Coleraine Junction added to the Ararat - Portland page .
Nov 14 2021: A start has been made on a page describing Dining and Buffet cars , as usual, any corrections and additions are welcome. In particular I am after photos of the wooden Wimmera car, the steel Mitta Mitta and Moorabool cars pre 1983. I'm also looking for photos of Moyne and Kiewa.
Nov 5 2021: Neville Gee has again shared more of his amazing collection of VR station/train photos, this time we look at the cross country Hamilton to Koroit line . As usual, if you have any photos of this line before closure, feel free to send them for inclusion.
Nov 3 2021: Des Jowett has sent some great photos of Daylesford in the 1950s and info, with an aerial photo, about a siding at Daylesford that almost got built. Photos added to the GY , QB , QWF and WT pages.
Nov 1 2021: New photos added to the following pages: Daylesford line, Castlemaine , Ararat - Dimboola , Q wagon , O wagon , 153 Walker pages.
Oct 29 2021: 153 hp Walker page has been made mobile device friendly and a few new photos added or recanned. QWF well wagon page has been redone with all new photos.
Oct 28 2021: QB page has been made mobile device friendly with many new fascinating photos added.
Oct 25 2021: Nick Anchen has just released his latest book on the Victorian Railways "The Spirit of Blue & Gold" and its a beauty! A must have for all lovers of our beloved VR it can be ordered HERE . Be quick, Nick's previous VR books have all sold out.
Oct 24 2021: Photos added to the following pages: Macedon , Woodend , Geelong - Ballarat , Sunbury , Sleeping/State cars , CJ , T vans , Z vans.
Oct 17 2021: Photos added to the following pages, Yaapeet/Yanac , Carpolac , Coleraine , and a previously unseen photo of O wagons in pulverized brown coal traffic. We also have a convertible Z van and a naughty N class ! Cressy line plans (75MB) put on the Cressy line page. Also, Ross has been busy adding many diagrams to the A - C and D - H index pages.
Oct 15 2021: 9 photos from Doug Miles added to Yaapeet and Yanac lines page . Photos added to TP and Benalla pages.
Oct 13 2021: We don't have 15 kilometre lockdown limits here! Today we travel 200+ miles from Melbourne to visit the Yaapeet and Yanac lines in far Western Victoria with many great photos from Neville Gee and Tony Smith.
Oct 9 2021: The timetable page has been cleaned up. X class diesel loco page has been cleaned up and 5 photos added. Photos added to Overland cars and MF cattle wagons pages.
Oct 8 2021: Des Jowett has sent two interesting items, an article on the special race trains VR ran for the annual Mt Gambier race meeting and an account, with newspaper cuttings, of the day The Overlands ran via Mt Gambier in 1953, also on the Mt Gambier page are 4 new photos from Geoff Winkler. 5 new photos added to the Avoca line page and new photos added to the Ravenswood and Castlemaine pages.
I have just been made aware of a book by the Landsborough Historical Society that contains a good history, and many high quality photos of the Ben Nevis to Navarre line. Their Facebook page is HERE and an email to Brett Leslie will secure you a copy.
Oct 5 2021: A new lineside page, this time we are off to the Mt Gambier line , profusely illustrated by Neville Gee (feel free to submit older photos of the Mt Gambier line for inclusion). 1924 Gross Tonnage map of the VR system in the map page . 1918 booklet explaining the meaning of VR station names on the Timeline page .
Oct 2 2021: New photos added to the following pages: Castlemaine , Avoca line , Portland line , Casterton line and an amazing photo of Mininera that Geoff Winkler found.
Oct 1 2021: To the Portland page I've added new photos by Neville Gee at Maroona, a 1963 signal arrangement of Maroona and a detailed plan showing Coleraine Junction loco courtesy Phil Dunn. New photos by Bob Wilson at Ballarat . New photo of Gheringhap with a very descriptive caption by Geoff Winkler.
Sep 30 2021: Report on non paying line Ouyen to Pinnaroo . 1903 instructions for licensed Porters in VR Timeline .
Sep 29 2021: 24 new signal diagrams, signified by ***
Sep 27 2021: Neville Gee and Geoff Winkler have sent many photos of the Casterton line , of particular interest are the photos of the intermediate stations. New photos added to the: MF cattle wagons , DW water tank , TP bogie iced vans and KS timber wagons , pages. Rail motor services pdf for Ararat - Avoca .
Sep 22 2021: Many thanks to Steve Cleverdon for sending some amazing photos of Casterton taken by his grandfather Allan Cleverdon in 1927. Neville Gee has also added some photos of long lost locations to the Cressy line page. Peter Enlund has forwarded some great old photos of Wangaratta .
Sep 19 2021: A start has been made on the Casterton line page but unfortunately I haven't been able to source any photos other than those at Casterton, if you have any photos of intermediate stations, before closure, please send some. David Langley has sent a series of photos that wonderfully illustrate the procedure for using a Bank Engine Key for down trains out of Seymour . New photos added to the DDE page. Railmotor services pdf's added to Carpolac and Casterton pages.
Sep 17 2021: Peter Enlund copied a VR book at the PROV that contains comprehensive histories of rail motor services on various lines. I will be adding them as a pdf to the specific page, the first two are on the Portland (as a pdf) in the navigation bar) and Coleraine (as images at the bottom of the page). Photos added to the following pages: J class , DRC , Eaglehawk .
Sep 15 2021: Des Jowett has sent some great photos of D4 and D3 locos in regular service. Dr Clyde Croft has sent a pdf of the Bland report , a watershed document in the history of the Victorian Railways.
SEP 14 2021: New diagrams and/or photos added to: ALX , DRC , KT , O , TP , DD , D3 and Ararat to Portland pages.
Sep 11 2021: Big thank you to Phil Dunn who has succinctly written about a complex subject, namely the DD class and all its variants. There are 3 pages: DD, D1 and D2. D3 and DDE, D4
Sep 9 2021: Photos and diagrams added to the following pages: Benalla , Ararat to Portland .
Sep 8 2021: New photos added to: Ararat to Portland page , including some amazing aerials views of old Portland, Benalla , Linton Junction and Ballarat pages.
Sep 7 2021: A new page in the lineside series, this time we visit the Ararat to Portland line, (I would welcome any good quality photos of this line taken prior to 1985). Photos of L 1163 after it derailed and rolled over in 1985. New photos of Overland cars .
Sep 5 2021: General arrangement drawings added to V class , S class, R class and X class courtesy Phil Dunn.
Sep 4 2021: A new page featuring photos and plans of the modern steel Overland cars has been made possible with the assistance of Stuart Hicks, owner of The Overland museum at Kaniva. I would welcome good quality colour scans of these cars taken prior to the mid 1980s. New General Arrangement diagrams of: H 220 , J class , K class , N class, provided by Phil Dunn.
Sep 2 2021: Phil Dunn has provided General Arrangement drawings for: C class , A2 Stephenson and Walschaert , NA Compound and Simple . I have also added a " About & Wanted " section that thanks the many contributors to this website and lists photos I am currently seeking for new pages. New photos added to the following pages: BE pass cars , Carpolac line ,
Aug 31 2021: Another page in the lineside series, this time the Coleraine line in far western Victoria with many great photos from Neville Gee. (as usual, feel free to send any photos you have of this line.) Five new photos added to the Carpolac line including a photo of the 53 foot turntable being installed in 1958 by Bob Dunn and some great colour action shots on the line by Des Jowett.
Aug 29 2021: Des Jowett has provided a fascinating account of what was involved in turning a steam loco on a turntable that was too short for the engine and tender on the Carpolac page . Geoff Winkler has provided a photo and station history of Medina . New photos added to the Benalla and Seymour pages.
Aug 23 2021: New photos added to the following pages: BE and BCPL pass cars, Stawell , Sunshine to Ballarat , Seymour , Albury , Batman , Pimpinio , Yarram .
Aug 16 2021: Continuing with our series of line galleries, Neville Gee and Doug Miles have sent me photos of the entire line from Horsham to Carpolac .(if you have any photos to add to this page please send them) New photos added to the Leyland railcar and Barnawartha pages. Barnawartha.
Aug 12 2021: New Chiltern page created, photos of Nhill added to Dimboola - Serviceton page , photos added to Golden Square page , photos added to Bendigo page . Plan and Section drawings of Cavendish to Toolondo and Noradjuha to Toolondo added to Grades book page .
Aug 10 2021: Photos added to the following pages: Castlemaine , Bendigo , Dimboola to Serviceton , Sunshine to Ballarat , F class and B class pages.
Aug 7 2021: Photos of Bendigo D box added to Bendigo page , Photos of Salisbury loop and Kaniva added to Dimboola to Serviceton page , more photos added to Ballarat page.
Aug 5 2021: The Ballarat page has been made mobile device friendly with new photos added. New photos of Linton junction have been added to the Ballarat to Ararat page . David Langley has sent more timetables that have been added to the Timetables page .
July 28 2021: George Dragicevic has kindly supplied me with a pdf of the 1978 instructions for Fog Signalmen which can be found on the Signalling page . Chris Wurr has sent me some more photos on the Cressy line .
July 26 2021: David Foulkes, owner of Steam Era Models, has kindly scanned the booklet that the VR issued in 1954 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the VR, it can be found in the Timeline section . David Langley has provided me with pdf's of many timetables for public holidays on the Timetables page . Many signal diagrams added.
July 22 (2) 2021: From the Harry Jackson collection comes the tour notes from the VR Commissioners inspection trips. They provide a fascinating insight into the day to day running of the VR. Nine have been scanned by his son William and uploaded with more to come. They can be found in the Timline section in the 1950's.
July 22 2021: David Langley has been busy scanning again and has sent me nine Eastern District Working Timetables that are on the Timetables page . More signal diagrams added.
July 20 2021: 20 new signal diagrams added including a fascinating, Batman's Hill to Essendon Jct diagram from 1876. All new diagrams have a red ***
JULY 19 2021: Uploaded the VR report and Coroners findings about the Southern Aurora crash in 1969 at Violet Town in the Timeline section, scroll down to 1969. Added a diagram of BCPL 11 on the PL car page , added some photos at Warrenheip to the Sunshine to Ballarat page , added photos to the Ararat page .
July 14 2021: A few years ago, several very dedicated VR enthusiasts scanned all known copies of the VR magazine (1924 - 1930) and VR Newsletters (1931 - 1979). These have now been uploaded and can be accessed from the Timeline page . Simply go to any year between 1924 and 1979 and you will find the link to that years magazine or newsletter. They contain a wealth of information on the Victorian railways and are a valuable historical resource. Happy reading!
July 11 2021: Photos of Beaufort added to Ballarat to Ararat page . Chris Wurr has written an extended caption for a photo of his at Woodend which has turned into a mini history of the ever elusive "Paper Trains"
July 9 2021: New photos and information about early Woodend added to the Woodend page . Photos of Linton Junction added to Ballarat to Ararat page . New photo added to Kyneton page .
July 6 2021: Added yard plans for most of the stations Bannockburn to Lal Lal.
June 29 2021: The Sale page is now mobile device friendly and I've added 7 new photos to it. 1878 station plan and 1932 drainage plan added to Dunnstown
June 27 2021: The Kyneton page is now mobile device friendly and has had new Chris Wurr and Geoff Winkler photos added to it.
June 25 2021: The Z van page has been made mobile friendly and new photos added including information and photos of the Clearance Wagon which was converted from a Z van in 1960/61.
June 23 2021: 7 new photos from Neville Gee of Moorabool, Lal Lal, Yendon (before demolition) and Navigator on the Nth Geelong to Warrenheip page .
June 19 2021: 5 new photos of Bannockburn added to Nth Geelong to Warrenheip page .
June 18 2021: The Bendigo page has been made mobile device friendly and many new photos added.
June 17 2021: Many thanks to Geoff Winkler for adding much information to the PL car page . Plan & sections of Hamilton to Cavendish added to Grades Book page . New pics added to the Dimboola , Eaglehawk , Glenorchy and Ararat pages.
June 15 2021: Photo and article on BPL 61 on PL car page , new photos on Macedon and Woodend pages, 2 photos of Gheringhap on Gheringhap to Maroona page .
June 13 2021: New Korong Vale page created with 18 new Noel Bamford photos added for a total of 38 photos.
June 9 2021: A new Eaglehawk page created with new photos from Noel Bamford, John Ward and Chris Wurr, (if anyone has a decent external photo of the signalbox, please send).
June 8 2021: Plan & Sections for Warrnambool to Koroit added to Grades Home page . Photos of BCPL 11 added to PL car page .
June 4 2021: 5 new photos from Doug Miles and Bob Wilson added to the Stawell page .
June 2 2021: Interior view of Taggerty added, new photos added to Nth Geelong to Warrenheip page , Bungaree, Bacchus Marsh , Woodend , Sunbury pages.
May 31 2021: 8 new photos of BCPL's added to the PL car page .
May 29 2021: Lance Cross has written a history of the PL car family and provided new photos on the PL car page . 8 new Geoff Winkler photos around North Geelong added to the North Geelong to Warrenheip page .
May 27 2021: My 13 year old daughter's video of the R and A2 at Elphinstone tunnel a few days ago.
May 19 2021: Some great new photos from Bob Wilson have been added to the Sunshine to Ballarat page and Ballarat to Ararat pages.
May 18 2021: Chris Wurr has written a comprehensive article on the little known Train Section Order safeworking system . Plan and Section drawings for Cowangie to Murrayville and Murrayville to Pinnaroo added to grades book page .
May 16 2021: Plan and Section drawings for Ouyen to Kow Plains (Cowangi) added to Grades Book page .
May 12 2021:Plan and Section drawings for Koroit to Belfast (Port Fairy) added to Grades Book page .