Behind the Bellarine Railway

Behind the Bellarine Railway A behind the scenes look at the operations of the Bellarine Railway

Love to see the behind the scenes of the Bellarine Railway? Check out our brand new Youtube series "Past the Platform" f...
26/08/2026

Love to see the behind the scenes of the Bellarine Railway? Check out our brand new Youtube series "Past the Platform" for an exclusive look at everything you can't see from the platform!

STEAM TRAINS - Where next?Everyone seems to ask where the steam program is at, now that Pozieres has returned to service...
13/08/2026

STEAM TRAINS - Where next?

Everyone seems to ask where the steam program is at, now that Pozieres has returned to service - so heres a bit of a report.

Pozieres, Klondyke, and 3620 are currently in service, with T251 having a well deserved stay in the workshop.

Work on reactivating G33 is also progressing well - the front engine unit has been turned ready for connecting back up to the rest of the loco.

Here’s the exciting stuff 👇

Boiler work is now well advanced on No4, an 0-6-0 saddle tank locomotive which has not operated since 2009. The boiler has been rolled over with the smokebox removed, and condemned barrel sections have been cut out ready for replacement.

Our pressure vessel welder continues to work on this boiler when he attends, and is making very quick progress. Boiler tubes for this boiler are inbound from New South Wales at the moment.

Additionally, locomotive M6 has been relocated to the workshop, to be worked on if No4 works are held up awaiting materials. This makes the most of the paid contractors time on-site, as the repairs to M6 boiler are well within the scope of their abilities.

Additionally, a significant investment has been made into ex-Fyansford Cement Works locomotive No2 (a Beyer-Garratt).

As the railway looks to the future, it is important to understand the condition of every locomotive available, and make the correct call on which ones to prioritise.

This is where No2 fits in - the asbestos insulation has been removed from the boiler to assess its condition, and we were pleased to discover that it’s very good! As such, No2 takes its place in the restoration queue at some stage in the future.

If you’d like to help us cover the costs of some of these huge milestones, please consider donating:

www.bellarinerailway.com.au/donate

24/07/2026

There's a lot more to operating a heritage railway than just running services. This past weekend, our volunteers held a working bee at Lakers Siding and achieved a massive cleanup of our main shed and firewood storage areas. A huge thank you to all involved!
Interested in volunteering? Visit https://bellarinerailway.com.au/volunteer/

Another huge fortnight from our volunteers! We ran an extremely successful evening Seaside explorer for "Nightide festiv...
30/06/2026

Another huge fortnight from our volunteers! We ran an extremely successful evening Seaside explorer for "Nightide festival" featuring a surprise guest appearance from 3620 who was on test following some repairs.

We also have to thank Craig Elstone from Elstone Diving Services Pty LTD who very kindly sandblasted and primed the second TGR A pattern bogie as part of ABL14. This carriage is currently having new swinglinks and bogie brackets being manufactured.

Big month for fans of Fyansford Cement works as well!

Beyer Garratt Number 2 has successfully had its asbestos removed by contractors from Kennedys plumbing. We will be launching an appeal on this locomotive soon but in other news work has begun by our professional boilermaker to begin work on Vulcan number 4. This included making a rotisserie so it can be rolled over and removing its smokebox ready for work.

If you'd like to assist us you can donate to any of the above projects by following our link https://bellarinerailway.com.au/donate/ and with your help we can continue to make great progress!

30/06/2026

Last chance for your EOFY tax deductible donation to help us in the restoration of rail history!

Pozieres is back in service, so it’s time to continue on with the next locos in line for restoration!
No.2 Garratt has recently enjoyed a major milestone, with significant resources from our museum fund spent on asbestos removal in preparation for staged restoration.
Further donations will be dedicated towards specialist labour, fabrication and machining, and boiler and mechanical rebuild works.
There is also the ongoing restoration of ASG 33,and VA1, as well as continuous running maintenance to our operational fleet!

All donations remain tax deductible and are essential to maintaining momentum in the preservation of heritage rail. Donation links and more information are available at https://bellarinerailway.com.au/donate/

History was made tonight! 💡 For the first time in the entire preservation history of The Bellarine Railway, ex-Queenslan...
19/06/2026

History was made tonight! 💡

For the first time in the entire preservation history of The Bellarine Railway, ex-Queensland suburban carriages BUV1299 and BU465 have been united with functional lighting!

In readiness for our Winter Solstice Seaside Explorer this Saturday night, the entire lighting system in BU465 has been rewired and essentially rebuilt from scratch!

The lights in BU465 haven’t worked since it left service in Queensland in probably the 1980s.

More detail on this massive task soon!

What a great achievement from the team at Lakers!

June railway updateWith the Blues train season now over we have entered our regular winter maintenance period. Tasmanian...
12/06/2026

June railway update

With the Blues train season now over we have entered our regular winter maintenance period.

Tasmanian Parsons and Gilmour car ABL14 continues to recieve work as part of its lift exam. The bogies have been inspected, cleaned and repaired as required with brake rigging and swing links refurbished. The second bogie is being sandblasted by Elstone Diving Services Pty LTD who have very kindly offered to do this task for us, speeding the process up significantly. Thanks guys! ABL14 has also had its end compartments refurbished which looks incredible

Tasmanian clyde car AAL1 has now been withdrawn for a lift exam. (not pictured) we'll be documenting this cars progress over the next few months.

3620 has returned to traffic for the The Q Train steam season after a huge amount of work and it was fantastic to see it running again last weekend.

Klondyke has been inspected and is now being repaired and reassembled as required for a return to traffic. We'll cover that in greater depth next post.

In preparation for our Seaside Explorer service for Nightide festival on the winter solstice Drysdale platform has been tamped allowing us to add BUV1299 for a bit of extra capacity. This train has now almost sold out so if you're interested book soon!

April Fleet Update - Steam and DieselSTEAMPOZIERES returned to service over the Easter weekend, and has run continuously...
21/04/2026

April Fleet Update - Steam and Diesel

STEAM
POZIERES returned to service over the Easter weekend, and has run continuously without fault. It was let loose over the weekend to haul the Swan Bay Express, Seaside Explorer, and even The Q Train.

KLONDYKE operated the Swan Bay Express over the holidays, and also appeared at the April Day Out With Thomas event. It has since been stripped for its annual boiler inspection.

T251 remains out of service awaiting the replacement of stays. With Pozieres and Klondyke both now available to support our heritage experiences, work will be focused on T251.

ASG G33 has received its brand new cab floor and drivers seats, continuing the steady reinstallation of the driving components. Connecting rods are also being installed. There will be another Workshop Open weekend on 23-24 May 2026 to show this progress.

DIESEL
1604 remains in service.

X20 has returned to service with X3's traction motor blower installed. We have also swapped out the long-end marker/tail light panel with a Yellow and Black spare from a scrapped X class. The original one from X20 was quite badly rusted and will be used as a template to make a new panel.

X3 is still out of service. Work to disassemble the engine has begun.

VA1 has received a significant amount of attention to the cab interior, with the entire space now ready for paint, after some minor rust repairs to the window sills.

If you'd like to get involved with keeping these heritage rail vehicles operational, get in touch at:
www.bellarinerailway.com.au/volunteer

Address

20 Symonds Street
Queenscliff, VIC
3225

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 5pm
Thursday 9:30am - 5pm
Friday 9:30am - 5pm
Sunday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+61 52582069

Website

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