Yarra Valley Railway

Yarra Valley Railway
Yarra Valley Railway
	RM22 Passes under the old Donovans Road bridge on the Yarra Valley Railway
Overview
Status	Operational
Termini	Healesville; Yarra Glen;
Stations	3
Service
Type	Tourist Railway
History
Commenced	1889
Closed	1980
Reopened	1985
Technical
Line length	13.4 km (8.3 mi)
Number of tracks	Single track
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Old gauge	5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)

The Yarra Valley Railway is a heritage railway operating on a section of the former Healesville railway which operated between Lilydale and Healesville in the Yarra Valley area northeast of Melbourne, Australia.

History

The Lilydale-Melbourne railway was extended from Lilydale to Yarra Flats (now known as Yarra Glen) on the 15 May 1888 with intermediate stations at Coldstream and Yering. Part of the structure included a long timber viaduct with 502 openings near Yarra Glen, spanning the Yarra River and the adjacent flood plains. The extension of the line from Yarra Glen to Healesville required a 1 in 40 (2.5%) climb into a 154.4 metre tunnel with a corresponding descent at nearly the same grade. The Healesville Station opened on 1 March 1889 with an intermediate station at Tarrawarra.

Traffic on the line included timber, livestock, milk and dairy products. Early timetables included regular goods services specifically for transporting milk.

The last regular steam passenger service was hauled in August 1964. From this time until closure of the line in 1980 passenger services were run using Rail Motors, initially with Walker railmotors but due to degrading track quality the Walkers were replaced by Diesel Electric Railmotors (DERMs) from 1978 onwards. After 9 December 1980 no services operated beyond Coldstream and the Healesville-Coldstream section of the line was officially closed to all traffic on 10 March 1983. The Healesville Railway Cooperative was established in 1984 to reopen the line and in 1985 was granted an 'Order In Council' for this section by the Victorian State Government^[1] to operate the line as a tourist railway. It was partially reopened as far as Yarra Glen for tourist charter services in 1986 following major bridgework. However, these services ceased by 1990 when the Healesville Railway Cooperative merged with the Yarra Valley Tourist Railway, who began running trolley services on the Healesville-Yarra Glen section.

During the Black Saturday bushfires of February 2009 Yarra Glen station came under ember attack and two timber trestle bridges near Tarrawarra were burnt down in a fast-moving grass fire.

Following a track renewal and bridge reconstruction campaign, on 17 July 2010 the official launch of the Walker Railmotor service occurred with the first passenger train service to leave Healesville Railway Station in over 30 years.

Current operations

The Yarra Valley Railway currently runs a railmotor service from Healesville station to a temporary terminus at the back of the Tarrawarra Estate Winery on Sundays and public holidays, crossing the Watts River, under the Donovans Road overbridge and through the historic tunnel. The Railway is also presently rebuilding the 5 miles 48 chains (9.0 km) section from this temporary terminus to Yarra Glen station, including the reconstruction of the Yarra Glen and Tarrawarra stations and the replacement of 14 timber trestle bridges within this section.

There are plans to also run Saturday services with the soon to operational DERM. After the line is restored to Yarra Glen, the Tarrawarra to Healesville Section will temporarily close to allow for extensive track maintenance.^[2]

Rollingstock

The railway is in possession of a number of locomotives and carriages, including the following:

Locomotives

Number	Year built	Builder	Status	Notes
J516	1954	Vulcan Foundry, Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire	Stored	Victorian Railways J class coal-burning steam locomotive. Was plinthed in a park in Greensborough from 1975 until being acquired by YVTR in 1990. Stored at Healesville for possible future restoration.^[3]
J541	1954	Vulcan Foundry, Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire	Overhaul	Victorian Railways J class oil-burning steam locomotive. Privately owned by a group including the YVR and some of its members. Stored at a number of locations (including Healesville) until 2003, when it was moved to the Puffing Billy Railway for restoration. After restoration, it was loaned to the Victorian Goldfields Railway, where it entered traffic on 5 September 2007.^[4] Left VGR in late 2011 for Newport Workshops for an overhaul for preparation to return to Healesville.
T341	1956	Clyde Engineering, Granville, New South Wales^[5]	Stored	Victorian Railways T-class diesel-electric locomotive. Acquired by the YVR in the 1980s. Used on the railway till 2004. Transferred to Seymour for restoration to Mainline condition and made available for hire in 2008. Stored at South Dynon out of use 2012. Returned to Healesville on 14 May 2014. Presently stored awaiting repairs.
W250	1960	Tulloch Limited, Rhodes, New South Wales^[6]	Operational	Victorian Railways W-class diesel-hydraulic locomotive.
Y109	1963	Clyde Engineering, Granville, New South Wales^[7]	Stored	Victorian Railways Y-class diesel-electric locomotive. Formerly owned by El Zorro and re-numbered Y145, it was acquired by the YVR in early 2014. Moved from store at Camperdown to Healesville on 13 May 2014. Will be restored to blue and gold livery as Y109 in the future.
Y135	1965	Clyde Engineering, Granville, New South Wales^[7]	Stored	Victorian Railways Y-class diesel-electric locomotive. Transferred from Korumburra to Healesville on 1 August 2019.

Railmotors & Trailers

Number	Year built	Builder	Status	Notes
RM 22	1948	Walker Bros.	Operational	153 hp Walker Railmotor.
RM 55	1928	Newport Workshops	Under Restoration	Diesel Electric Rail Motor. Transferred from Korumburra to Healesville on 1 August 2019.
58 MT	1952	Martin & King	Stored	Walker Rail Motor Trailer.
64 MT	1952	Martin & King	Stored	Walker Rail Motor Trailer.

Rail Tractors

Number	Image	Year built	Builder	Status	Notes
RT 17		Unknown	Newport Workshops	Stored
RT 53		Unknown	Newport Workshops	Operational

Carriages

Number	Year built	Builder	Status
1 BW	1914	Newport Workshops	Stored
32 BW	1914	Newport Workshops	Stored
34 BW	1914	Newport Workshops	Stored
35 BW	1914	Newport Workshops	Stored

Guards Vans

Number	Image	Year built	Builder	Status	Notes
68 ZLP		1967	Newport Workshops	Stored
24 ZF			Newport Workshops	Stored

Line guide

The Yarra Valley Railway currently runs on a section of track from Healesville to the Tarrawarra Tunnel. The rest of the line between the stop board outside the Tarrawarra Tunnel exit and Yarra Glen is currently being restored.

Healesville railway line

Legend

					Line to Lilydale
				50 km	Yarra Glen future extension of heritage railway
					Melba Hwy
					Yarra Glen rec. reserve and showgrounds
					Steels Creek

					Simpsons Lane

					Pauls Creek
					Tarrawarra Road
				54.7 km	Tarrawarra future extension of heritage railway

					Tarrawarra Abbey service road (private access)

					Private access road

					Private access road

					Tunnel (154.4m)

					Donovans Road
					Old Donovans Road bridge

					Watts River

					Healesville-Kinglake Road
				63 km	Healesville