Yarra Valley Railway
RM22 passes under the old Donovans Road bridge on the Yarra Valley Railway
Overview
Service type	Tourist service
Status	Operational tourist services from Healesville to Tunnel Hill, relaying track to Yarra Glen
Locale	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
First service	1985; 39 years ago (1985)
Current operator(s)	Yarra Valley Tourist Railway (1988–Current)
Former operator(s)	Healesville Railway Cooperative (1984–1990)
Website	Yarra Valley Tourist Railway
Route
Termini	Healesville Tunnel Hill
Stops	1 current stations 2 stations being rebuilt
Distance travelled	3.970 km (2.467 mi)
Service frequency	60 minutes from 10am to 4pm Sunday, Public Holiday and Wednesday during School Holidays
Line(s) used	Healesville
Technical
Track owner(s)	Yarra Valley Tourist Railway
Route map Legend km Healesville Watts River Tunnel Hill Tarrawarra (planned extension) Pauls Creek Steels Creek Melba Highway Yarra Glen (planned extension) Healesville line to Lilydale km This diagram: view talk edit

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]

Station histories

Rollingstock

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

Locomotives

Number	Image	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.[4]
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.[5] Left VGR in late 2011 for Newport Workshops for an overhaul for preparation to return to Healesville.

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.

Panoramic shot of Healesville Station with the railmotor RM22 sitting in the platform