Victoria desk
Puffing Billy Steam Train: A Perfect Day Trip Outside Melbourne
Puffing Billy is a narrow-gauge steam railway in the hills east of Melbourne, running on a line that opened in 1900 to serve farms in the Dandenongs and closed as a commercial proposition in 1953. It was reopened by volunteers, and it is now the most reliable day trip out of the city for anyone without a car; the suburban train goes to the door.
It is also a working heritage railway, not a theme park, which affects almost everything about how a visit goes.
The route
| Station | From Belgrave | What is there |
|---|---|---|
| Belgrave | 0 km | Terminus, workshops, suburban rail connection |
| Menzies Creek | 5 km | Passing loop, picnic ground |
| Emerald | 11 km | Township, shops |
| Lakeside | 13 km | Emerald Lake Park, most services turn here |
| Gembrook | 24 km | Far terminus, selected services |
The trestle bridge
The Monbulk Creek trestle
A curved timber trestle just outside Belgrave, and the image the railway is known by. It is the reason the line survived at all: the bridge was damaged by a landslip in 1953, the railway closed rather than repair it, and the campaign to rebuild it is what created the preservation society.
You can walk to it. A track from the Belgrave station area reaches a viewing point beside the bridge in about fifteen minutes, and standing under it while a train crosses is a better experience than being on the train at that moment.
- Address
- Monbulk Creek trestle, Belgrave, Victoria
- Status
- Changed (rebuilt after the 1953 landslip)
- Access
- Walking track, free
- Checked
- Aug 2026
What changed in 2018
For most of its preserved life the railway allowed passengers to sit on the windowsills of the open carriages with their legs outside, and that image is what most people picture. It was discontinued in 2018 following a safety review.
The carriages are unchanged (open-sided, with wide windows that still open) and the experience of riding through the forest at twenty kilometres an hour with the smell of coal and hot oil is the same. But the photograph everyone has seen is of something that is no longer allowed, and it is better to know that before buying tickets for children who have seen it.
Which service to take
Most trains run Belgrave to Lakeside and back, about an hour each way. Emerald Lake Park at the Lakeside end has a lake, a picnic ground, a café and a model railway, and an hour there between trains is comfortable.
Through services to Gembrook run on selected days and make a full-day outing: two hours each way with a break at the far end. Gembrook is a small township with a pub and a bakery and not much else, and the last leg is the quietest and prettiest part of the line.
Seats are sold by class and service and the popular ones sell out at weekends and in school holidays. Booking ahead is not optional in December and January.
Getting there
Take the Belgrave line to its terminus, about an hour from Flinders Street, and walk five minutes downhill to the Puffing Billy station. It is one of the very few Melbourne day trips that needs no car at all, and the suburban fare is covered by an ordinary Myki.
Driving takes about an hour from the city on the Burwood Highway. Parking at Belgrave is limited and fills early at weekends; Lakeside has more room if you want to ride the line in the other direction.
Around the railway
The Dandenongs carry several other things worth an afternoon: the Sherbrooke Forest walking tracks from Belgrave, the mountain ash stands around Kallista, and a run of gardens that are at their best in autumn. The hills are markedly cooler and wetter than the city, often by five degrees and a jacket.
They are on the opposite side of the ranges from Warburton and the Yarra Valley, so the two do not combine well in one day despite looking close on a map.
What it is and is not
It is a volunteer-operated heritage railway with a real workshop, real locomotives under restoration and a timetable that occasionally changes because a boiler certificate expired. It is not a ride. Delays happen, steam locomotives are sometimes substituted with diesel at short notice, and the service on the day is the service you get.
That is also why it is worth going. The rest of the Victoria material is in the Australia desk, and the other Victorian day trip that pairs with this one is Hepburn Springs. The city end of the same day is in the Melbourne cafe guide.
How the line survived
The Victorian Railways built four narrow-gauge lines around 1900 to serve districts too poor to justify a broad-gauge branch. This one ran from Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook, carrying timber, potatoes and passengers, and it lost money almost from the start.
A landslip damaged the Monbulk Creek trestle in 1953 and the railway used it as grounds to close rather than repair. The closure prompted a public campaign, the campaign became a preservation society, and volunteers reopened the line in stages from 1962, reaching Gembrook again in 1998: forty-five years after the last scheduled train.
That history is why the operation feels the way it does. It is a volunteer railway with a real workshop, not a heritage attraction assembled around a ride.
Choosing a service
| Service | Time each way | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Belgrave – Lakeside | ~1 hour | The standard trip; lake, picnic ground and café at the far end |
| Belgrave – Gembrook | ~2 hours | The full line, the quietest section, a whole day |
| Menzies Creek shuttle | ~20 min | Small children, or a short taste |
Carriage classes vary and the open-sided carriages are the ones to want. Seats are sold per service and the popular ones go at weekends and in school holidays; December and January need booking well ahead.
Photographing the trestle
The walk from Belgrave station to the trestle viewing point takes about fifteen minutes on a formed track. It is free, it needs no ticket, and standing under the bridge while a train crosses is a better experience than being on the train at that moment.
The train timetable is published, so the shot can be planned. Morning light comes through the forest from the east and the bridge curves away to the left from the viewpoint, which is the composition every photograph of this railway uses.
The Dandenongs around the line
- Sherbrooke Forest: mountain ash and tree ferns, with walking tracks from Belgrave and Kallista and a decent chance of hearing a lyrebird.
- The Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden at Olinda, with a rhododendron collection that is worth the trip in October.
- Olinda and Sassafras: hill villages with tea rooms that keep country hours.
- The Kokoda Track Memorial Walk at Ferntree Gully; a thousand steps up through forest, and a genuinely hard climb.
The hills are five degrees cooler than the city and wetter, and they get fog that the plain does not. A jacket is the right call even in February.
Practicalities
- Public transport: Belgrave line to the terminus, then five minutes downhill on foot. One of the very few Melbourne day trips that needs no car.
- Driving: about an hour from the city. Belgrave parking is limited and fills early at weekends; Lakeside has more room.
- Steam is not guaranteed. A boiler certificate expiring or a locomotive under repair means a diesel substitution at short notice, and the railway is honest about it.
- Fire danger. On days of total fire ban, steam operation is suspended and services run behind a diesel or not at all.
Frequently asked questions
Where does Puffing Billy run?
Between Belgrave and Gembrook in the Dandenong Ranges, about forty kilometres east of central Melbourne. The line is twenty-four kilometres long and most services run part of it, commonly Belgrave to Lakeside, with through trains to Gembrook on selected days.
Can you still sit on the windowsills?
No. Sitting on the carriage sills with legs outside was the railway’s signature for decades and was discontinued in 2018 on safety grounds. Open-sided carriages remain, and the windows still open, but legs stay inside.
How do you get to Puffing Billy without a car?
Take the suburban train to Belgrave, the end of the Belgrave line, and walk about five minutes to the Puffing Billy station. It is one of the few day trips out of Melbourne that works entirely on public transport.
How long is the Puffing Billy trip?
Belgrave to Lakeside takes about an hour each way, so a return with time at the lake is roughly three hours. The full run to Gembrook is closer to two hours each way and makes a full day.