J.W. Gardner erected premises in Beech Forest which formed the core of a village. No further progress was made until access was facilitated though the development of a narrow gauge railway approved by the Victorian Parliament in 1898. Construction commenced in 1900. From this time Colac and Geelong business interests began investment in Beech Forest and established various retail and service establishments over the next few years. In 1902 three early settlers, Gardner, Charles Buchanan and John Cockerill, divided part of their land or bought land which was sold to businesses. On these subdivisions were created saleyards, general stores, a post office, bakery, blacksmithing, banks, a police station and lock-up, a public hall, churches, a state school, bootmaker, butcher, solicitor's office, hairdresser, billiard's saloon and newsagency.B/W. 188mm x 266mm. A general view of Beech Forest township in c.1903.beech forest; township;

The Puffing Billy Preservation Society came into existence by a popular desire to retain something of our narrow gauge railway past, leisurely in this age but a boon to the sparsely settled areas it served in the past. It served the Wangaratta-Whitefield line, the Upper Ferntree Gully-Gembrook line, the Colac-Beech Forest-Crowes line, and the Moe-Walhalla line, the last railway line served being the Colac-Beech Forest line. None of these railways were a paying proposition but they played an important part in the areas they served. Nowadays, the last bit of line is a portion of the Upper Ferntree Gully-Gembrook line, from Belgrave to Lakeside, run by the Society. The Engine Shed has several small NA-class locomotives with NBH excursion carriages, and at the moment the Garratt G class in pieces. Here comes Puffing Billy! Puffing Billy Preservation Society; Belgrave (Vic); nd (after Aug. 1962). 18 p.; illus., maps. Soft cover.puffing billy preservation society; railways; wangaratta; whitefield; upper frentree gully; gembrook; colac; beech forest; crowes; moe; walhalla;

The Museum was first considered in 1963 when it was felt that Victorian narrow gauge railway history was quickly being destroyed by progress. Originally it was planned to only cater for two locomotives and some rolling stock associated with the Moe and Walhalla Railway. Construction of the site commenced on Labour Day Weekend in March 1964, the area was then fenced. The first exhibit arrived soon after and companies with locomotives and other railway features offered items to the Museum. When interesting exhibits from the "Steam Era " were known to be coming available,discussions were held with the owners in an attempt to obtain the item for preservation. In 1965 an Umbrella style shed was built and by May, the first locomotive ex Erica State Saw Mill (CLIMAX) had arrived. The Museum was opened to the public in November 1970 but was officially opened by His Excellency the Governor of Victoria, Sir Rohan Delacombe on Saturday 7th April 1973.Historic - Puffing Billy Museum Entry SignPuffing Billy Museum Entry Sign Rectangular hand painted sign in use from 1970.Puffing Billy Museum This is one of the Volunteer activities of The Puffing Billy Preservation Society Preserving part of our National Heritage Proud to Help Preserve Australia's Heritage puffing billy, menzies creek, sir rohan delacombe, narrow gauge, steam

Black and white photograph of a horse drawn bus with the destination Northcote to Clifton Hill, with the driver on top of the vehicle, whip and his well covered legs. Has two horses harnessed. Appears to be a narrow gauge railway in front of the horses. See Reg Item 1784 for a newspaper clipping featuring the same photo - reported to be the last horse bus Clifton Hill to Collingwood. Photo from the Collection of the Department of Infrastructure now with the Public Records Office - image number H5. Note: this photo is now out of copyright and was not an original VR photograph, but one copied from another source and collected as their Heritage series.Has Department of Infrastructure copy right stamp on rear and number "H 5" in ink on rear and "5-2"trams, tramways, horse buses, clifton hill

Upwey Station Sign; Upwey Railway Station is located on the Belgrave line in Victoria, Australia. This railway serves the Eastern region of Melbourne. Upwey Railway Station opened on the 3rd of June 1901. Upwey Railway Station has a crossing loop in the middle of a six kilometre section of single railway track between Ferntree Gully Railway Station and Belgrave Railway Station. The station was originally on the Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook narrow gauge line. The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook Narrow Gauge railway line officially closed on the 30th of April 1954. It saw further use between 1955 and early 1958, when trains were operated by the Puffing Billy Preservation Society in co-operation with the Victorian Railways. The Upper Ferntree Gully to Belgrave section was converted to Broad Guage and re-opened on the 19th of February 1962. This station sign shown here was one of a number used on the Upwey Railway Station while it was Narrow Gauge. Historic - Victorian Railways Station sign used at Upwey StationUpwey wooden rectangle Station name sign pained yellow background with black font.Upweypuffing billy, station sign, upwey station, victorian railways

NBC COMBINED SECOND-CLASS PASSENGER CAR AND GUARD'S VAN. Six cars, numbered 1-6, were built during 1898-1905 and originally classed NBDBD. The repeat of the 'BD' lettering in the classification signified that the vehicle was carried on bogie wheels. At the time the letter D was the letter code for Brakevans / Guard's Vans, but this was changed to C when the double-letter code was simplified in 1910. The letter C now being used to describe that a guards compartment was included in the bogie vehicle. On the narrow gauge, the vehicle numbers were retained. A final NBC numbered 7 was added to the fleet in 1910 Between 1926 and 1929 the cars were converted to autocoupler operation. 6NBC Used on the Upper Ferntree Gully, Wangaratta and Colac narrow gauge railways. Withdrawn from service 1951 and used as a workman's hut at Pakenham. Purchased by the Puffing Billy Preservation Society and moved to Menzies Creek in 1959 Utilised as a ticket office and kiosk for the Museum from 1965 to 2010. Service History : NBDBD 6.VA - 26/ 5/1905 NWS Built new - circa 1910 - To NBC 6.VA - *NBC 6.VA - circa 1910 - Reference Photo SL20 p25 /12/1927 - Modified AC Malco BO 19/ 1/1951 - Scrapped Historic - Victorian Railways - Narrow Gauge Rolling Stock - NBC 2nd Class Passenger Car and Guard's VanTimber body (Painted) Steel Chassis (painted) Brass Fittings (Raw) Steel Fittings (Painted)6NBCpuffing billy railway, pbr, 6nbc - victorian railways nbc class combined passenger and guards van. 2'6" gauge

The Q class were introduced as bogie flatwagons in the 1870's. Large Q wagons as shown were built to the 1920's In the early 1900's, some Q wagons were modified for Pintsch Gas traffic with a small pump motor cabin at one end and a tank for carrying the gas. Other conversions for traffic were as required. Examples were: sheet glass, skeletal underframes between workshops In 1926 the railways built two narrow gauge Garratt locomotives. As normal wagons were unsuitable for moving these locomotives a special skeletal wagon was built. The engines were split into units for transportation. It featured axle bearings and boxes from steam engines, had hinged buffers that could drop out of the way during loading/unloading. It also featured 'strap' rail along the deck. The wagon was Q 129. This wagon was also available for general narrow gauge rolling stock. Q wagons were numbered from 1 to 136. Service History: *Q 129.VA - 1/ 6/1926 NWS Built new H/brake & drop buffers. For traffic of Narrow Guage stock 31/ 1/1931 NWS Into Workshops - 16/ 6/1931 NWS Out of Workshops (50 days) 6/11/1931 NWS Into Workshops - 27/11/1931 NWS Out of Workshops (22 days) 24/ 8/1936 NWS Into Workshops - 10/ 9/1936 NWS Out of Workshops (18 days) 27/11/1936 NWS Into Workshops - 26/ 2/1937 NWS Out of Workshops (Light repairs) circa 1960 - Photograph SL20 p32, loaded with 7NA / /1975 - Photograph #393 / /1976 - Photograph #553, #554 19/ 3/1979 - Condemned - 10/ 4/1979 - Off Register - 10/ 4/1979 - Sold (to) ETR, Belgrave / /1989 EME Body [GRE]. [SXC]: 29/3/92, MEL127E5, Puffing Billy at station Historic - Victorian Railways - Transporter wagon used to carry and transfer 2' 6" Narrow gauge rolling stock over Victorian broad gauge (1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) main lines to the narrow gauge lines. Q 129 was unique, it was built to transport narrow gauge locomotives. Transporter Wagon made of Steel and wrought Iron129Q129q, puffing billy, transporter wagon

Victoria's narrow gauge railways were from Wangaratta to Whitfield (covering 30.5 miles/49 km) opening in 1899, Colac to Beech Forest (29 miles/46.7 km) opening in 1902 with an addition to Crowes (14.1 miles/22.7 km) opening in 1910, Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook (18.2 miles/29.3 km) opening in 1900, and Moe to Walhalla (26 miles/41.3 km) opening in 1910. From the outset these narrow gauge lines proved very uneconomical in operation and were plagued with continuing financial losses. The lines most difficult to work were those carrying the most business, and in particular the trains from Colac and Moe with their 1 in 30 grades and countless curves precluded having engines with large coupled driving wheels operating. Having examined the possible use of articulated locomotives to reduce operating costs on the narrow gauge lines the Victorian Railways decided upon the Beyer-Garratt type of locomotive in 1925 and an order was placed in England for two engines of the 2-6-0 plus 0-6-2 wheel arrangements. These arrived in April 1926. Assembly of the new Garratts was duly completed and steaming trials carried out at Newport, Victoria, the engines being classed as "G" and given the running numbers "41" and "42". G41 was taken to Colac where, on 5 June 1926, it was put to work on the Colac-Beech Forest-Crowes line. G42 soon followed and duly began work on the equally steep and tortuous but shorter Moe-Walhalla line. Following the closure of the Moe line in 1955 G42 was refurbished and went to Colac. G41 was overhauled, but not as thoroughly as G42, at then returned to Colac where both Garratts shared regular work on the line until its closure in 1962. From 1978 G42 continues its operation on the Upper Ferntree Gully-Gembrook line as part of the Puffing Billy Preservation Society.G42: Puffing Billy's Big Brother. Pictorial history of a Beyer-Garratt in Victoria, Australia. Phil A'Vard, Larry James, Ron Peach (concept). Puffing Billy Preservation Society; Belgrave (Vic); 1980. 64 p.; illus; map. Soft cover. ISBN 0 9598392 7 5victorian railways; narrow gauge; moe; walhalla; colac; beech forest; crowes; upper ferntree gully; gembrook; beyer-garratt;

G42 Garratt Steam Locomotive Traffic and train loadings on Victoria's narrow gauge railways reached their peak during the 1920s. To assist in handling the longer, heavier trains, the Victorian Railways ordered two larger, more powerful Beyer Garratt locomotives. These were delivered in 1926 and were numbered G41 and G42. They were sent to work on the Colac–Beech Forest–Crowes line and the Moe–Walhalla line respectively. After the line from Moe closed in 1954, G42 was sent to Colac, where it worked with its mate, G41, until closure of that line in mid-1962. G41 had been in poor condition and was scrapped, whereas a brighter future awaited G42. The Victorian Railways offered G42 to the Puffing Billy Preservation Society, for display as a static exhibit in the Menzies Creek Museum. Over time, a plan evolved to restore G42 to operation, a goal that was eventually achieved by the launch of G42 back into traffic in April 2004. G42 now continues to operate as a restored member of the Puffing Billy Railway's locomotive fleet. No. originally constructed: 2 No. in service: 1 (No. 42) Boiler pressure: (lb/sq. in) 180 Boiler heating surface: 1268 sq ft (117.8 m2) Tractive effort: (85%) 26,860 lbs (12.18 t) Driving wheel diameter: 36" (91.44 cm) Max axle load: 9t 5cwt Length Overall: 51' 7" (15.72m) Height Overall: 10' 8" (3.28m) Date of manufacture: 1926 Manufacturer: Beyer Peacock Place of manufacture: Manchester UK Locomotive Type: Garratt Coal capacity: 70 cwt Cylinder diameter: 13" (33.02 cm) Cylinder stroke: 18" (45.72 cm) Wheel arrangement: 2-6-0+0-6-2 Roadworthy weight: 69t Water capacity: 1680 gal (7,637.43 l) Beyer Peacock - Garratt Locomotives Register Works Number - 6268 / 1926 Gauge/Railway/Class - 2'6"/Victorian Government Rlys/G Type - 2-6-0+0-6-2 No. G42 Notes - Australia G42 Built in 1926 and painted all-over black, this Garratt locomotive was issued to the Moe to Walhalla line where it remained—other than for overhauls—until the line closed in 1954. After an overhaul at Newport Workshops, it was issued to the Colac to Crowes line and remained there until that line closed in 1962 when it was returned to Newport Workshops for storage. In 1964 it was sold to the Puffing Billy Preservation Society and removed from the V.R. register 3 months later. It arrived at Belgrave in 1968 and was hauled to Menzies Creek for static display in the museum. 1986 saw the commencement of restoration the Belgrave workshops and has been restored to its 1946 to 1954 condition with raised cab roof, raised marker lamps, steel cow-catchers and all-over black livery. It was returned to service on April 18, 2004. Service History : Jun 1926 - Moe - initial allocation of a new locomotive Jun 1926 - Oct 1954 Moe Oct 1954 - Jan 1955 Workshops Jun 1955 - May 1962 Colac Jul 1962 - Dec 1965 Workshops - Stored Jan 1968 - Feb 1968 Belgrave - Stored Feb 1968 - 1982 - Menzies Creek Steam Museum 1982 - 2004 - Under restoration Apr 2004 - Belgrave - In active service at Puffing Billy Railway BelgraveHistoric - Victorian Railways - Narrow Gauge - Garratt Steam Locomotive - G42 Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H2187 G42 Garratt Steam Locomotive made of steel, iron and wrought iron with brass fittings - the Locomotive is in Active Service - Belgrave Station G42puffing billy, narrow gauge, garratt, g42, steam locomotive, beyer peacock, victorian railways

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