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The friendliest
sound on the
Peninsula is
undoubtedly the
whistle of K163,
Mornington Tourist
Railway’s steam
loco, as it wends
its way across
the Northern
Peninsula
countryside.
It’s also the railway’s best
advertisement, as it lures dozens of
young families out of their homes on
weekends to experience rail travel the
way it used to be. For most children
it’s the closest thing they’ll get to the magic of
Hogwarts Express, even if the rapidly growing
suburbs on either side of the track doesn’t quite
measure up to the rolling countryside of middle
England.
Next year is the tenth anniversary of the
Mornington Railway Preservation Society’s move
to their headquarters next to the Mt Eliza Regional
Park, following previous locations at Cresco Park
in Hastings and at HMAS Cerberus. However, the
Society’s first home was Jubilee Park in Frankston,
where its early members worked onsite to restore
K163. It had been used as a piece of playground
equipment for many years until the Apex Club sold
the loco to the Society for $1.
After 20 years of voluntary labour - worth many
millions of dollars - the Society has settled
at Moorooduc and has taken its place as an
important player in the local industry. On most
running days they transport between 300 and 400
people on the 6km journey to Mornington.
It’s truly a labour of love for the Society’s 150
members, of which about 30 are the ‘hard core’,
who have almost handed their lives over to the
restoration and preservation of our little piece of
railway heritage.
Three or four days a week the Moorooduc depot
quietly buzzes with the activity of the volunteers,
who divide into sub groups to work on their
particular interests: engineering, signals, electrics,
upholstery, carriagework, track maintenance and
a myriad of other jobs that a working heritage
railway requires.
On operational days the number swells with
people needed to inspect the track, man the
crossings, sell tickets, staff the cafeteria and, of
course, run the train itself. The boiler of the steam
loco gets fired up soon after 6am to prepare for a
mid morning start and it takes 90 minutes to safely
shut it down at the end of the day – that’s a 12
hour stint for some of the volunteers.
Top of the pecking order are the volunteer drivers,
many of whom are ex-railway employees or
who have trained for more than ten years to get
their ‘ticket’. The drivers are such a sought-after
species that many of them spend weekend after
weekend assisting at the other heritage railways
around Victoria: Queenscliff, Seymour, Emerald,
Maldon, Walhalla and Leongatha. The firemen
who stoke the boilers require a boiler certificate
and years of experience. Many other roles require
a high level of training to meet the rigorous
standards required by the government regulator.
“ It’s all about manpower management”, says
committeeman Malcolm Swaine.
“ We’re a group that runs on passion and, despite
time demands and the ageing of members, we
have never missed a day of operation, but getting
the right people in the right place when needed
can be a challenge.
“ We’re delighted to have an active group of
people in their late teens and early 20s helping
out, because we always need to be recruiting new
blood at the bottom end.
“ The paperwork to keep us on the rails is almost
a fulltime job in itself. Every item replaced or
restored usually needs inspection and certification
by qualified people, which can be time consuming
and often expensive”.
The Mornington Railway is one of the newest
tourist railways in the State and its forward plans
include a five km easterly expansion to Baxter.
However, it will take about $3 million to upgrade
the track, including level crossings.
The Society has forged an alliance with longestablished
Steamrail Victoria. The track extension
and upgrade would allow Steamrail to collect
passengers from inner Melbourne locations, such
as Docklands, rail them in style to Mornington,
where they could connect with tour buses to visit
the wineries and other attractions.
For Spring/Summer Timetables see
our Locals at Leisure section - page 73
The upgrade would also make it possible
to run special services from the city to Mornington
Race Course.
In the meantime the Society relies on the high
volume family market to keep them in the black.
The $12 adult return fare and $6 child fare is
kept deliberately low to make it one of the most
affordable family outings in the area. The Society
is encouraged by the high level of return visits and
the overall growth in patronage.
Apart from occasional small grants, the Society
largely funds its operations from ticket revenue.
It’s a ‘smell of the oily rag’ existence, but railway
enthusiasts tend to be bower birds, adept at
tracking down free or low cost items from all over
the country. The handsome pedestrian bridge over
the rails was once part of the North Fitzroy Rail
Yards. Over the years it carried millions of Fitzroy
Football Club supporters over the lines from St
Georges Road into the home ground. A double
storey signal box from Somerton is the latest
arrival to the Moorooduc complex. Among the
rolling stock are quaint carriages dating back to
the earliest days of rail travel in Melbourne.
The steam loco K163 and two T-Class diesels are
used to pull the carriages on the 12 km round trip.
The most popular carriage with children is the
Party Car, which provides pre-booked groups with
hours of simple entertainment (BYO food). During
winter months the Society operates four trips a
day, but the longer summer days allows them to
run five trips. Whether it is pulled by steam
or diesel depends on the weather conditions and
fire restrictions.
There’s no shortage of roles for people wishing
to become involved with the Mornington Railway
Preservation Society – everything from café sales,
restoration work and even loco’ driving for those
who have a spare ten years to devote to the
training. Membership costs $30 per family
or $20 for individuals.
-Tim Bracher
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