Yarra Valley Railway

10/03/2026

What a weekend our volunteers have had at Newport Workshops Open Days!

Thank you to all our volunteers, the visitors to our stall, and most of all to Steamrail Victoria for being a most brilliant host with their wonderful team putting on an excellent event.

Railway enthusiasm and the interest in railway heritage is alive and well! Bring on the next open days in two years!

08/03/2026

**FINAL DAY UNTIL 2028** - 2026 NEWPORT WORKSHOP OPEN DAYS!

Get your tickets! https://www.steamrail.com.au/opendays

See 30 STEAM LOCOS ON DISPLAY over two sites!
- Steamrail Victoria’s A2 986, D3 639, K153, K183, K190, R711, R761 & Y112 on display! - See them operate up close, view the cab, blow the whistle and meet the volunteer crew!
- 134 year old Y112 - Operating for the first open days in 4 years!
- 17 Steam locomotives statically preserved at the Newport Railway Museum
- Special guest loco Klondyke from the Bellarine Railway!
- Newly restored K160 from the Victorian Goldfields Railway
- R707 from 707 Operations
- Freshly repainted R711
- Class leader R700 on display

PLUS
- The Royal Train, visiting from the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre
- The preserved electric ‘Red Rattler’ Tait Train
- Heritage Diesel & Electric locomotives
- Silver Hitachi electric train on display at the Newport Railway Museum
- Passenger Mail Motor RM74 under restoration by the Daylesford Railway
- Overhead wire inspection carriage IEV102 from Metro Trains
- Railmotor 58RM and AEC half cab bus #560 from DERMPAV
- 100+ year old carriages open for public inspection

OTHER DISPLAYS
- Guided Tours of the 140 year old railway workshops
- 707 Operations and DERMPAV workshops & carriages open
- The restoration of the iconic Clocktower will be open to view and to meet the Hobsons Bay Men's Shed volunteers
- See how the only remaining operational Steam Locomotive Weighbridge in Victoria works
- Displays showcasing the workshops’ rich railway & wartime history
- Aviation displays including aircraft cockpits from Moorabbin Air Museum
- Enjoy a game of ‘Trugo’ under the clocktower - Celebrate the 100th anniversary of the sport invented at Newport Workshops
- Model railway layouts from AMRA & Sunbury Model Rail Club
- Vintage cars and steam powered machinery
- Displays from local history groups - Williamstown Historical Society & National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Inner West Branch

REFRESHMENTS
- 1940s Club Car ‘Moorabool’ serving light snacks & refreshments
- Food Trucks & a Coffee Van with a range of delicious options
- DERMPAV's famous sausage sizzle

NEWPORT RAILWAY MUSEUM
The Newport Workshops Open Days are located over two sites. Included with your ticket is free entry to the Newport Railway Museum. Visit the 140 year old F176 or Victoria's largest locomotive, the famous Heavy Harry. Also open for viewing will be the heritage North Williamstown Signal Box, railway models and various suburban rail carriages dating from the 1888 'Swing Door' to the 1980 'Hitachi' and 1983 'Grey Ghost' carriages.

LOCATION
NEWPORT RAILWAY WORKSHOPS, CHAMPION ROAD WILLIAMSTOWN NORTH. MAIN GATE AT WATER TOWER OPPOSITE CEMETERY.

Parking will be limited at the event, which is a 15 minute walk from North Williamstown Station.
A heritage shuttle bus will be operating over the three days, making a round trip picking up and setting down at Newport Station, Steamrail Newport Workshops (Open Days Location) and the Railway Museum.

OPEN TIMES
10am to 5pm Daily, Saturday 7th to Monday 9th March 2026 (Victorian Labour Day Long Weekend)

PRICES
Adults - $35 - Adults Ticket (17 & Over) - Adults Tickets are at Seniors/Concession Prices. No further discounts are available.
Under 17 - $15 - Under 17 Ticket (Valid for 3 to 16 year old)
Under 3 - Free
Family - $86 (2 adults or Seniors or Concessions and 2 children) or (1 Adult or Senior or Concession and 4 children)
Companion Card Holder Ticket - $0 (A Free Companion Card Holder Ticket is available to any fare paying ticket)

Book ahead for entry straight into the event! https://www.steamrail.com.au/opendays

07/03/2026

We're back again today at Steamrail Victoria's Newport Workshops Open Days! Come talk with our volunteers about Yarra Valley Railway, see a video display of our works over the last few years, and a scratch built 5 inch gauge model of 22RM. We also have fantastic t-shirts (while the stock lasts that is!), hats, caps and more! Find us inside the main workshop building inside the first door. See you soon!

06/03/2026

It's here! Steamrail Victoria's Newport Workshops Open Days weekend has arrived, who needs the vroom vrooms when there are trains, trains and more trains! Come talk with our volunteers about Yarra Valley Railway, see a video display of our works over the last few years, and a scratch built 5 inch gauge model of 22RM. We also have plenty of fantastic t-shirts in stock (while the stock lasts that is!), hats, caps and more! See you soon we'll be here all three days!

06/03/2026

03/03/2026

As the season changes, it signals hopefully cooler weather and excitingly, a track reconstruction update!

We’ve been continuing the march between Yarra Glen and the Tarrawarra Tunnel, building the track from the ground up. We had a huge push to trim the ends of rail, moving them onto previously installed sleepers with a hirail excavator, and securing them to the sleepers with a few clips.

Further towards the Tarrawarra tunnel we’ve been continuing with formation rehabilitation, distributing bottom ballast and sleeper laying.

We can see the bulldozer working to cut the subgrade to the final level, see if you can spot the total station that tracks the position of a prism on the dozer blade that is used to guide the blade to just the right level.

The tippers continue to bring in bottom ballast for distribution, due to the available access they sometimes need to back up a fair distance along the formation. It’s hard to notice in the video but the ballast that gets dropped on the bridge is of a smaller size than the ballast used on open track.

When the bottom ballast has been laid it is compacted with a roller a few times, ballast that has been laid with the ballast box is surprisingly spongy underfoot until compaction occurs.

Concrete sleeper laying has continued with the octopus attachment on the excavator. The sleepers are stockpiled in strategic locations near the track, with loader with fork attachment used to bring the sleepers up to the excavator one pack at a time.

With thanks as always to our friends at Acciona, Hitch Group, Jordan Rail and Ranges Earth Moving, and most of all, our incredible volunteers.

Want to join this momentous piece of work as a volunteer? Get in touch!

01/03/2026

We're looking forward to Newport Workshops Open Days, and who can resist scones?

25/02/2026

Just 10 sleeps to go until the 2026 Newport Open Days!
From Saturday March 7th until Monday March 9th (Labour Day) Victoria's biggest biennial railway celebration is on at Newport Railway Workshops.

See many steam engines and more, displays from many organisations including the Yarra Valley Railway. We will be selling merchandise, and have a fully staffed stall of volunteers ready to meet you and tell you all about our railway! We hope to see you there! Follow Steamrail Victoria to keep up to date with all the wonderful happenings.

Tickets and info: https://www.trybooking.com/DICBI

20/02/2026

The Yarra Valley Railway has made the difficult decision to pause all passenger services from Healesville until further notice.

This is to allow our team to focus on rollingstock restoration and track restoration to Tarrawarra and Yarra Glen.

We will announce on our website and social media when we have a date for services to recommence. Any customers who had pre-booked tickets for upcoming trips will be contacted by our team of volunteers as soon as is possible to be offered a refund.

While passenger services might be paused, the work behind the scenes is only ramping up.
Our work on Destination: Yarra Glen, Australia’s Largest Volunteer Infrastructure project, continues. A significant amount of work has been completed by volunteers in rebuilding bridges, laying track, restoration of stations and platforms and more. Yarra Valley Railway has also been proud to work with industry partners as we bring this vision to reality.

We’re also making significant progress on rollingstock restoration. The restoration and overhaul of 55RM, our 1928 built ‘Super DERM’ railmotor is continuing, with the overhaul of engines for this railmotor nearing completion. Our overhaul of diesel electric locomotive Y135 is also nearing the end, with preparations for final painting continuing. The final push to overhaul and commission ballast wagons for use in our ballast trains is also continuing.

While passenger services are paused, there will be plenty of opportunities for volunteers to pitch in, including in the Mechanical Workshops, out on track with the Way and Works branch or in the preparation of the Stations and systems, processes and training for full operations from Yarra Glen.

It is important to note that all Yarra Valley Railway sites will still be active during this pause in passenger services, including all stations and the entire rail corridor. Trains and works vehicles may travel along the railway line between Healesville and Yarra Glen at any time. Please stay out of the corridor at all times.

15/02/2026

Will we be seeing you at the 2026 Newport Open Days?
Over the Labour Day long weekend the historic Newport Railway Workshops will open its doors to the public, showcasing the hard preservation work of heritage railway organisations.

The Yarra Valley Railway will proudly displaying the progress on our track reconstruction. Like last Open Days we will be also selling merchandise, and will have our friendly volunteer team ready to provide you with an insight into volunteering at the Yarra Valley Railway.

Tickets and info avaliable: https://www.steamrail.com.au/opendays