WHO WE ARE

Daylesford Railway is the operating name of The Central Highlands Tourist Railway. Formed in 1981 the CHTRs objective was to run a tourist railway along the Daylesford to Carlsruhe branchline which  closed in 1978. After initial contact with the government of the day this was reduced to the section of line between Daylesford and Trentham. This too was rejected by the Ministry of Transport and final approval was given in 1985 to occupy the line between Daylesford and Bullarto, a distance of 9klm.

 The biggest hurdle to overcome was ¾ of a kilometre of missing track between Daylesford and Musk that was stolen soon after the line closed. This was replaced with the assistance of Community Employment Program in 1986.

 Work then continued on with restoring the remaining track and 280hp Walker Railcar 91RM until 1990 when services commenced between Daylesford and Musk. Track restoration then commenced on the remaining line which saw the section to Bullarto opened in 1997. Also at this time a grant was obtained for the construction of a much need restoration and maintenance shed.

 In February 2009, 1500 metres of track was burnt out in a bushfire which saw the line closed from the first 2 klm out of Daylesford for 12 months while disaster recovery funding was sort and the work undertaken with trains returning to the first station at Musk in August 2010.

Unfortunately due to the fire damage our volunteers had been unable to access the railway past Musk for 18 months to perform any maintenance activities. This saw the railway overgrown in places and with the high rainfall the region experiences much of the line has been underwater in the cuttings. An assessment identified that up to 2,000 sleepers needed to be replaced.

 It took a further 3 years to source funding to assist with this work, with trains finally able to travel the full length of the line to Bullarto in December of 2013.

 Like all parts of society we were impacted due to the Covid lockdowns, being unable to operate for most of 2020.

 Just when the economy was beginning to open up after the lock downs, an unprecedented windstorm struck the Central Highlands in June 2021 which resulted in over 800 trees blown down over the railway between Musk and Bullarto. Clean up works began in July after disaster recovery funding was approved, with the line reopening in September of that year.

 In 2022 as part of Covid recovery funding the Hepburn Shire received a grant to construct a replica of the 1887 station building at Bullarto. This had been the railways main development project for many years, both as a museum and to supply amenities to our passengers and opened to the public in April 2024.

 Looking forward, the railways main aim over the coming years is to extend operations back to Lyonville and Trentham, with preliminary studies under way.