Gembrook Line

The Gembrook Line branches off the main line to Healesville at Ringwood. Today the line is electrified with broad gauge passenger services operating as far as Belgrave. Narrow gauge 'Puffing Billy' steam tourist services operate along the remaining section of track between Belgrave and Gembrook.

Originally the broad gauge only extended as far as Upper Ferntree Gully with the remainder of the track being narrow gauge. During the 1950s the narrow gauge track was closed following significant losses on the line and a landslide near Selby. Following protests about the closure of the line a number of excursion trips were run between Upper Ferntree Gully and Belgrave and thus Puffing Billy was born.

In the late 1950s it was decided that the line would be electrified and converted to broad gauge between Upper Ferntree Gully and Belgrave. This required the Puffing Billy group to relocate their operations and so they commenced restoring the track from a new station at Belgrave towards Menzies Creek. The track was restored to Menzies Creek in the early 1960s, to Emerald in the late 1960s, to Lakeside during the 1970s and all the way to Gembrook in the late 1990s. The last section of restoration to Gembrook required the tracks which had been removed to be totally relaid.