Walhalla Goldfields Railway

Gold was found in the creek at Walhalla in 1862, and for nearly fifty years its deep mines made the town rich — but it sat at the bottom of a gorge in the Great Dividing Range, and every load of mining supplies, firewood and food cost a fortune to haul in. Walhalla asked for a railway from the early 1870s. The government approved one in 1900, built to the cheap 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge, and the 44 km line from Moe took six years to cut through the mountains. It opened on 3 May 1910.

By then the gold was running out. The Long Tunnel Extended mine closed in 1911 and the Long Tunnel, the richest of them all, in 1914; the town emptied around its new railway. The line beyond Platina closed in 1944, the rest in 1954, and by 1960 the rails, buildings and most of the bridges were gone.

In 1991 a taskforce set out to rebuild it, and in January 1993 volunteers began clearing half a century of scrub and landslides from the old formation. Trains crossed the Thomson River again in 1994 and climbed back into Walhalla in March 2002. The Walhalla Goldfields Railway now runs those last 4 kilometres, down Stringers Creek Gorge on timber trestles to the Thomson River and back.

Walhalla to Thomson

Every train starts at Walhalla station, a replica of the 1910 building, and leaves through a yard squeezed between Stringers Creek and the cliff below Happy-Go-Lucky Road. The first kilometre and a half is almost all bridge: the line criss-crosses the creek on six large timber trestles, each placed wherever the steep sides of the gorge gave a footing. The train winds downhill through rock cuttings and tree ferns, past Happy Creek, which was the end of the line from 1997 until the trestles into Walhalla were rebuilt, and crosses the Thomson River Bridge into Thomson station, about 20 minutes from the start. It leaves Thomson again 40 minutes after it left Walhalla.

The gorge road is no easier than the railway. When a rockfall closed it in May 2002, two months after the line reopened, the train was Walhalla's only link with the outside world for ten days.

The train

The railway runs diesels. The engine in service in November 2026 is Kasey, a small four-wheeled diesel-hydraulic built in 1970 by E.M. Baldwin & Sons at Castle Hill, New South Wales, which spent the 1970s and 1980s helping build the Thomson Dam upstream. With Kasey alone in service, trains are two carriages and 82 passengers, so booking ahead is wise. The fleet also includes 1001, the "Big Diesel", built by Walkers in 1963 for Tasmania's Emu Bay Railway and strong enough for all four carriages, and Spirit of Yallourn, a Fowler of 1951.

The carriages were built on the underframes of coal wagons from the State Electricity Commission's railway between Yallourn and Morwell, styled after the wooden narrow-gauge carriages of the Victorian Railways. On Wednesdays the railway runs its trolley train instead: smaller vintage cars with narrow steps, with no room for wheelchairs, prams or dogs.

Trains run all year on Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and every day in the summer school holidays — from 28 December 2026 to 17 January 2027 on the railway's booking calendar. There are no trains on Christmas Day. All trains start at Walhalla; the return trip takes one hour, and one way is about 20 minutes. Times are local.

Outside the summer holidays only the 10:00 and 12:00 run on Wednesdays, and the railway runs its vintage trolley train, which cannot carry wheelchairs, prams or dogs other than assistance animals; the station keeps prams safe while you ride. On other days the station and train have a ramp and space for wheelchairs and prams, and well-behaved dogs on a lead may travel.

Night trains

The Winter Light Trains run at 19:00 every Saturday in August, through the gorge to Thomson and back with a hot chocolate at the far end. Book ahead; they fill.

Getting to the train

Walhalla is a mountain drive from Moe or Traralgon. There is no fuel in Walhalla, satellite navigation in the area is unreliable and internet reception comes and goes, so follow the road signs and arrive at least 15 minutes before departure. Park in the South car park.

Times and running days are from the Walhalla Goldfields Railway's timetable and booking calendar — as of November 2026. The railway posts same-day changes on its Facebook page; check the day on the fares and timetable page (opens in a new tab) before travelling.

Tickets are sold by the railway, return or one way, and booked online for a chosen train. Children aged 3 to 16 and holders of seniors or concession cards pay a reduced fare, younger children ride free on a guardian's knee, and family tickets cover two adults and two children or one adult and three. Companion Card holders travel free.

Online bookings close at 08:00 on the day of travel, and online prices include a booking fee. With one locomotive in service each train carries 82 people, so book weekend and holiday trains ahead. Cancellations need 24 hours' notice. Fares checked November 2026.

No rail pass covers the Walhalla Goldfields Railway. It is a volunteer-run heritage line that sells its own tickets.

Is it worth it? There is nothing to buy: book the fare.

Checked November 2026.

Walhalla is the stop that matters: a gold town of one winding street, with walks up the valley sides and the Long Tunnel Extended mine, where guided tours go 300 metres into the hill to the old underground machinery chamber.

The first train leaves Walhalla at 10:00, and the drive in is long and slow, so a night in the town makes the morning easy. Walhalla also has cottages and a campground run by its heritage body.

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