All aboard the restaurant train

The industrious people at Mornington Tourist Railway are pretty excited, as they’ve recently acquired three carriages from V/Line built in the 1980s that have airconditioning and other modern features. And their latest ‘reno’, the ‘state carriage’ known as Melville, entered service just a few months ago.

The first three need some work and adaptation to enable them to join the century-old woodenbodied carriages used by the railway, but it’s hoped they will be earning their keep by the first quarter of 2024, said railway society president Andrew Swaine. “They could form the kernel of a brilliant new tourist attraction on the Peninsula: a restaurant train. It would show off the best produce the Peninsula has to offer and provide another reason to visit our beautiful neck of the woods.”

Mornington Railway Preservation Society – aka Mornington Railway –was founded in May 1984 and continues to grow with a new generation of volunteers running the show. Their core ‘business’ is operating the tourist train between Moorooduc and Yuilles Rd, Mornington, on Sundays and public holidays, with the pride of the fleet, steam locomotive K163, puffing along what is left of the rural line after the State Government’s decision to end commercial trains in 1981 after 92 years of operation. The Moorooduc-Mornington tourist train started in 1999, although the society operated its first public trip on April 23, 1988, on the Stony Point line.

K163 made its first trip for the society in 1988. Earlier this year it returned to service after a three-year restoration at the Newport rail workshops. The locomotive has always been the symbol of the society, its evocative steam-driven whistle sounding out across Mornington and reminding older residents of the halcyon days when the train came right into town 150m from the beach. The station is now a shopping mall.

The society leases the rail corridor and 11ha opposite the intersection of Moorooduc Highway and Eramosa Road West from State Government agency VicTrack.

The latest trio of carriages came from V/Line and were built in the 1980s. They are known as an N set. Mr Swaine said the carriages could become part of a restaurant train, a party train or perhaps a wedding train with one section as a chapel and the rest as a reception area The state carriage Melville was built in 1901 and originally called Alexandra. It was used for two royal tours until 1919, when it was superseded. Melville was called a state car, but official correspondence referred to the first two built as royal carriages. Melville had two 4m saloons, one at either end, joined by a corridor serving two toilets, a private compartment for eight, and an attendant’s compartment with room for three.

The society refurbished the exterior at its Moorooduc headquarters. This included repainting the outside in the authentic blue and gold from the 1950s to the 1970s when it was in both vice-regal and Train of Knowledge service. It was also used as a mobile radio station, 3YB. Interior refurbishment is next. It will be used as a guards’ van for the time being. “The reno team is proud to showcase this important part of Victoria’s railway history and is looking forward to working on the interior,” Mr Swaine said.

The three N set carriages are a first class one with conductor’s van and 52 seats, an economy class one with snack bar and 67 seats, and another economy class with 88 seats. They are steel-bodied carriages with many modern, low-maintenance features, and are designed to operate as a coupled set.

There are some wonderful videos of the railway on YouTube under ‘Mornington Tourist Railway’. Details: morningtonrailway.org.au