ENJOY UNIQUE TRAIN EXPERIENCE

BY MIKAYLA VAN LOON

Enjoying a unique train ride experience in the Yarra Ranges is made much easier by the volunteers at the Mooroolbark and District Miniature Railway Club.

Recently celebrating 40 years in operation, the miniature railway has been providing children and adults the opportunity to take a ride on an electric or motorised train since its inception on 17 April 1983.

Open every fourth Sunday of the month throughout the year, volunteers welcome hundreds of visitors to the railway, located at Kiloran Park, to enjoy a family day out.

One of the original members of the club and treasurer of 42 years, Richard Knight, said what was just a pile of dirt in the ‘80s has become a glorious spot for a picnic.

“We’ve done a lot of beautiful, marvellous things…you can see the difference in 40 years. There were hardly any trees on the site, it was basically the fill that came out when the swimming pool was dug,” he said.

“So we planted lots and lots of trees, we’ve planted garden beds now and the site really does look a treat.”

The first 210 metre section of hand dug track was finished by 1983, ready for the official opening in April, with an expansion to take over two decades to complete.

“In about 1995 we approached the council and said we’d like to expand our tracks, we need a little bit of extra land,” Mr Knight said.

“We then put a proposal to them that we’d like to build a carriage shed, a tunnel, bridges, enclose the station and signal box, as well as nice picnic areas for people to enjoy.

“The council granted us this. It’s taken us nearly 25 years to get all of this completed and running. We now have 950 metres of mainline track.”

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, volunteers who lived close enough to the track were able to complete the 1995 vision by finishing a further 300 metres of track.

With only 90 miniature railway clubs across the country, it’s quite a privilege for the Yarra Ranges to have such a location for visitors and the community to take advantage of.

“We’ve got a dozen members with locomotives, the club has two locomotives with two more under construction and I believe the club has 14 passenger carriages.

“On a normal monthly run day, we’d have six or seven trains running at various times with owners then the club locomotives at the same time.”

To commemorate 40 years, a mural of Mooroolbark Train Station from the 1920s has also been painted on the carriage shed, a stellar sight to see.

Equipped with a kiosk, accessible picnic tables, an electric barbecue, shelters and a nearby public toilet, making a day of coming to the Mooroolbark Miniature Railway has never been so easy.

Find the Mooroolbark Miniature Railway at Kiloran Park on Hawthory Road Mooroolbark. Train rides are $3 each, with children under four riding free.

To learn more, go to www.mmr.org.au