Steam trains get back on track

HOP on board a one-hundred-and-seven-year-old steam train and explore the region by rail next weekend.

Steamrail Victoria is bringing their 1915 steam powered A2 986 and diesel T395 up from Melbourne for a jam-packed Bendigo Steam Weekend.

Volunteer, Noah Clancey, said the A2 986’s return to the region was a significant one, making for a special trip for passengers.

“It’s basically newly restored, it came back into service in 2016 after Steamrail volunteers restored it for about 30 years,” he said.

“The special thing about it coming to Bendigo is it’s the first time it will run to Bendigo on a public tour since it was retired in the 1960s.”

A Bendigo to Echuca day trip is scheduled for the Saturday when people can then opt to jump on a Murray River paddle steamer or take a steam train shuttle to Rochester.

On Sunday, shuttles will operate between Bendigo and Woodvale, travelling through Eaglehawk.

As well as transporting them across the region, Mr Clancey said the locomotives also thrust passengers back in time.

“It’s unique and, in a way, it transports people back in time because you’re stepping onto these carriages that are over 100 years old behind an almost 115-year-old steam locomotive and you’re travelling just as you would’ve as if it was 1922.

“A lot of people do remember the old steam trains so it’s nostalgic for them but then the families just love it.

“It’s an exciting thing to hear the loco and you see all the action; hissing out steam, blowing the whistle and the fireman’s up there shovelling the coal into the boiler.”

For more information including departure times, visit bit.ly/3iZWkgt.