Why Puffing Billy is the best family activitiy in the Dandenong Ranges

Calling all train fans! Climb aboard and step back in time at Australia’s oldest and best-preserved heritage steam railway, Puffing Billy. Situated in the picturesque Dandenong Ranges, Puffing Billy railway is only 60-minutes from Melbourne CBD.

Take in the lush fern gullies brushing past the open side carriages and Mountain Ash trees towering overhead. A ride on the Puffing Billy Railway is a wonderful opportunity to relax and breathe in the fresh air whilst the train makes its way through the temperate rainforest.

Discover wonderful wildlife and spectacular landscapes made for adventure while sitting on the carriage sill of Puffing Billy’s open-side carriages. This iconic experience cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

Puffing Billy’s new state-of-the-art Lakeside Visitor Centre sits adjacent to Lakeside station. It has a modern café with the best produce on offer in the region, a dedicated gift shop featuring locally designed treasures and a gallery of steam artifacts in the Lakeside Hall. The visitor centre offers guests a cultural hub with world-class facilities.

Kids will be excited from the moment you arrive at the station because of the historic locomotives, the smell of the steam and the sound of the train’s whistle.

Puffing Billy’s Excursion Trains depart daily except Christmas Day. Visit the website for timetables and to make a booking.

Key features

Educational programs

Restaurant

BBQ areas

Visitor centre

Wheelchair accessible

Daily shows

Family ticket packages

Parenting rooms

The best things for families visiting Puffing Billy

Families love travelling onboard Puffing Billy as a stand-alone experience. You can embark at both Belgrave Station and Lakeside Station. Ride over the rolling hills, across iconic timber trestle bridges and through the open farmlands that surround Gembrook Station.

You can purchase a picnic pack to enjoy in idyllic picnic locations. Pre-order your meals and spend the rest of your time making memories to treasure forever.

Free for all train ticket holders, passengers can also explore the Menzies Creek Museum which is home to more than 80 railway-related exhibits. These include rare operational steam and diesel locomotives, an operational boiler house that services steam engines and the Little Toot Café for all your morning tea needs.

More exciting activities for kids

• Kids aged four years and over can dangle their legs over the side of the open side carriages
• Railway Cafe
• Lakeside Hall with sound and light show
• Menzies Creek Museum
• Museum Scavenger Hunt

Day Out with Thomas™ Special Events

Puffing Billy offers the ever-popular Day Out with Thomas™ events in Autumn and Spring. Enjoy a train ride with Thomas, meet Sir Topham Hatt, and take part in other child-friendly activities the whole family will love.

• A 45-minute train ride from Emerald station with Thomas
• Photo opportunities with Thomas and Friends
• Thomas movies at the Lakeside Visitor Centre
• Thomas themed crafts
• Silent disco
• Scavenger hunt at the Lakeside Visitor Centre

A day out at at Puffing Billy

Belgrave Station is the headquarters of the Railway and is only a short walk from the Belgrave Township.

After boarding, Puffing Billy chugs away and you and your family can take in the spectacular scenery of the beautiful Sherbrooke Forest, a superb temperate rainforest with native ‘Mountain Ash’ trees. Within minutes, you will cross Puffing Billy’s most famous landmark – the iconic Monbulk Creek trestle bridge.

Pre-purchase a picnic pack to enjoy as you ride over the hills, down the valley and into the lush forest on the original mountain track or hold onto your afternoon snacks and set lunch up by Emerald Lake Park. Puffing Billy have a range of delicious picnic and lunch packs available for adults, children, couples and families. These are available for pre-order with your train tickets and can be collected at Belgrave and Lakeside station.

Puffing Billy Railway’s Train of Lights

All tickets are sold out for 2022, sign up to Puffing Billy’s newsletter to be notified of 2023 dates.

Marvel over an array of bright colours, mesmerising patterns and native wild animal projections that leap from the open-side carriages and out towards the sprawling forests and open farmlands, as you travel through Emerald Lake Park, Cockatoo and Gembrook.

Getting to Puffing Billy Railway

Puffing Billy is located in the Dandenong Ranges, only 40 kilometres or one hour east of Melbourne. Getting there is easy by car or on public transport. For details on how to get to our different stations visit  puffingbilly.com.au/visit-us/getting-here/.

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