AFTER a year when no special trains were permitted in Australia due to the pandemic, heritage group ‘707 Operations’, based in the state of Victoria, ran the first public rail tour in the state in 2021. It had also run the last train permitted in March 2020.
The train, including multiple sleeping cars, was worked by two 60-plus-year-old EMD diesel locos; ‘A Class’ Co-Co No. A66 on hire from V/Line, and ‘S Class’ Co-Co No. S306 on long-term loan from freight operator Pacific National. The train ran from Melbourne Southern Cross station to Quambatook.
Quambatook, situated on the Korong Vale to Manangatang branch line, is a small grain producing town with a population of just 250 residents.
The tour travelled by daylight in each direction, and passengers enjoyed dinner and an outdoor movie under the stars while stabled overnight at Quambatook, with the movie projected onto the side of the grain silos that tower over the township.