Train departing from platform 9 3/4

Seriously - with the amount of smoke, I almost thought I was in platform 9 3/4, departing to Hogwarts. Anyway, meet Puffing Billy. Puffing Billy is Australia's Premiere Preserved Steam Raily, running on its original mountain track from Belgrave to Gembrook in the scenic Dandenong Ranges.


Getting to Puffing Billy via public transport is easy. Just take a train all the way to Belgrave station, follow the instruction from Belgrave station and walk to Puffing Billy station.


Most people take Puffing Billy to Lakeside station, but we decided to go a little further, all the way to Cockatoo.

Yes - this thingy is not cheap at all

Our brilliant idea was to take Puffing Billy to Cockatoo, then back tracked to Lakeside. We were hoping to do some bushwalking to soak in the glorious autumn leaves. That was the ideal world. The real world - no walking trails between Cockatoo to Lakeside, we ended up walking by the road side, and honked a couple of times by drivers who worried we might hog their side of the road.

What autumn leaves? These were all autumn leaves there were = ="

What autumn leaves? The leaves were as green as can be, or just different shades of green. Just like this.

No kidding - both pictures taken on the same day

Anyway, back to Puffing Billy Belgrave station. I've jumped too far ahead, let's backtrack a little. One is allowed to take many pictures of the Puffing Billy when it was stationary at it's stop.





It appears that only gentleman with nice beard get to work at Puffing Billy stations.



We were told that if you listen carefully, the chugging sound of Puffing Billy going uphill sounds a little like "I know I can, I know I can." LOL.

Peek-a-boo!

As I mentioned there wasn't much in Cockatoo station but more action was found in Lakeside station. We attempted to walk a fair bit of the road to Lakeside station but cheated part of it by hopping on a bus :P


We tried paddle boats too! I have wanted to do this for the longest time but it never worked out. So it was great :)

Yup - allowed to sit with legs hanging out of the train :)

How I wish this photo is clearer!