The first Australian route in Train Simulator, the Victorian Goldfields Railway will recreate the real 1,600 gauge tourist line from Maldon to Castlemaine. The original line was opened on 16 June 1884, opening up rail access from the established station at Castlemaine to the towns of Muckleford and Maldon. The area was prosperous, as Castlemaine and Maldon had both experienced gold rushes in the preceding years, and local residents had been petitioning the government for a railway since 1874. On 2 August 1884, a contract was let for an extension to Laancoorie, however further construction was suspended after the line reached the small town of Shelbourne in 1891. The line was served by twice-daily trains for the first forty years of its life, which was increased to four-times-daily trains in 1924. However, these were cut back at the end of the 1920s due to a decrease in the local population, and passenger services were eliminated altogether during World War II. This meant that the line was used by only a weekly goods train which went through to Shelbourne. When bushfire damage caused the closure of the Shelbourne extension in 1970, the remainder of the line was rendered largely useless, and it was officially closed in December 1976. The response to the closure from the local community was swift, and the Castlemaine and Maldon Railway Preservation Society was founded in the same month, with the intention of reopening the line as a tourist railway. While Maldon station was intact, and was able to be used as a base for their operations, they were faced with numerous problems: a line that needed substantial repairs, a lack of rolling stock, and rebuilding the demolished station at Muckleford. Locomotives Include: VR K Class 2-8-0 Tender Engine VR J Class 2-8-0 Tender Engine VR F Class Diesel Shunter VR Y Class Diesel Sessions Include: The Gold Rush Revival To celebrate the anniversary of the gold rush, take No. J549 to Castlemaine with a train of gold rush enthusiasts. You'll also get to head back to Maldon with some gold trucks. A Good Morning's Shunt Use F Class 212 to shunt together the first train before the railway opens. Breakdown Rescue: Y133's engine has conked out so take K160 to rescue the stranded diesel and its train.
