The company immediately commenced construction of a branch line from Newmarket to Flemington Racecourse, which opened in February 1861.
[1] The operation was barely profitable and, in early 1864, the company asked the Government of Victoria buy the railway.
For the next three years, determined efforts were made to get the government to change its decision.
In August 1867, the government paid £22,500 for the company's assets, and they became part of Victorian Railways.
Withdrawn in 1876, its frame subsequently returned to Australia when it was purchased by the South Australian Railways and was used as part of the SAR's locomotive No.