It is close to the city of Melbourne and is one of the most popular steam heritage railways in the world,[1] attracting tourists from Australia and overseas.

The railway aims to preserve and restore the line and its operation as closely as possible to the way it was in the first three decades of its existence, but with particular emphasis on the early 1920s.

In 2022, passengers were allowed to resume the popular practice of sitting on the window ledges of carriages with their legs dangling outside,[3] which had become a core part of the charm of the railway.

It ran to Gembrook from Upper Ferntree Gully station, which was the terminus of the broad gauge line from Melbourne.

Harold L. Hewett, a teacher at Melbourne Grammar School, organised a rally attended by 400 people at Upper Ferntree Gully station on 4 January 1955 to try to save the railway.

The first trains to Gembrook carried children from the primary schools along the Belgrave–Gembrook corridor, two of which directly adjoin the railway and the remainder not more than a street away.

[citation needed] When the Puffing Billy Preservation Society was formed in 1955, the line was still under the control and ownership of the Victorian Railways (V.R.).

[12][13] The V. R. was not in the preservation or tourism business, and the arrangement was less than ideal, so the Victorian Government passed the Emerald Tourist Railway Act 1977 (No.

All volunteers on the railway were directly engaged by the ETRB and were required to register and complete a range of induction processes.

[18] The running of trains services remained largely in the hands of volunteers organised by the Puffing Billy Preservation Society, and they continue to be at the core of the day-to-day operation of the railway.

In 2014, Robert Whitehead, a long-serving volunteer on the railway, was convicted of multiple sexual offences against young boys.

[26] Whitehead had been convicted and jailed in 1959 for molesting a boy scout, but he returned to his job on the railways at the request of Murray Porter, a state government minister.

[27] Significant changes have occurred at the railway since the Ombudsman Report that includes implementing the recommendations and supporting an open and transparent complaints and feedback process.

The railway has a number of smaller steam locomotives at museum at Menzies Creek, either on static display or in operating condition.

These include a Peckett 0-4-0ST, 2 Decauvilles (one is a 0-4-0T, and the other a 2-4-2ST) both from the West Melbourne Gasworks, and a Climax geared locomotive from the Tyers Valley Tramway.

G42 was withdrawn in 2021 for a major overhaul, And is currently stored in the Menzies Creek Museum on display until the time comes for it to enter the workshops at Belgrave.

In addition, four carriages were obtained from the Mount Lyell Railway in Tasmania after its closure in 1963, and regauged and reclassified for Puffing Billy use, numbered 1 to 4 NBL.

A number of NQR low-sided goods trucks have also been modified for passenger use, making them similar to the NBH carriages.

The ABC children's drama Come Midnight Monday [37] was filmed in and around Belgrave, Emerald & Cockatoo and featuring Puffing Billy locomotive 12A—renamed "Wombat"—as the main character.

The characters of Darren Stark and Libby Kennedy lost young Louise Carpenter and chased after the train en route to Belgrave on a motorbike to catch up with her after discovering she had boarded it.