The Vinelander was an Australian passenger train operated by the Victorian Railways and, later, V/Line between Melbourne and Mildura from August 1972 until September 1993.

[5] From 18 March 1974 the Melbourne-bound train was altered to operate via Bacchus Marsh instead of via North Geelong, with a new arrival time of 7:45am at Spencer Street.

A buffet car and bar was added to the train from 18 July 1977,[8] but drunken behaviour became a problem, requiring the removal of offending passengers at intermediate stations.

Two days before the service was scheduled to be axed, intending passengers were on the platform at Spencer Street station, ready to board the train to Mildura, when it was announced that it had been cancelled due to a landslide along the track.

A leaked document from the train controllers working that evening also aroused suspicion, and an investigation revealed that the story about the landslide was a hoax.