The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983.

British engineer, George Christian Darbyshire was made first Engineer-in-Chief in 1857, and steered all railway construction work until his replacement by Thomas Higinbotham in 1860.

In the late 19th century, the railways became something of a political football with politicians demanding new lines to be built in places where traffic levels never justified it.

The result was that by the beginning of the 20th century, no Victorian (apart from those in the mountain regions) was more than 25 miles (42 km) from a railway line.

1937 saw the introduction of the streamlined Spirit of Progress passenger train, with air conditioning and all steel carriage construction.

A standard gauge line connecting to the New South Wales system was constructed in 1961 allowing through trains to operate between Melbourne and Sydney, Australia's two largest cities, for the first time.

In 1974, the Victorian Railways was rebranded as VicRail, but the royal blue and gold livery used on rolling stock was retained until 1981.

When first formed in 1857, the management of the Railways Department was initially vested in the President of the Board of Land and Works, this situation remaining until 1884.

[9] The Victorian Railways operated a wide variety of locomotives and rolling stock to provide passenger and goods services.

By the late 1970s, country passenger services were run down, and older wooden rolling stock was now approaching their use by date.

In 1929, D3 class comprising larger boilers The Victorian Railways was divided up into a number of branches, each with a set of responsibilities.

These branches were reorganised a number of times, in 1962 they were:[17] For most of the 20th century, the colours of royal blue and gold were the distinctive feature of the Victorian Railways.

It was first introduced on the Spirit of Progress express train in 1937 along with the winged "VR" logo,[citation needed] and was refined to the final form with the arrival of the B class diesel electric locomotives in 1952.

[18] In 1974, the Victorian Railways was rebranded as VicRail, with a new logo unveiled on 12 April 1976,[19] but the royal blue and gold image was retained until 1981,[5] when the orange and silver "teacup" scheme was launched on locomotives, Comeng trains, and passenger carriages.

This was the last livery, with V/Line launched in August 1983 with a "stylised capital lettered logo with the V and the L split by a deep slashing stroke".

[21] In connection with their role of promoting tourism, the railways ran three guesthouses/ski lodges which were taken over from previous operators: the Mount Buffalo Chalet from (1925–1985),[22] the Feathertop Bungalow (1927–1939) and Hotham Heights (1934–1951).