Story of rail salvation

By Tania Martin
A PASSION to share the story of Puffing Billy’s history has led Nick Anchen of Ferntree Gully to write his first book.
Mr Anchen’s book titled Spirit of the Dandenongs is a 64-page book about the history of Puffing Billy.
But the book is not just about the history of the railway.
It also contains more than 200 photographs, has detailed descriptions of the railway’s journey as well as the flora and fauna of the Dandenongs.
He has been enchanted by the story of Puffing Billy since he was a young boy and felt it was time to write a book about its history.
Mr Anchen said his grandmother read him the story of the railway as a child and he was instantly interest in finding out more about Puffing Billy.
He has been involved in Puffing Billy as a volunteer for more than 20 years as a locomotive fireman and tour guide.
“I was introduced to the Puffing Billy Railway at a very young and impressionable age and I was instantly fascinated by the quaint steam locomotives and captivated by the heroic story of the line’s salvation,” he said. Mr Anchen has spent many years looking into the history of the railway and taking photographs of the stream train.
“The story of the preservation of Puffing Billy is one worth telling,” he said.
“It has been 20 years since the last major book on Puffing Billy was released and I decided it was high time for a new one.”
Mr Anchen says the railway was the lifeblood of the Dandenongs in the early 1900s but that it gradually became obsolete as road transport took over.
He said a landslide near Selby in 1953 caused the closure of the line, and that it was left up to volunteers to salvage and re-open it.
In 1998, Puffing Billy rolled into Gembrook for the first time in 45 years and saw the preservation of the railway completed.
Mr Anchen says his book is a tribute to those people who worked tirelessly to rebuild the Puffing Billy railway.
Puffing Billy now carries more than 250,000 passengers a year and is one of Victoria’s largest tourist attractions.
Anyone interested in the book can buy it from the Belgrave Book Barn or at the gift shop at Puffing Billy station in Belgrave.