Welcome to the Derwent Valley Railway

Preserving the Derwent Valley’s Rail Heritage

The Derwent Valley Railway is preparing to resume operating our heritage passenger trains in 2025 and we need your help to make it happen. The historic Derwent Valley Line has not received any significant track maintenance in almost 20 years, and needs upgrading.

We are finalising an application to the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator for a variation of our Accreditation. Once the Regulator approves our application, we will replace worn sleepers and lay new ballast on a section of the Line at New Norfolk held under a lease from the Tasmanian Government. And then it’s “ALL ABOARD” for the first time since 2005!

For just $15.00 you can sponsor a sleeper and help us re-open the Derwent Valley Line, one sleeper at a time.

Sponsor a sleeper today

Who are we?

The Derwent Valley Railway Preservation Society Inc was established in 1990 to preserve the Derwent Valley railway line. We are a non-profit, volunteer-based organisation managed by an elected Board and commonly known as “the DVR”.

We plan to resume passenger rail services from New Norfolk in 2025, eventually as far as Mt Field National Park.

About Us
 

Our Plan

The Derwent Valley railway line, from New Norfolk to Mt Field National Park, links many tourism operators in the Valley. Re-establishment of the railway will enable large numbers of visitors to experience the natural beauty of the Derwent Valley and learn about its fascinating rail heritage.

Learn More
 

Volunteering

The Derwent Valley Railway is operated solely by volunteers from a diverse range of backgrounds, professions and age groups. If you’re interested in becoming involved, why not consider becoming a member today?

Follow our journey.

Workshop and infrastructure work never ceases – there’s always lots to do. These photos illustrate just some of jobs our volunteers have been up to over the past couple of weeks. If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer, get in
After a 15-year hiatus the Derwent Valley Railway is getting ready to roll again. Yesterday we begun the important task of re-qualifying previously operational staff including shunters and locomotive crew. Soon we’ll be training new volunteers
It’s been a while since our last workshop update, but it’s been anything but quiet over the Christmas/New Year period. Work has been focussed around getting locomotives and rolling-stock ready to begin track work on the first section of t
It’s very disappointing to report that a bridge near Westerway on the Derwent Valley line has been destroyed by arson attack. This infrastructure is critical to the line being one day reopened and will now have to replaced at significant cost.
A blast from the past — The Tasmanian Transport Museum's M5 leading a short train to Plenty in the early 2000s. The train was joined at Plenty with a DVR service returning from National Park for the run back to New Norfolk. 📸 Photos by Lynett
Lots of activity around the workshop last week with our volunteers always keeping busy. For example George worked on cleaning up X18’s battery boxes, Tom continued painting EBR no. 21, and Damien and Greg removed a bogie from one of our flat wa
Lots of activity around the yard over the weekend. Locomotives U5 and EBR no. 21 were shuffled around in the workshop to allow an issue with 21’s transmission to be investigated.
Lots happening around the workshop over the last couple of weeks. Check out the photos to see some of what our volunteers have been up to 🛠