707 Operations

707 Operations is a railway preservation group based in Melbourne, Australia. The volunteer organisation was established in 1980 to restore R class locomotive R707. The company has its own section of the Newport Workshops that is used for storing carriages and locomotives when not in use for trips (charter or regular). They are located in roads 7 and 8 of the Newport West Block Workshops.

R707 as restored, in 2007

707 Operations run regular trips across the broad gauge rail network in Victoria and also charter trains. People who motorcade the train to photograph it are asked to consider donating $10 towards the costs of running the train. This has been controversial among the railway fraternity. For the donation, 707 Operations provide a detailed schedule and tour notes 24 hours prior to departure and SMS updates should the train fall behind schedule in excess of 30 minutes.

History

In 1980, a committee of six men got together to inspect the withdrawn steam locomotive R707 at Newport Workshops. This locomotive had been withdrawn from service in 1974. After close examination of the locomotive, which showed some disrepair, a proposal was put forward to VicRail for restoration with work commencing in 1981. The restored locomotive made its debut on a return trip to Bacchus Marsh in July 1985.^[1]

Operations

Today 707 Operations run heritage special trains in Victoria.^[2] In 2020 most trips were cancelled due to COVID restrictions, however since 2022, 707 Operations have resumed running their popular mainline day trips and sleeping car trips around Country Victoria and Tocumwal (NSW). Destinations include Bendigo, Bacchus Marsh, Quambatook and the Silo Art Trail, Tocumwal, Ballarat, Swan Hill, Echuca and Seymour.^[3]

Fleet

After the restoration of R707, the organisation expanded their fleet further with R753 being bought as well as diesel locomotives F204, T413 and Y127. The organisation owns former West Coast Railways S and Z type carriages as well as South Australian Railways carriage 708 for use on special trips. No West Coast Railways liveried cars remain with all S and Z type cars having been repainted in 707 Operations red or VR Blue and Gold. A list of the entire fleet of rolling stock is shown below.

• R707, R753
• W241, W244 (W241 Sold to Mornington Railway, W244 given back to Victrack for Re-Allocation [Surplus to use])
• F208
• S306
• T387, T392, T413^[4]
• Y108, Y127
• A62
• P20^[5]
• Power Vans: PCP294, D318,^[6][7] PCJ492^[8]
• S and Z carriages: ACZ255, BS205/212/215, BRS224, BZ270,^{[9][10][11][12]} BTN259^[13]
• ACN 45, ACN 48, BRN 43, BN 5, BN 22^[14]
• ex The Overland and The Vinelander carriages: SJ284,^[15] JTA6 (Kuldalai),^[16] Victoria, ^{[citation needed]}
• ex South Australian Railways carriage 708, purchased from Northern Rivers Railroad^[17] and 783 (Lowanna), purchased from the Victorian Goldfields Railway in 2022.^[18]
• E sleeping carriages: Wando, Buchan
• Commonwealth Railways stainless steel carriage stock: DF935 (not operational)^[16]
• Hitachi carriages 3M, 304D, 178M

Locomotives

Number	Image	Year built	Builder	Status	Notes	Livery
R707		1951[1]	North British Locomotive Company, Glasgow	Operational	Named City of Melbourne	Black and red
R753		1952		Stored		Black and red
S306		1957	Clyde Engineering, Granville	Operational	Purchased from Pacific National in September 2023 after being leased from the company since 2019.[19]	PN blue and yellow
T387		1965		Operational	On Standard Gauge	CFCLA Silver and Blue
T392				Operational	Purchased from Pacific National in September 2023 after being leased from the company since 2019.[20]	PN Blue and Yellow
T413		1968		Operational	Delivered as D1 for Fyansford Cement Works	VR blue and gold
Y108		1963		Stored		V/Line orange and grey
Y127		1965		Operational	First locomotive painted into V/Line orange and grey. In preservation.	V/Line orange and grey
F202		1951	Dick, Kerr & Co.	Under restoration. Given back to VicTrack after 707 Operations deemed it surplus to needs		VR blue and gold
F204				Stored. Given back to VicTrack after 707 Operations deemed it surplus to needs		VR blue and gold
F208				Operational		VR red and gold
A62 (ex B62)		1952 (rebuilt 1983)	Clyde Engineering, Granville (rebuilt Clyde Engineering, Rosewater)	Operational		V/Line orange and grey
P20 (ex T337)		1956 (rebuilt 1985)	Clyde Engineering, Granville (rebuilt Martin & King, Somerton)	Operational	Acquired from Pacific National in 2023	V/Line orange and grey

Passenger carriages

Z cars

Carriage	Image	Guage	Year built	Livery	Notes
255 ACZ		Broad	1957	Vintage Rail Travel Mk3 - Red and 2 white stripes	Guards Van/First Class - Saloon Style
270 BZ			1959		Second Class - Saloon Style
257 BCZ			1958	Grey Livery (Stripped of PTV Purple & Grey, including PTV and V/Line logos)	Guards Van/Second Class - Saloon Style
259 BTN			1959		Dining Car

S Cars

Carriage	Image	Guage	Year built	Livery	Notes
205 BS		Broad	1950	Vintage Rail Travel Mk3 - Red and 2 white stripes	Second Class - Compartment Style
212 BS			1949	VR Blue and Gold
215 BS			1955
224 BRS			1940	Vintage Rail Travel Mk3 - Red and 2 white stripes	Second Class - Compartment Style - Buffet

Sleeping Cars

Carriage	Image	Guage	Year built	Livery	Notes
SJ 284 Dorai		Broad	1950	Overland Maroon	Twinette Sleeping Car - Air Conditioning
JTA 6 Kuldalai			1957
LAN 2534			1961	Stainless Steel	Roomette Sleeping Car - Air Conditioning
NAM 2336			1961		Twinette Sleeping Car - Air Conditiong
Wando			1923	VR Carriage Red	Twinshare Sleeping Car

N Carriages

Carriage	Image	Guage	Year built	Livery	Notes
ACN 45		Standard	1983	Grey Livery (Stripped of PTV Purple & Grey, including PTV and V/Line logos)	Guards Van/First Class - Saloon Style
ACN 48
BN 5			1981		Second Class - Saloon Style
BN 22			1982
BRN 43			1983		Second Class - Saloon Style - Buffet

Special carriages

Carriage	Image	Guage	Year built	Livery	Notes
PCP 294		Broad	1957	Vintage Rail Travel Mk3 - Red and 2 white stripes	Power Van
PCO 3 (PCJ 492)			1970	Overland Maroon	Power Van
PCJ 493		Standard	1970	Silver	Power Van
708 BK		Broad	1941	Vintage Rail Travel Mk3 - Red and 2 white stripes	Lounge Car
DC 783 Lowanna			1942	Maroon	Commissioner's car
Victoria Club Car 1			1970	Overland Maroon	Lounge Car
DT 318			1959	707 Ops Black	Luggage Van

References

1. R707 City of Melbourne Restoration Archived 2 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine 707 Operations
2. Past Mainline Trips Archived 9 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine 707 Operations
3. "TrainReview's guide to 707 Operations". Archived from the original on 29 July 2021.
4. T413 Service History Archived 2 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine 707 Operations
5. "Locomotive P 20 update". Facebook.com/707operations. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
6. PCP294 Archived 2 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine 707 Operations
7. DT318Archived 2 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine 707 Operations
8. "707 Operations Inc". facebook.com. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
9. ACZ255 Archived 2 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine 707 Operations
10. BS205 & BS212 Archived 2 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine 707 Operations
11. BRS224 Archived 2 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine 707 Operations
12. BZ270 Archived 2 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine 707 Operations
13. "707 Operations Inc". facebook.com. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
14. "707 Operations Inc - Posts". facebook.com/707operationsinc. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
15. SJ Vinelander Sleeper Carriage Archived 2 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine 707 Operations
16. "- 707 Operations Inc - Mainline Steam Train Trips in Victoria". www.707operations.com.au. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
17. Lounge Car 708 History Archived 2 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine 707 Operations
18. "707 Operations". Facebook. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
19. "VICSIG - Locomotives - S306". vicsig.net. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
20. "VICSIG - Locomotices - T392". vicsig.net. Retrieved 25 January 2024.

External links

• Official website