Menzies Creek

There’s a moment, about 25 minutes into the Puffing Billy ride from Belgrave, when every kid in the Dandenong Ranges casually commits a federal crime. We’re talking ankles over the sill, legs dangling like freshly boiled spaghetti, the whole carriage smelling of childhood and mild recklessness. This is Menzies Creek. Our only claim to fame? A steam train that once got T-boned by a minibus on School Road, and the subsequent national trauma over what sitting on a train window really *means*.

Back in 2018, a minibus clipped Puffing Billy and derailed a carriage. One passenger went to hospital. And just like that, the ancient tradition of dangling your legs was banned. Bill Woolnough, the butcher from Belgrave, called it a “complete overreaction.” We agreed. For two years, Menzies Creek was a place where dreams went to sit upright.

Then, February 3 last year — the sills came back. The triumphant return. You can now legally hang your limbs off a 1900s steam train again, as long as you’re four or older and supervised if you’re under 14. Which means our main local drama is now: “is that kid’s guardian paying attention or just scrolling?” The answer is usually no.

Who would hate it here? Anyone who thinks a 25-minute trip to the Menzies Creek Museum (80 exhibition pieces, rare railway artefacts) is a whole day’s entertainment. Or anyone who doesn’t want to share their morning tea with tourists who’ve *just* discovered Instagram.

But you? You’ll love it. You’ll book the Belgrave-to-Menzies Creek run, hang your legs out, feel the wind in your shins, and know that for a brief moment, you’re part of a tradition that survived bureaucracy, a minibus, and the complete lack of a proper local cafe. Welcome to Menzies Creek — we don’t have much, but we’ve got the best dangly legs in Victoria.