Melbourne V/Line diesel haulage and day trip ideas

In early October I will have about a week in Melbourne. Can anyone give me an update on what routes out of Southern Cross still have diesel haulage?

I'm also looking for ideas for interesting days trips to be made by train (diesel-hauled or otherwise). The destination can have some railway attractions, or just be an interesting town. I already have a trip planned to Castlemaine to ride the Victorian Goldfields Railway.

Thank you in advance!

All V/Line train services are diesel hauled, as is the XPT service to Sydney.
The other (regular) services (by 'Metro') are electric.

Let me rephrase it: "diesel locomotive-hauled". I don't consider DMU's as haulage.

I could be wrong but its just Swan Hill route that's loco hauled now.

route101 said:

I could be wrong but its just Swan Hill route that's loco hauled now.

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Yes that is the only vline route that is still loco hauled. Other than Castlemaine which is on the Swan Hill route there is also Bendigo which has a heritage tram line (it was closed for engineering works when I was there so can't comment on how good it was)

route101 said:

I could be wrong but its just Swan Hill route that's loco hauled now.

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It is, was there in March. If lucky will get 3 different locos in a day as the one that arrives from Swan Hill around midday gets swapped for the evening return. My luck kicked in and loco produced but stock declared a failure so train cancelled in the evening!

Polrail said:

Let me rephrase it: "diesel locomotive-hauled". I don't consider DMU's as haulage.

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Swan Hill is all that's left. Everything else is Vlocity or Sprinter.

We could have the argument over whether an HST/XPT counts as loco hauled or a DMU?

The 07.40 to Swan Hill is an N Class loco and provides a decent opportunity to head up to Bendigo for the day. There's some heritage trams that run there daily if that takes your fancy. If you look out for a return service that has started in Swan Hill then that'll get you an N Class back to Melbourne too.

Albury is a nice town to have a wander around looking further afield. There's some nice walks down by the Murray River. When I was in Melbourne in April I took the morning XPT to Albury and then a V-Line Vlocity back around 5pm. It also gives you an opportunity to (just about!) experience another state, NSW, which could be a good opportunity to do so if you're only otherwise visiting Victoria on this trip. The XPT can get pretty late so bear that in mind with your return trip timings. The morning XPT from Melbourne is due into Albury just before midday, so if you did also plan on getting the return XPT towards Melbourne around 3.10pm, a relatively common significant delay could leave you with little time for a look round, especially considering a lot of Albury's nicer walks are on the opposite side of the town centre to the station. My XPT was 1hr20m late arriving into Albury, but as a result the one inbound from Sydney was 2hrs late itself so that could also work in your favour.

Albury is a nice town to have a wander around looking further afield.

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I actually have an overnight in Albury! I'm taking the morning XPT from Sydney, and will stay the night, taking the midday V-line service to Melbourne the next day.

I have no idea of the traffic levels there, but I hoping there will be some freights to spot in the evening.