The Victorian Goldfields Railway is a broad gauge tourist railway in Victoria, Australia. It operates along a formerly disused branch line between the towns of Maldon and Castlemaine.

The original line was opened on June 16, 1884, opening up rail access from the established station at Castlemaine to the towns of Muckleford and Maldon. The area was prosperous, as Castlemaine and Maldon had both experienced gold rushes in the preceding years, and local residents had been petitioning the state government for a railway since 1874. In 1891, the line was extended to the small town of Shelbourne.

It was served by twice-daily trains for the first forty years of its life, which was increased to four-times-daily trains in 1924. However, these were cut back at the end of the 1920s due to a decrease in the local population, and passenger services were eliminated altogether during World War II. This meant that the line was only used by a weekly goods train which went through to Shelbourne. When bushfire damage caused the closure of the Shelbourne extension in 1970, the remainder of the line was rendered largely useless, and it was officially closed in December 1976.

The response to the closure from the local community was swift, and the Castlemaine and Maldon Railway Preservation Society was founded in the same month, with the intention of reopening the line as a tourist railway. While Maldon station was intact, and was able to used as a base for their operations, they were faced with numerous problems: a line that needed substantial repairs, a lack of rolling stock, and rebuilding the demolished station at Muckleford.

Over the next decade, volunteers obtained and renovated rolling stock and by 1986, trains were able to operate on a one kilometre section of track out of Maldon. By 1996, the line from Muckleford to Maldon had been restored, with the platforms being reinstated and a small replacement building being constructed. Services were able to operate along a regular timetable, and the society set about reopening the Muckleford-Castlemaine section of the line.

The necessary physical work had largely been completed by 2003, but it took another year to secure the necessary approvals and sign an agreement with freight operator Pacific National over the use of its line into Castlemaine station, which is still in regular passenger use today. The section of line finally opened on December 19, 2004, approximately a year behind schedule. As of December 2004, the Society has shown no plans to restore the Shelbourne extension in the forseeable future.

The railway now operates on an average of three days per week (more in holiday periods). This usually involves one return service from Maldon to Castlemaine each operating day. Steam trains operate most services on the line, though the Society also possesses diesel trains, which allow it to operate when total fire bans are in effect.

List of stations

• Maldon
• Muckleford
• Castlemaine