In 1862 a railway line was fully opened from Melbourne to the gold field towns of Castlemaine & Bendigo. When gold was also found at Maldon a 10 mile branch line opened in 1884 running from the mainline at Castlemaine to Maldon. An intermediary station was opened at Muckleford when gold was also found there. In 1891 a further 10 miles was added extending to Shelbourne. Over years the decline in the gold fields & road transport saw passenger trains finish in 1941. After that a once weekly freight worked between Castlemaine and Shelbourne. A fire in 1969 destroyed the track between Maldon and Shelbourne. The remaining line from Maldon was officially closed in 1976.

The Castlemaine & Maldon Railway Preservation Society was formed to reopen the Castlemaine to Maldon section. Their first train ran in 1986, on a one mile section of track at Maldon. The fully opened 10 miles nowadays operates as the Victorian Goldfields railway. Two trains each way from Maldon to Castlemaine operate every Wednesday & Sunday year round. In the past the railway offered cab rides for a reasonable fare which gave a good view of the undulating nature of this line. They still do driver training courses.