Opened as a spur from the Ringwood railway to Upper Ferntree Gully in 1889, the line was extended by the narrow gauge railway to Gembrook in 1900. Later there were attempts to have the narrow gauge line converted to broad gauge and electrified. An Act of Parliament in 1948 authorised work as far as Emerald, but this did not eventuate and the line was taken only to Belgrave. The new section opened in 1962. The author traces the development of the railway and the suburbs that grew alongside it, the electrification in the 1920s, serious level crossing accidents and in more recent years the removal of most of the level crossings. .