>Taking the Ghan to Sydney is utterly foolish. AN claimed it couldn't run
>through to Melbourne and still run two services per week. It can be done
>if you run day-night-day ex-Melbourne and night-day-night ex-Alice, but
>would be impossible from Sydney. Anyone remember how long The Alice
>lasted?
>Cheers
>David
Yes, the inaugural train arrived in Alice Springs with GM's 16 &
10 on the 23/10/82 with SRA's "special service car" AAH19 on the
tail end. It had a mix of Southern Aurora, SRA and ROA cars.
The Alice departed it's namesake town for the last time on the
28/10/87 with GM's 22 & 14.
The service was suspended at various times during this period.
AN claimed that SRA insistence that this Train be all first class
as part of the reason it eventually failed.
It was a unique train for several reasons;
It was the only train using the Port Pirie Passenger Station at
that time.
In the early period it stopped at the Finke River bridge and the
Iron Man Monument inside the Northern Territory to allow
passengers out to photograph and stretch their legs.
There is an opportunity for the new Operators to improve on some
of the things that Australian National pioneered.
One area open for exploitation is running trains at times where
the scenery is more interesting to the fare paying passengers.
Why not have the Ghan leave Adelaide at sundown or after dark so
that passengers can wake up to breakfast and the Outback.
At the moment most of this is covered in the dark.!
----Tell
Alice Springs NT