'The Ghan' is a train service operated by the Great Southern Rail between Adelaide, Southern Australia and Darwin, Northern Territory. The train operates on standard gauge and the distance between the two cities is 2,979 km (1,851 mi). A one-way trip takes 54 hours with stops at Alice Springs and Katherine. A typical train is 774 m long, the average weight is 1,400 tons based on locomotives and 30 carriages, including guest carriages, restaurants, lounges and power vans. The average speed of the train is 85 km/h, maximum speed is 115 km/h. The Ghan's symbol is a camel and its handler in recognition of the pioneering Afghan cameleer. This train service is advertised to provide first class vacation packages, with several levels of services provided. The original service between Adelaide and Alice Springs started on 4 August 1929 on a narrow-gauge track that followed the route of explorer John MacDonald Stuart. This route encountered many difficulties; heat, flash floods, and railroad ties being damaged by termites. In 1980 ,the old Ghan rail track was abandoned in favor of a new standard-gauge rail line built with termite-proof concrete sleepers. The track was laid further to the west to mitigate the flooding problems encountered along the old route. After the completion of the Alice Springs to Darwin section the Ghan embarked on its inaugural transcontinental journey on 1 February 2004, a distance of 2,979 km. On a personal note, when I went to Australia for 30 days in December 2011 I chose to travel using the rail system. rather than rent a car. As a non-Australian citizen osne can get unlimited travel for several months on all the trains, or whichever one chooses. Booking and making reservations is tricky, since each state has their own rail system, some have standard-gauge and some narrow-gauge. I had planned to go from Adelaide to Darwin using the Ghan, but I ran out of time, the country is just too big and the trains are too slow. Had I had time to go north, spent a couple of days in Darwin and return, I probably still would have run out of time because a cyclone triggered flash flooding that washed out the track in the northern, tropical part between Katherine and Darwin. This picture was taken at the Adelaide train station on 26 December 2017, Sig...