Looks like a great place to go for a train ride.

Wow.

Awesome scenery and great photos. The weather may not have been the best for traveling but those low dark clouds certainly add drama to the images.

Hi cabunit,
You are correct that the long straight is on a different railway service than the ghan - subject of my photos (see my response to trainspotter).

As far as I can determine from the limited information that I found, I believe that the passenger cars that you refer to were made in Australia from the mid to late 1960's, some by Commonwealth Engineering and some by the South Australian Railways, both of which were government owned operations. The Commonwealth Railways ran several Budd rail cars which may have influenced the design of these carriages.

Thanks for looking trainspotter.

The long straight that you refer to is a 468 km (297 miles), section of railway running East/West across the Nullarbor Plain between Port Augusta in South Australia and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. Formerly part of the Trans-Australia Railway, the service has been extended to connect Sydney on the East coast of Australia, the Pacific Ocean side of Australia, with Perth on the West coast of Australia, the Indian Ocean side of Australia. The Indian Pacific passenger train service takes 65 hours, including some off-train excursions, to cover the 4,352 km (2,704 miles) journey between Sydney and Perth.

It is not only the railway that has a long straight, there is also a 145.6 km (90 miles), section of straight road on the highway that crosses the Nullarbor Plain.

The subject of my photos is The Ghan train which runs North/South from Adelaide in South Australia to Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia.

They belong to the passengers Stephen. Thanks for looking.

Thanks Jakebrake. I like your handle, I presume you drove trucks in another life.

Thanks Rich.

Thanks Jay Pat.

There have been several TV documentaries made about the Ghan. Thanks for looking Travis.

Thank you J.

Thank you Richard.

Great Southern Rail operate a weekly passenger service from Adelaide in South Australia to Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia.The train is called The Ghan - a name derived from an earlier period in Australia's history when cameleers "imported" from Afghanistan were engaged to work camels, also imported from the India, Afghanistan and Pakistan region of South Asia. Camel trains were used to carry all manner of supplies, construction materials and mail across the barren outback areas of Australia before railways were established. Camel trains were used extensively during the construction of railways in the remote parts of South Australia and Western Australia.

Travelling on Ghan is cited as one of the worlds Great Railway Journeys and takes 54 hours including a four hour stopover in Alice Springs (roughly half way), to cover the 2,979 km (1,851 miles) journey from Adelaide to Darwin. Average train length is 774 metres (2,539 feet), average total train weight is 1,400 tonnes (1,543 US tons), average speed of train is 85 km / hour (53 miles / hour).

The Ghan about 20 minutes north of Alice Springs as it begins the long journey north to Darwin. 12th October 2015.

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The light is fading as the rear of the train disappears into the distance. 12th October 2015

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Another day, another Ghan on its way north in the late afternoon of 26th October 2015.

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Excellent photos and a great collection of classic motive power.

Great scenery. It looks like the locos are working hard too.