The Ghan begins running on the Central Australia Railway
A passenger service reaches Alice Springs over the 1,067 mm narrow-gauge Central Australia Railway. The alignment crosses country subject to flash flooding and washaways, and the line acquires a reputation for delays measured in days rather than hours. It is the counter-example to this Journey's general rule: an alignment can be bad enough that it is not worth keeping, and this one was not.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- The Ghan · route · Australia · not located
- Track gauge as a colonial decision · concept · not located
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
Ghan Railway
Supports the Central Australia Railway as the Ghan's original 1,067 mm narrow-gauge alignment from 1929, its replacement by a standard-gauge line via Tarcoola in 1980, and the 2004 Darwin extension. V55 verification basis: the library collection was identified as an authority and the chronology was carried in attributed Australian rail-history summaries; slsa.sa.gov.au was not fetched.
State Library of South Australia · Partly verified
https://digital.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/nodes/view/628
Recorded on The Ghan
- The Union Limited and Union Express begin running to the mail ships
- The Ghan begins running on the Central Australia Railway
- The last narrow-gauge Ghan leaves Marree
- Rovos Rail runs its first train
- The Ghan runs through to Darwin for the first time
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.