The legendary trains had names cited in literature and celebrated in song. Probably the most famous named train is the “Orient Express” made famous by Agathe Christie, Graham Green, Eric Ambler, and Ian Flemming (yes James Bond rode the fabled train). It played its part in several movies.
The United States had several famous named trains. To go from New York to Chicago you could leave Pennsylvania Station on the Broadway Limited, Grand Central Station on the streamlined art deco 20th Century Limited or if you were environmentally inclined you could take the ferry to Jersey and catch Phoebe Snow, with its snow white steam locomotive traveling “the route of the anthracite.”
Count Basie celebrated the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe’s “Super Chief.” But by the time I started riding named trains they were shadows of their former glory. The Great Northern’s Empire Builder that I took to Montana for skiing in 1967 was run down. Rock Island’s Twin Star Rocket that I took from Northfield to Waterloo Iowa to visit my roomie was plain grunge.
When Amtrak took over the passenger trains Steve Goodman lamented the decline of the “City of New Orleans” and Utah Phillips wrote “Talking Wolverine Special” telling “Uncle Sam” what to do with his “brand new set of passenger trains.”
“Give me a train with an all-night bar,
Wherever I go it can’t be too far,
come on and rock me to sleep in a pullman car,
I’m gonna ride those trains again.”
Utah would have loved Australia’s “India Pacific” the continent’s second most famous train running transcontinental from Peth to Sydney. Only “The Ghan” running between Adelaide, through Alice Springs to Darwin is better known. But the India Pacific, an all sleeper train, has an open bar 24/7, unattended, pour yourself whisky, Australian Wine, or Bailey’s whatever whenever if you’re traveling Platinum Class.
That’s the train we’re riding on, from Perth, halfway across Australia to Adelaide, in Platinum Class, if you are going to splurge, splurge! AND unlike the reimagined Orient Express you don’t need to dress for dinner. On Friday when the Fiona Stanley Hospital cleared me to travel our friend Christine, who joined us at the hospital for support said, “You’re taking the train across Oz!”
On Saturday we slept in and then packed for the trip. The luxury of train travel meant that while we were traveling “carry on” the bag didn’t have to fit in the overhead bin or under the seat. I unzipped the extension and put in a full tube of toothpaste, full sized shampoo, and sun gunk. I even carried my Leatherman.
Riding platinum a chauffeured “Holden” limo picked us up at the ship. The Holden was an Australian car, sadly no longer made, but its passenger compartment is huge and comfortable.
Riding through Fremantle we passed its signature arch made of Connex containers.
Departure has a sense of occasion. On the platform Australian bubbly as well as other wines, pour freely with nibbles. A fiddle and guitar play train songs.
I walk the length of the train taking pictures and watch them load our hand baggage into the compartments and the checked bags into the baggage car while train employees carefully wash each window.
The station has displays of old engines and rail cars. It is one big party.
On board we settle into our room and I explore the train before we are invited to dinner. There are two classes, Gold and Platinum.
We have just over 200 passengers. There are three Platinum Club Cars, each serving about 28 passengers. For the first night, after drinks they arranged the car with one long common table. The Chef addresses us about the service and leads a toast to a successful journey.
During the reception Trudi, an Irish woman who works in audiology, noticed I wasn’t participating. She asked if I was having trouble hearing. I was. She took my hearing aid controller (an iPhone app), made some adjustments, and showed me how to do more. After that I was part of the party. Trudi is on an extended honeymoon with Choo, a cardiac surgeon. They live in Cambridge, England, which is where they met in school 30 years ago. They went their own ways and got back together in Cambridge. They’re traveling to visit extended family spread from Ireland to Australia to Malaysia and to the States.
After dinner we find our room made up for sleeping. I sleep with the shades open so I can look up and out. As we leave the metro area, I can see the southern stars through the windows so carefully washed Perth. We have a wakeup knock on the door for 5:30. Our first “off train” experience is scheduled for Kalgoorlie starting at 6 PM. We are meeting in the club car at 5:50 for a quick shot of coffee before heading out.
It was a perfect launch to an adventure. I’ve wanted to take this train since it started operation in 1970. What could possibly go wrong? Perhaps I should have thought more carefully about the sign in the train station that I so casually snapped a picture of a few hours earlier.
I hope there will be a sequel to the train trip. Thank you for posting.