I did the Ghan from Alice Springs to Adelaide a few years ago - the BIG mistake I made was not booking a cabin - sat in the seats all night just to save some $$$$ - not a good idea. During the night though the train hit a cow that was on the tracks so had to wait a couple of hours so they could fix the hydraulic hoses that had been dislodged underneath. This meant that we saw a bit of extra scenery. Even though I think it is a beautiful trip I think that people miss out on the countryside as the train travels all night whereas the Rocky Mountaineer stops overnight and you don't miss the scenery - I have been on that as well and it is a wonderful train trip.
No, we were upgraded to Gold after booking a trip to Litchfield. Worth it. Meals were great and bed was OK. Lounge area was good to sit and view the scenery. We enjoyed it immensely. Rules have changed since we did it 4 years ago and tours are included and so is table alcohol. Worth going if you can.
And welcome aboard this 'train' of thinking called a forum capricorn41.
Wow! I'm sssooooo envious! I would love to do the Ghan - just Darwin to Alice Springs would do. Iwon't get to do it next year but 2015 perhaps ........
Good luck with the trains, as a young airman back in the 60's all our travel, leave, postings etc was on cramped second class train seats. I hate trains
