Camel train train" often applies to Australia, notably the service that once connected a railhead at Oodnadatta in South Australia to Alice Springs in the center of the continent. The service ended when the train line was extended to Alice Springs in 1929; that train is called "the Ghan", a shortened version of "Afghan Express", and its logo is camel and rider, in honor of the "Afghan cameleers" who pioneered the route. The history of camel trains in the United States consists mainly of an experiment by the United States Army. On April 29, 1856, thirty-three camels and five drivers arrived at
The Ghan along the track so that bore water could be used. When a new line to Alice Springs was built in the 1970s, the use of diesel locomotives meant that there was far less need for water, thus allowing the line to take the much drier route from Tarcoola to Alice Springs. The original Ghan was featured in an episode of BBC Television's series "Great Railway Journeys of the World" in 1980, presented by Michael Frayn. The original Ghan ran for the last time in 1980, and the Ghan Preservation Society repairs sections of the old narrow gauge track and some