The Ghan of the sidings. In October 1980, a new standard gauge line from Tarcoola to Alice Springs on the Trans-Australian Railway opened, and the train took the form it has today. The new line is approximately west of the former line in order to avoid floodplains where the original line was often washed away during heavy rain. It was also hoped that the construction of the new line would improve the train's timekeeping. In November 1998, one service per week was extended from Adelaide to Melbourne while from April 1999, the other was diverted to operate to Sydney. Construction of Alice
Down Home Country 5 September 1975. Down Home Country Down Home Country is a Canadian country music television series which aired on CBC Television in 1975. New Brunswick singer-songwriter Tom Gallant hosted this series which replaced "The Tommy Hunter Show" between seasons. Series regulars included vocal trio Blue Jane, comic duo Chuck Wagon (Harvey Atkin) and Luke Warm (Peter Cullen), and musician Nancy White. The series featured visiting artists such as Chad Allan, Jessi Colter, The Good Brothers, Waylon Jennings, Myrna Lorrie, Colleen Peterson, Kenny Rogers, Sneezy Waters and Jesse Winchester. This hour-long series was broadcast on Fridays at 10:00 p.m. (Eastern) from