The Ghan of Australia. "The Ghan" service was notorious for delays caused by washouts of the track. A flatcar immediately behind the locomotive carried spare sleepers and railway tools, so passengers and crew could repair the line. The very uncertain service via this route was tolerated because steam locomotives needed large quantities of water, and Stuart's route to Alice Springs was the only one that had sufficient available water. During World War II the service had to be greatly expanded, putting great pressure on the limited water supplies. As a result, de-mineralisation towers, some of which survive to this day, were built
Home Country Direct the services long predated international freephone service +800, it was required to establish a toll-free number in each country that conformed to that country's method of establishing such a service. Since many countries had not yet migrated their freephone services to the better known 800 area code, it made for a variety of different numbers, including short dialing codes. The service might also be limited to payphones, and might require pre-pay using coins or a card. Once the number was dialed, the call was routed through the international switch, over overseas circuits, directly to an operator in the country being