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
Last Train Home (film) in its list of Top Ten Competition Films of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. "Last Train Home" was one of the top five films nominated for the Directors Guild of America Documentary Prize, announced on January 29, 2011 at the 63rd annual DGA Awards Dinner. It lost to Charles Ferguson's "Inside Job." Lixin Fan was interviewed by Anna Maria Tremonti, host of CBC radio program "The Current", on Jan 19th, 2011 talking about "Last Train Home". "Last Train Home" was released on American screens on September 3, 2010. Last Train Home (film) Last Train Home () is a 2009 documentary