I did the trip North, twice, on the Old Ghan in the late 70's. I just went through the video's and must show them to my wife as their family travelled it in even earlier times. Even before watching these I still have enough memories of it, and they aren't all fond memories. We were stranded on one trip in Oodnadatta for 7 hours because some ANR staff went on strike across Australia and for some reason they chose that place to stop rather than get to Alice and do it. The only 2 things to do there were go to the pub and go back to the rear of the train to check on your car. Because of the slow speed there were plenty of reports of cars being looted while it was moving and parts being thrown off to awaiting people.
Friendly staff and food were good parts of the journey. Being fed 3x3 course meals a day with no way to work it off saw you arrive in Alice bloated and not wanting to eat for the rest of the drive to Darwin. Another good bit was that nobody tried to use the piano in the Lounge car. I hate sing alongs.
On one very hot trip the train failed to get over a hill (if you could call it that) and it had to back up and try again, successfully. But I was told that if it failed the second time then male passengers would be asked to help out by throwing sand on the line. If that failed they would then split the train and take half North somewhere to a siding and then take the engine back for the rest.
I'm far from the best sleeper in strange beds, let alone one that's moving, but I didn't sleep very well on either trip. Once was in a carriage with bunks across the train and the other a single room but along the length of it. In both cases the train rocking seemed to be trying to toss me out of bed frequently. As well the creaking of the aging wood panelling joints wasn't that conducive to sleep.
If you were taking a car with you, you had to catch it in Pt Augusta and you could drive your own car on and off of it. In Alice though you had only a choice between a forklift being used or slings from a crane. Most were done with the forklift but you had to be certain that they used blocks otherwise bent exhaust systems and tailshafts were known to happen. One passenger after seeing others being done by forklift demanded his new car be done with slings. These were steel tubes that the wheels sat in, 2 to each end. His car was a Porsche 911, and guess where most of the weight is in them. Unbalanced like it was it sat at a horrible angle when lifted and the rest of us stood there waiting for it to roll out of the slings. The owner wasn't looking too pleased with his choice but it survived. Another problem with a car was that you had better wash it quickly after a trip as it would be covered in a metallic dust from the brakes and soot from the engine. Rust would form very soon.
While I haven't used the newer Ghan, its speed isn't exactly something to crow about. The old Stuart Hwy was dirt from the NT border to Pimba in the late 70's and early 80's but beating the new Ghan was easy, especially depending on when the Hwy was last graded. The driving trip used to be an adventure, now it's just a drive.
Phil