The Indian Pacific Train is operated by the Great Southern Rail and provides service between Sydney, New South Wales and Perth, Western Australia, a distance of 4,352 km. It operates twice a week each way, and the journey takes about 65 hrs each way. The first service started on 23 February 1970. There are four scheduled stops, Broken Hill, in the far western part of New South Wales is one of them. Broken Hill, the first stop on the westbound journey, is located 1,170 km west of Sydney, and is an oasis in the wilderness. It's a fascinating town not only for its comfortable existence in an extremely unwelcoming environment, but also for the fact that it was once a one-company town, The Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP) was formed in 1885 after Charles Rasp, a boundary rider, discovered a silver lode. Today, BPH operates mines in many countries, including in Arizona, USA. If the trains are on schedule, it is possible to sign up for a sight-seeing tour in any of the scheduled stops, because the train lets off and takes on passengers, and those passengers which are traveling with privately owned vehicles, have their vehicles either loaded or off-loaded from special rail carriages, which are attached to the train. The train also takes on provisions (water, linen and food). On this eastbound trip, the train ran late and we were allowed to roam around town for about an hour, but no scheduled tours. The streets of Broken Hill are wide, mostly empty, with very little shade, and the temperature on this early summer day was in the low 100s. Train Information: Average length of train is 774 m (includes two locomotives and 30 carriages) Average weight of train 1,400 tons Length of track Perth-Sydney 4,352 km, standard gauge Length of journey: 65 hours Average speed: 85 km/h, maximum speed 115 km/h This picture was taken on 27 December 2011, Sig..