Old Ghan Railway

I don't recommend it but I drove from Alice to Chambers Pillar, climbed up to the platform, walked around it then drove to Mt Dare in one day. It would be nice to have more time. :-) I didn't think the road from Maryvale to the Pillar was that bad, just a lot of blind humps you go over.

Didn't I just talk to you on the phone... lol.

First section is correct!

Driving times vary but count on at least 3 1/2 hrs. from Mt Dare to Maryvale, then another hour or so to Chambers Pillar.

From chambers Pillar to Alice around 2 to 2 1/2 hrs.

Camping at the Pillar itself is reasonable, between Finke & Maryvale, Rumbalara claypan is good, but anywhere without dunny paper & rubbish is okay.

I should add, it was you comment that that's the way you usually go to Alice that made me check it out more.

Does you comment about dunny paper mean rubbish is everywhere?

BTW I thought your computers were down! Speak to you after the new year.

I drove over the railway line a couple of weeks after this year's race. The race track beside the line was in far better condition than the rail section and we spent about two thirds of the distance between Finke and Maryvale on it. The railway was flat, mostly straight and very heavily corugrated. The race track was curved, sandy, it had lots of huge woopdedoos and was a lot of fun but if it was corrugated then they must have been minor and few and far between because I can't remember them.

Rail spikes are everywhere but I only saw one sticking up vertically. I think speed could be the big problem with getting punctures with these things. You are unlikely to get a front wheel puncture by running over one laying flat but if too much speed causes the wheel to throw it back like a stone, it could go under the rear wheel at just the right angle causing a puncture that would be far too big for a plug kit.

The road into Chambers Pillar is easy. It has plenty of corrugations but not as bad as the railway. The sign at Maryvale says 4wd only but, if you were determined to get a 2wd in, about the only thing that might stop you is one rock covered hill and maybe a few sandy patches.

Maryvale to Alice is no trouble at all.

The roughest roads that we found in the area were from the Oodnadatta Track to Dalhousie Springs then on to MT Dare and part of the way to Finke. They were not only heavily corrugated but covered with countless rocks.

I think you could camp just about anywhere through there. We camped about fifty metres off the road at the Oodnadatta Track to Dalhousie Springs turnoff then a night at Mt Dare and spent two nights at the ruins of the Bundooma railway siding. It is just bush camping through there with no facilities.

Travelling times are entirely up to you. It depends on how fast you want to push your car over corrugations. It is easy to break cars out there. We saw about a dozen cars go through Bundooma with everyone going slowly except Aborigines in old Falcons and a police Landcruiser travelling at warp speed.

Boobook Hi,
As Jeff has said,except that I would allow more time.
Chambers Pillar is a must IMO.
Also Lambert Centre is a deviation worth considering.
Just after the Finke Race dodging the piles of cans & stubbies require a bit of skill as well.
Have travelled that way a few times and always look towards a return trip.
Regards Mike.

We did not go on beyond Maryvale, but took out caravan from Alice to Chambers Pillar in 2008 (see my Blogs) with no problems. The track from Maryvale to the Pillar was not the best road we travelled on that year. There is now a new campground at Chambers Pillar. The old campground only had room for eight rigs.

Motherhen

When you get to Finke- it's worth a short trip to the Lambert Centre !!

Hi All .

We did this trip at the beginning of September this year . This is after the Finke race , so we were expecting the road to be well chewed up , but as luck would have it the grader had just been through , and we cruised in comfort all the way .

We had an easy day from Finke to CP , and another easy 1/2 day from CP to Alice . This included a side trip to Lamberts Centre , if you visit Finke , , you may as well go there !

It was also time enough after the race for all the legendary garbage to have been removed .

The sections of road following the Ghan line are very interesting , especially going along raised sections with a fall off on both sides ! We saw heaps of dog spikes , probably at least a dozen standing on end . Worth watching out for .

The road to CP was rough in spots , some corrugated sections but well worth the trouble . There is one steep hill , we used low range getting our camper over it . There is also a section through dunes where the road is narrow enough to be wary of a head on .

To our surprise we were the only people at CP , had the place totally to ourselves . Great for me , made Fiona feel a bit Wolf Creekish , if you know what I mean .

So it all depends ! Timing , as always , is everything.

Cheers
Dave

I was out there late September this year
Kulgera to Lamberts Centre Finke Chambers Pillar onto Alice.
The race is along side the road there fore is not really affected by it.
The road from Kulgera to Finke is Very good Out to Lamberts center
is a bit rough but easy as is the road to Chambers Pillar although a
bit corrugated in a couple of spots.Bear in mind these roads except the
one to Lamberts are Major access roads so generally good.My Ford Ranger
towing the TVan had no trouble at all. Engaged 4WD once on the way
out to the Centre. You should allow enough time at Chambers to be there
at sun up or sun down.
Great trip Don't over think it and have a Great time
Norm