American Teenager’s Tough Outback Ride

Australia is famous for its outback and the journey on the Ghan – its iconic trans-continental train - is a great tourist attraction. But for an American teenager Chad Vance, 19, it turned out to be a nightmare, who survived through sheer grit and luck.

The Times of London reports: “Vance survived a terrifying late night train ride, clinging to the side of a train as it hurtled through the South Australian Outback at speeds of up to 70 mph (110 km/h).

“Vance was travelling on the train from Adelaide to Alice Springs. The train had gone over 120 miles before a Ghan crew member heard the Alaskan student’s cries for help and brought the train to an emergency halt, rescuing Mr Vance from almost certain death.” More here…

The Ghan’s name is an abbreviated version of its previous nickname The Afghan Express, which comes from the Afghan camel trains that trekked the same route before the advent of the railway.

Almost in the exact center of the continent, Alice Springs is some 1200 km from the nearest ocean and 1500 km from the nearest major cities, Darwin and Adelaide. Alice Springs is now the midpoint of the Adelaide–Darwin Railway.

Here’s the BBC video…