Before the railway pushed north through the centre of Australia, Beltana was one of the most important towns in South Australia’s far north.

In the late 1800s Afghan cameleers passed through here with camel trains carrying supplies deep into the interior. When the railway arrived, the train itself became known as The Ghan, remembering those early drivers of the desert.

For a time Beltana was a busy railway town on the edge of the outback.

Today the trains no longer stop, but the story of the Ghan still passes quietly through this place.

On This Road— Travel stories from Australia

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