Can you drive the length of The Ghan railway line?

I HAVE BEEN WATCHING THE WONDERFUL SBS DOCUMENTARY SHOWING THE FULL TRIP ON THE GHAN. IS IT IS POSSIBLE TO DRIVE ALONG THE SUPPORT ROAD ALONGSIDE THE RAILWAY LINE? B. PELL, EMERALD VIC

This is the official word: "The service roads are not open for public access – they are privately owned by the rail network operators for the purpose of maintaining the track. Incidentally, the service roads do not always run in parallel along the entire length of The Ghan track either – in some instances, they divert several kilometres away from the track."

One thing you could do though is follow the Old Ghan Heritage Trail, which goes from Port Augusta all the way to Alice Springs, much of it along the route of the original Ghan line. Although the rails themselves are gone you can still find many reminders of the original railway line including culverts, bridges, sidings and the iron spikes that once anchored the rails. I have one sitting on my desk, highly corroded, but I bet it has a few stories to tell.