22 and 23 April 2006 saw a pleasant little run to Sydney.

The commercial excuse was to take people to see the Anzac military tattoo at Sydney's Olympic Stadium.

The format of these Sydney event trains usually involves an up trip via the Illawarra Escarpment and South Coast.

On this occasion, due to the closure of the Moss Vale - Unanderra line for trackwork, our route was entirely down the Main Southern Railway to Sydney.

Departure was around 10.30am on the Saturday from Canberra with a longish stop at Queanbeyan to cross the in-bound Explorer passenger train from Sydney.

It sounds typical railway - a somewhat dramatic departure, small progress and then a long wait doing nothing.

Our reasoning for this trip's format was as follows.

A mid-morning departure is a lot easier on our passengers.

Crossing the Explorer can be done faster at Queanbeyan than at Bungendore, while a Tarago cross would require the train to leave Canberra far too early.

Waiting for the Explorer to leave Canberra after midday makes it difficult to bring our train into Sydney in comfort and with time to stop somewhere pleasant along the way.

There is another reason to cross the Explorer while underway.

The weekend is the favoured time for trackwork, big and small. As happened on this trip, the Explorer is often running late into Canberra due to the railway equivalent of traffic jams around roadworks.

Our waiting in Canberra would really delay our journey.

We had around 65 passengers for this trip but - for those interested - the train still comprised 10 cars with two locos, 4916 and 4803.

A bit uneconomical? Why not hire two road coaches and rip them in and out of Sydney in four hours each way?

Wrong. This is not a commuter train or its rubber tyred equivalent.

It is not being shoehorned into the luxury (read cramped), reclining (so they say) seat while contemplating the culinary delights of Chez Maccas to be sampled each way and the soothing massages courtesy of Messrs Federal and Hume.

This train is a Palais de Wheels, a Hotel-of-No-Fixed-Abode, whose front door happens to move around a bit.

Its idea is to use the journey time for something other than travelling, and to use hotel style facilities to do this.

Think 'hotel' and you think hotel room: a place to go to for privacy, to read or to sleep.

Most Sydney events take place through evening to not long before midnight.

Afterwards, a nightcap and sleep really make for the best of all worlds.

We combined the sleep time with travel time, as no less than five cars on our train were sleeping cars. Air-conditioned or non-air-conditioned twin bed rooms or single bed roomettes are the reason for so many cars.

Like most of the Tattoo patrons, our passengers travelled between Lidcombe and the Stadium using the Olympic Sprint shuttle train.

On the outward journey from Lidcombe, CityRail had reserved the first carriage for our passengers.

After the event, while the other patrons waited for their train to home or to the station where they left their car, our passengers had their hotel pull into Lidcombe platform.

One step on board and they could relax with a coffee or a port before bed.

Morning saw not Sydney but the countryside near Canberra to be looked at over breakfast. (Life is hard sometimes!).

The changing patterns of life in our hotel were well illustrated in our dining car RMS 2360. Let's turn the clock back to the start of the trip in Canberra.

In the dining area as our train got underway at 1030 on Saturday, our volunteer members were setting out napkins and cutlery.

The passengers were still settling into their rooms so it was quiet, relaxing (almost) in a well-lit saloon.

Not so in the kitchen where food preparation was getting underway.

Stainless steel work areas became covered with food, containers and utensils as pre-cooking preparation continued in readiness for the big rush when food was transferred from cooking tray and pot to plate, to tray, to diner's table.

- Continued next column

Diners talked, ate, drank while 'runners' delivered plates on trays for the car conductors to serve to the table.

Diners came and went to the bar car for wine, beer, soft drink or juice.

Thus, by lunchtime, things weren't so quiet in the dining car.

But look outside, wasn't that the countryside slipping past? While all this has been going on, our hotel has been moving.

This brings up a conundrum - when do you want time to go fast? When you are stuck in a vehicle that is going from A to B.

When do you want time to go slow? When you are meeting and dining with friends over freshly-cooked food and the odd glass or three.

Some diners retired to their rooms to contemplate this, others ignored it and continued talking over tea and coffee.

By this time, the rush had moved back to the kitchen where scraps were being cleared, plates and cutlery were going through the dishwasher and pots and pans were being scrubbed.

No glassware though, as the bar car has its own glass washer to deal with those.

Early afternoon, and a half-hour stop at Bundanoon to stretch the legs and admire this pretty little town clustered around the station.

Late afternoon and the passengers were dropped right at the Lidcombe platform (best placed to catch the shuttle train to the stadium), and the dining car took on a different feeling.

Crew meals were available from the kitchen.

The dining area gained a TV set where crew between jobs could relax and talk.

And around them the table settings for the next morning's breakfast were being assembled. The bar car would look after the after-show drinks and coffees.

Meanwhile the hotel was moving first to Meek's Road (for a wash) and then on to the Central Station where car watering could take place.

This quiet period at Central was punctuated by the arrival of various XPT services on Platform 2 and further across, by 3801 and train on its return from Maitland Steamfest.

Because of our train length, we had Platform 1. The dining car became deserted as the sleeping cars were readied to take up their role.

Next morning began with fireworks (almost literally), as the chefs cooked and flamed breakfast mushroom and bacon. Morning sunshine reflected passengers moods as they talked about last night's show, or just read.

Relax as the journey continues was definitely the motto for the morning.

Those big picture windows certainly helped set the scene: one far removed from a Sydney motel room and a journey yet to be made.

At Canberra, the passengers departed, the crew farewelled them from outside our dining car, even though not yet finished (final cleaning to be completed).

They did look happy though.