Gertie, I'll bet the trains were in better shape in '78 than they are now. And likely cleaner. I suspect they've been neither cleaned nor repaired in the intervening years. The earthquake to which I referred was just a few months ago, in November.

On the other hand, the Strand has been beautifully restored as I'm sure you know. Beyond my budget to stay but had a very nice lunch in the dining room.

I've seen pictures of the Strand Hotel, now in the same class as Raffles which we went to a bit later and of course couldn't afford to stay in. That train wasn't in great shape even then,which is why they broke down so much. And despite dire warnings, we did a quick hop on Air Burma from Mandalay to somewhere, a tiny little 8 seater propeller something, no seat belts, no take -off drill, quite exhilarating really. Those were the days.