The Tea and Sugar began in 1915 as a provision train for workers constructing the Trans-Australian Railway.

They and their families depended on the train for every necessity since the rail link was the only form of transport into the region.

[2]: 152, 212  [3] Each time the train crossed the Nullarbor Plain, it included carriages to suit the different needs of residents throughout the year.

Former railways commissioner Dr Ron Fitch, who was the engineer for the Trans-Australian Railway early in his career, observed that the Tea and Sugar was the "most over-glamorised train in Australia ... whose real claim to fame was that its start-to-stop average speed must have made it the slowest train in the world".

[3] The train originally operated on a 1692 kilometres (1051 miles) journey from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie.