The Excess Express is the train that goes between Rogueport and Poshley Heights. It takes a stop at Riverside Station for refueling. Six cars are on it. There is one locomotive, three passenger cars, one dining car, and a luggage car. The ride is very luxurious, and most riders are rich. One part of Chapter 6 Mario is in battle with Smorg. At this point the rooftop is temporarily accessible. The luggage car in the chapter can also be visited but temporarily as well when retrieving Ghost T.'s diary and using a spring jump to retrieve the stolen passengers.
Days on the Train (First Time Riding)[]
Morning 1: Your first morning on the train starts with an anonymous threat being found in your room. The threat is as follows: "Don't go to Poshley Heights! Get off the train now, or a sticky, yummy doom awaits it!" Speaking to the Conductor near the back of the train, he tells you that he will keep on the lookout for any news of the threat. Heading back to the dining car, you will find a small party of people gathered in the kitchen area. The reason is that a pot of stew meant for all of the passengers has been stolen. Pennington will introduce himself as a detective and make incorrect accusations of who stole the pot of stew. This leaves you to find the person who actually stole it, later discovered to be Heff T. in cabin 3. To find the pot of stew, simply search the cupboards in his room. Returning this stolen pot gives you a star piece.
Evening 1: Your next task is to head to cabin 8 where the family of Bob-ombs are staying. Goldbob and Sylvia seem to be having an argument about what to gift Bub, and he will ask you to deduce what he really wants using your detective skills. You can find out through clues from Bub and the Train conductor that he wants the Train Engineer's autograph. Alternatively, Pennington incorrectly deduces that he would want a Game Boy Advance as it is what all the children his age would want. Head to the front of the train to get the autograph for Bub and return it for a shrine sprite.
Night 1: Once you leave the Bob-ombs' room, it will become night time. The first thing to do now that it's night is to speak to the Train conductor. He will tell you that he believes that there is a stowaway on board as he is a blanket short. The cabin you will want to visit to find the stowaway is cabin 4. By using Vivian and hiding for some time, Ghost T. will appear. He asks that you retrieve his diary in exchange for the extra blanket, believing the diary to be in the Baggage car. Talking to the conductor, he will let you into the Baggage car being very scared of the idea of there being a ghost on board. The diary can be found in-behind boxes. Make sure not to read the diary under any circumstances as doing so will lead to a game over. Return the diary and Ghost T. will hand you the blanket deciding to stay on board a bit longer. Return the blanket to the conductor to receive a Mushroom prize and be able to sleep in your cabin.
Morning 2: Starting the second day of this journey, head to Room 6 to find Pennington speaking to a Ratatooey businessman. He will tell you that he's missing his briefcase and will lose his job without it. He also warns that the briefcase can be used to create an explosion affecting the entire train. Pennington will deduce that since the train hasn't stopped, the perpetrator must still be on board. He will also inform you that the Waitress and Toodles on board have both lost things that could be related to the briefcase being stolen. If you speak to the Waitress Toad and Toodles, they will ask you to find their precious belongings. If you head into cabin 1, you can find a piece of paper on the ground. Bring it to Pennington and the Ratatooey Businessman will tell you that it is a contract for his upcoming business deal. Pennington will say that Zip Toad is likely hiding somewhere on the train. Head into Mario's room and use Vivian to hide, and Zip Toad will reveal himself in the room. You'll now have to catch him bouncing around the room. He will then return the Briefcase, the Gold Ring, and the Shell Earrings. After this, an announcement plays informing everyone that the train has arrived at Riverside Station where Zip Toad will proceed to reveal himself as Doopliss and run off.
Evening 2: Spent at Riverside Station.
Night 2: Nothing to do in particular, just sleep until morning.
Morning 3: Upon awakening on Day 3 of the ride, you can quickly notice that the train is largely empty. Only a few people remain on the train such as the Shopkeeper and the Train engineer. Speaking to the Train engineer, the train windows will quickly be covered entirely by Smorgs who take over the train's controls. You are prompted to check on the passengers, leading you to the baggage room. This room will be full of Smorgs, but getting rid of them will reveal the Waitress and the Train Conductor. They will inform you that the rest of the passengers are still in danger and you will have to spring jump to exit to the outside of the train. Fight through the Smorgs here and you'll eventually reach the Smorg boss. After defeating Smorg, they will fall off the train and you will soon arrive in Poshley Heights.
Passengers[]
Below is a list of the riders as of the train. Note: these are on your quest for the Crystal Star and may not appear later.
- Cabin 001: Doopliss (disguised as Zip Toad)
- Cabin 002: Toodles
- Cabin 003: Heff T.
- Cabin 004: Ghost T.
- Cabin 005: Mario
- Cabin 006: Pennington
- Cabin 007: Ratooey Businessman
- Cabin 008: Goldbob, Sylvia, and Bub
- Later in the game new people will be on board the train such as the Lakitu with the glasses on his cloud, and Toad or Koopa passengers.
Trivia[]
- Even when all the passengers and workers are kidnapped, the Item shop caretaker is still in service.
- At Riverside Station, two of the Toads remain when the train leaves. It is unknown if they actually live at the station or even if it's abandoned. Their importance is refueling the train.
- Jr. Troopa makes a cameo appearance flying near the window of the Excess Express in an e-mail from Zip Toad.
- In one part of Super Paper Mario, Francis writes that he would like to buy an Excess Express train set.
- The Waitress in the dinning cart has Tiny Kong's pigtails (only purple).
- The Nitro Honey Syrup is mentioned to explode when mixed with certain ingredients. This may be a reference to Nitroglycerin.