Excess Express
The Excess Express is a luxurious train boarded by Mario and his partners on their way to Poshley Heights in the game Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door in Chapter 6: Days of Excess. It can be found in Rogueport's West Side, next to the blimp that takes Mario to Glitzville. It departs from Rogueport Station and stops at Riverside Station before arriving in Poshley Heights at the Poshley Heights Station. Conversely, it can depart from Poshley Heights, stop at Riverside Station, and arrive back in Rogueport on a return trip. The initial trip takes three days, though it only takes one day in subsequent departures, with Mario being able to sleep for the entirety of the ride. The train consists of a locomotive, three passenger cars, a dining car, and a baggage car.
The Excess Express may have taken inspiration from the Orient Express from the English detective novel Murder on the Orient Express. Similar to the story in the book, Chapter 6 of The Thousand-Year Door involves a crime being committed on a train and several of the passengers being suspects. Both casts of characters include a detective (Pennington, who resembles Hercule Poirot from the novel) and a celebrity (Zip Toad, who loosely references Linda Arden from the novel).
History
The Excess Express is featured in a RDM article, which says that the Excess Express staff tackled a Laki, a train-obsessed Lakitu, who was in a staff-only area. This incident made the train late for the first time in ten years, though the staff allowed him to leave with just a warning.
After returning to Rogueport from Keelhaul Key, the Magical Map leads Mario and his partners to the Poshley Sanctum in Poshley Heights, where the Garnet Star is located. Like Glitzville, Mario needs a ticket to get to the Excess Express, which Professor Frankly says is the only way to reach Poshley Sanctum. After doing Don Pianta's cronies (Tony and Vinny) a favor (finding Don's daughter and her boyfriend), the Don gives Mario an Excess Express Ticket. While on the way to the station, Beldam spied on Mario and his party, revealing herself and thanking Mario's partner for saying that the next star is in Poshley Heights. Knowing they must reach the star before the Three Shadows do, Mario and his partners head for the station.
During the three-day train ride, many unfortunate events happen, forging the premise of a whodunit novel or film and hindering Mario and his partner by keeping them from getting the sixth Crystal Star. First, Heff T. steals Chef Shimi's stew, causing an upset. Next, Doopliss, disguised as Zip Toad, steals the businessman's briefcase containing Nitro Honey Syrup and Vital Paper, the waitress's Shell Earrings, and Toodles' Gold Ring. At the behest of Beldam, he planned to mix the things he stole together to bomb the train, resulting in what he described as a "sticky, yummy explosion" in the threatening letter he left in Mario's cabin. Mario and his partners enlist the help of Pennington to foil his diabolical plans, and in doing so, returned the stolen items to their rightful owners.
A third mystery, a missing blanket, leads to Mario meeting Ghost T. after using Vivian's Veil ability in Cabin 004. The mystery begins with the Excess Express conductor realizing a blanket has gone missing, leaving him to believe there is a passengers without a ticket on the train. Mario has to retrieve Ghost T.'s diary for the ghost to agree to return the blanket. If Mario opens the diary, he will be warned three times not to read it. If he ignores all three warnings, he will be only allowed to read the first three lines before Ghost T. appears, causing the screen to spin around in the original version or turn static in the remake. In both cases, an instant Game Over occurs.
The final mystery occurs on Day 2. After the Three Shadows' sticky bomb plan was foiled, they ordered a horde of Smorgs at Riverside Station to guard the station's drawbridge switch to keep the bridge lifted and prevent the train from progressing any further. After Mario ventures inside the station, he fends off the horde and lowers the drawbridge, allowing the train to continue on its journey; however, during this time, the Smorgs secretly invade the train. The next morning, the horde attacks the train and kidnaps all the passengers and staff onboard, with the exception of Ghost T., the Excess Express engineer, and the red Toad who runs the Sales Stall, though the Toad is knocked unconscious. Whereas the Excess Express waitress and Excess Express conductor are held captive in the baggage car, the others have been absorbed into the horde of Smorgs. Mario must use his Hammer to navigate through the Smorgs and fight them atop the locomotive. This is the only time the train's rooftops can be accessed. Eventually, Mario and his partners defeat the Smorgs, freeing the passengers and saving the Excess Express, which soon arrives in Poshley Heights.
Mario acquires the Garnet Star, which was hidden in a secret area of the Poshley Sanctum, they ride the train back to Rogueport. With the train ticket permanently in his inventory, Mario and his partners can board the Excess Express anytime after Chapter 6 to travel from Rogueport to Poshley Heights and vice versa; however, Mario can no longer access the baggage car outside of glitches. Later in the game, Mario receives several e-mails from characters on the train, including the real Zip Toad and Ghost T.
Inhabitants
Below is a list of the occupants of the eight cabins of the Excess Express. With the exception of Mario, Ghost T., and Heff T., all occupants are replaced by various traveling Toads, Koopa Troopas, and Goombas after Chapter 6. The staff on the train does not change after Chapter 6. Jr. Troopa can be seen in the background of a photograph Zip Toad sends Mario via email, though the player cannot interact with him and it does not appear that he is actually a passenger on the train.
Main story
- Cabin 001: Doopliss (disguised as Zip Toad)
- Cabin 002: Toodles
- Cabin 003: Heff T.
- Cabin 004: Ghost T.
- Cabin 005: Mario and his partners
- Cabin 006: Pennington
- Cabin 007: Businessman
- Cabin 008: Goldbob, Sylvia, and Bub
- Excess Express conductor
- Excess Express engineer
- Chef Shimi
- Excess Express waitress
- Red Toad who runs the Sales Stall
After Chapter 6
Following Chapter 6, all passengers are replaced with a selection of random travelers. The backslashes indicate the potential individuals or groups that occupy the cabins following the main story, and the "X" followed by a number indicates that a passenger has more than one conversation; the individual passenger can only display one conversation per ride. A Yoshi can appear as one of the randomly selected passengers in the dining car, the only Yoshi in the game other than Mario's partner Yoshi Kid and the many Yoshis that run across the screen in his Stampede attack.
- Cabin 001: Blue Toad, orange female Toad or red female Toad / chartreuse child Toad or light blue child Toad
- Cabin 002: Purple female Toad, green Toad, blue Toad, Koopa Troopa or Goomba
- Cabin 003: Heff T.
- Cabin 004: Ghost T.
- Cabin 005: Mario and his partners
- Cabin 006: Blue Toad or green Toad
- Cabin 007: Orange female Toad, light blue child Toad (X2) or chartreuse child Toad
- Cabin 008: Red Toad or Koopa Troopa / red child Toad or green child Toad
- Dining car: Red Toad, blue Toad (X2), red female Toad (X2), purple female Toad (X2), Koopa Troopa (X3), Yoshi (X2) or Lakitu / green child Toad (X2), chartreuse child Toad, red Toad, green Toad, Goomba or Koopa Troopa
Enemies
- Smorg (Chapter 6 Boss)
Items found
Additional items are on sale at the Sales Stall item shop in the dining car.
| Item | Icon | Found In |
|---|---|---|
| Autograph | 
|
Given by the engineer while doing Bub's favor. |
| Blanket | 
|
Given by Ghost T. after returning the Ragged Diary to him. |
| Briefcase | 
|
Given by Doopliss as Zip Toad after he is caught. Mario later returns it to the businessman. |
| Dried Mushroom | 
|
Left by someone inside a drawer in cabin 005. |
| Galley Pot | 
|
Found in Heff T.'s drawer after following the trail of stew to cabin 003. |
| Gold Ring | 
|
Given by Doopliss as Zip Toad after he is caught. |
| Mushroom | 
|
Given by the conductor after returning the blanket to him. |
| Ragged Diary | 
|
Found behind some crates in the baggage room. Accessible using Paper Mode. |
| Shell Earrings | 
|
Given by Doopliss as Zip Toad after he is caught. |
| Shine Sprite | 
|
Found in cabin 005 |
| Given by Bub after giving the autograph from the engineer to him. | ||
| Star Piece | 
|
Found under a panel in front of the gauge in the engineer's room.[note 1] |
| Found under a panel in the southwest corner in cabin 004. | ||
| Given by Chef Shimi after returning the Galley Pot. | ||
| Given by the waitress after returning her Shell Earrings. | ||
| Found in a drawer in cabin 008. | ||
| Vital Paper | 
|
Found in cabin 001 after the businessman's things are stolen. |
Notes
- ^ Only accessible while traveling to Poshley Heights.
Area Tattles
- "This is a passenger car. Orange and brown decor... That actually looks good! the passenger cabins here are numbered 3, 4, and 5, in case you forgot your numbers."
- "This is a passenger car. The green and brown colors actually work here. Wow. There are two passenger cabins here, numbers 1 and 2."
- "This is the dining car. There also seems to be a cute little shop here. Dining and shopping while watching scenery go by... Talk about heavenly..."
- "This is a passenger car. The blue and brown interior here is totally chic. The passenger cabins here are numbered 6, 7, and 8. ...But you knew that."
- "This is the engineer's car of the Excess Express. Any kid would LOVE to see this! Look at me, Mario! I'm an engineer! WOOP WOOOOOP! Hey, but driving a train is really nothing to joke about. I totally respect engineers!"
- "This is the freight car. Usually, passengers aren't allowed back here. Looks like there are lots of bags here, ready to be unloaded at the next stop."
- "This is the train's roof. Look at that scenery go whipping by! Wowser! ...Look, this is no time for me to be describing stuff! These guys are so ANNOYING! They're flippy and floppy and gross and I HATE them! Let's get rid of them!"
- "This is cabin five...which is our cabin! If we need to rest, the bunk in here is super comfy. Train naps are the best." (Switch only)
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | リッチリッチエクスプレス[?] Ricchi Ricchi Ekusupuresu |
Rich Rich Express | |
| Dutch | Biljoenentrein[?] | Trillions Train | |
| French | Crésus Express[?] | Crésus is the French name of "Croesus", a fabulously rich king | |
| German | Glimmer-Liner[?] | Like the English term | |
| Italian | Fasto-Express[?] | Pomp-Express | |
| Spanish | Tren Ricachón Exprés[?] | Tycoon Train Express |
Trivia
- During the events of Super Paper Mario, Francis writes about wishing to buy an Excess Express train set.
- The Excess Express has the most music tracks in the game, with there being a total of eight (one each for day, dusk, and night, one as the track for Pennington, one as the music played for Ghost T., one for Riverside Station, the music played when the Smorgs attack the train, and one more if counting the lack of music for the baggage car).
- On Day 3 of the Excess Express, the player will get an email in the dining car in the Japanese version. In the international versions, the player will get this email to the right of Mario's room.
- In the Switch remake, pictures of the K64 train can be seen on the walls, suggesting that engine used to operate on the Excess Express's line before the current train was built.
