Orient-Express

The most famous train in the history of rail transport, the Orient Express has taken on board prestigious passengers, diplomats, kings, artists and even spies! The mythical image of this legendary train has been conveyed by both literature (Agatha Christie) and the cinema (James Bond).

Its itinerary has evolved according to the economic, technical and political context of the different eras. A product of modernity, progress and the expansion of European industrialisation, the Orient Express constantly reinvented itself, surviving two World Wars. Competition from air transport led to its decline. Its adventure came to an end in 1977.

image wikipedia

Belgian civil engineer and industrialist Georges Nagelmackers (1845-1905) founded the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits in 1872 and the Orient Express in 1883.

Following a trip to the United States, where he discovered the night trains operated by George Pullman, the Belgian civil engineer and industrialist Georges Nagelmackers began to think about improving comfort on the railways. In 1870, he published a project for the installation of sleeping cars on the continent's railways.

With the support of Belgium's King Leopold II, he was granted permission to run the first sleeper train on the Paris-Vienna route, for which he paid and directed the manufacture. Run in November 1872, this first trial proved a great success. The same year, he set up his own company, "Georges Nagelmackers et Cie".

From 1922 onwards, the more resistant midnight-blue metal cars began to replace the old teak cars. In 1929, they became the norm.

The first restaurant car was built in 1882 and featured two separate dining rooms, each seating twelve. Salon cars were introduced in 1884, giving Nagelmackers trains the stamp of incomparable comfort.

The Grands Express Européens

On 10 October 1882, the Compagnie des Wagons-Lits launched an exceptional Paris-Vienna round trip in a luxury train called the "Train Éclair". Comprising four sleeping cars, a restaurant car and two bagage cars, the train linked the two capitals in 27 hours and 53 minutes. It was the first time the company had chartered its own train.

Following the success of this line, Georges Nagelmackers had the idea of extending the route to Constantinople, capital of the Ottoman Empire.

On 5 June 1883, a first train left Paris bound for Constantinople (over 3'000 kilometres). For the first time in history, a rail convoy crossed the whole of Europe to link these two capitals.

Tickets were priced at 700 francs-or, making them accessible only to a wealthy clientele.

Inaugural menu on 4 October 1883: oysters, turbot with green sauce, chicken with chasseur sauce, venison "chaud-froid", chocolate cake, dessert buffet.

After five days in Constantinople, the passengers returned to Paris, arriving at 6am on 16 October 1883. The four-day journey was considerably faster than the two-week journey by ship from Marseille to the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

The completion of the last section of the line on 1 June 1889 meant that the entire journey from Paris to Constantinople could be made by train.

In 1891, the "Express d'Orient" was officially renamed the "Orient Express" and became the most famous train in the world.

The 3'094 km journey takes 65 hours and is not yet direct. The convoy leaves Paris at 7.30pm for Giurgiu in Romania, via Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, Budapest and Bucharest. In Romania, passengers take a ferry across the Danube. Arriving in Bulgaria, a train brings them to Varna on the Black Sea, where they board the Espero, a steamship that will take them to Constantinople after about fifteen hours.

The first luxury cars produced by the company were made from teak wood, renowned for its durability. Heating, lighting and ventilation used the most modern technologies of the time. Lighting was first provided by gas, before electricity was introduced at the end of the 1880s using a dynamo system.

Started in 1898, the work on the Simplon Tunnel was completed in 1906 for the opening of the Milan International Exhibition.

The digging of this tunnel greatly shortened journeys from Paris to Italy, and in 1919 allowed the Orient-Express to pass through from the south. This new route to Istanbul was faster and made it possible to avoid both crisis-stricken Germany and the instability of the Balkans following the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

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After the First World War, the geopolitical situation prevented the Orient Express from returning to its original route through Germany.

In 1922, the teak cars were replaced by more comfortable metal cars, painted midnight blue with gold edging. The Art Deco interior decoration was entrusted to great artists such as the decorator René Prou, as well as Albert Dunn for the marquetry and René Lalique for the glasswork. The "Type LX" cars with private compartments for a single passenger were the most remarkable creations. Often called Wagons Pullman CIWL, in reference to the American manufacturer George Pullman, these luxury cars were in fact built in France by the Société Lorraine des anciens établissements de Dietrich.

In 1924, a third route was created, the "Suisse-Arlberg-Vienne". It linked Paris to Vienna via Zurich and Innsbruck.
In 1931, the line reached Budapest and Bucharest, then Athens in 1932. It was renamed the "Arlberg-Orient-Express".

From 1930, the "Taurus-Express" line extended the route beyond the Bosporus.

London - Paris - Lausanne - Simplon Tunnel - Milan - Venice - Belgrade - Sofia - Istanbul, with connections to Rome, Athens, Aleppo in Syria, Jerusalem, Cairo and Baghdad.

For decades, the Orient Express would link London to Istanbul, via Paris, Milan, Venice, Belgrade and Sofia, thanks to the opening of the Simplon tunnel (see above), with connections to Athens, Baghdad and Cairo.

Trotsky, Marlene Dietrich or Agatha Christie, crowned heads or spies, all travelled on this mythical train.

The Orient Express stopped operating in 1977. Its carriages were bought back and completely renovated, and were back in service in 1982. The line would henceforth be known as the "Venice Simplon Orient-Express".

The Simplon line links Lausanne to Brig.

It was built between 1857 and 1878 in several stages and sections by the Compagnie du Simplon.

In 1881, this company merged with the Compagnie de la Suisse occidentale, which in turn merged with the Compagnie du Jura-Berne-Lucerne in 1890 to create the Jura-Simplon company.

Starting in 1890, the Jura-Simplon railway company linked Paris to Italy via Vallorbe and the Simplon Pass. At that time, the pass was crossed by stagecoach.

The completion of the Simplon Tunnel, linking Brig to Iselle in Italy, finally enabled passengers to cross the Alps without changing trains.

As steam locomotives were a danger in the Simplon tunnel, the decision was taken to use the new three-phase alternating current technology, which was installed in the Simplon Tunnel in 1906. This enabled the first electric locomotives to run through the tunnel.

In 1924, the Lausanne-Sion section was converted to single-phase alternating current. In 1927, it was the turn of the Sion-Brigue section and, three years later, the Brigue-Iselle (Italy) section.

The Lötschberg tunnel links the canton of Berne (Kandersteg) with the canton of Valais (Goppenstein). Work on the tunnel began in 1906, and the line was brought into service in 1913.

The connection with the Simplon tunnel created a fast route between north-western Europe and Italy.

The Orient-Express was discontinued in 1977, doomed by the fast and cheap travel offered by the airlines.

An American entrepreneur, James Sherwood, bought back a large number of the original cars, restored them and relaunched the Orient Express in 1982 under the name "Venice Simplon Orient-Express".

The Venice Simplon Orient-Express poster collection:

The first luxury service between London and Paris, via Brighton, was created in 1881 by the English Pullman Car Company, two years before the launch of the Orient Express by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits.

One hundred years later, Pierre Fix-Masseau created the first series of posters for the Venice Simplon Orient-Express.

1981
London

Paris

The Château de Chillon on the shores of Lake Geneva on the Simplon line

Venice, the City of the Doges

1982
Milan

Opened in 1877, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is Italy's oldest still active shopping mall.

1983, the Orient-Express centenary

The new Venice Simplon Orient-Express logo

Two modern, retro-style posters and a luggage label.

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Copyright 2023 Galerie 1 2 3, JD Clerc & Yanouchka W. Sabbatini.