![]() ( Discover 10 of the world's lesser-known train trips. Blowitz revelled in describing the dining car’s “bright-white tablecloths and napkins, artistically and coquettishly folded by the sommeliers, the glittering glasses, the ruby red and topaz white wine, the crystal-clear water decanters and the silver capsules of the champagne bottles-they blind the eyes of the public both inside and outside.” About, meanwhile, was delighted to find that “the sheets are changed every day, a refinement unknown even in the finest mansions.” Each compartment naturally had the most modern amenities of the day-central heating, hot water, and private bathrooms. Among them were two people whose testimonies became invaluable sources for the atmosphere on the train: Edmond About, a novelist and correspondent for the French daily newspaper Le Figaro, and Henri Opper de Blowitz, a correspondent for the Times of London.īoth produced rich, detailed chronicles that captured the magnificence of the train. ![]() The summer and fall of 1883 was a politically restive time in the Balkans, which the train would have to traverse, so some travellers packed pistols for self-defense. Each wagon-built of teak wood, heated by steam, lit by gaslight-was about 57 feet long. The train consisted of three carriages, two sleeper cars, a dining car, and two luggage wagons. The first official journey of the Orient Express- a name bestowed on the train by newspapers (despite the fact that Constantinople, a city straddling two continents and multiple cultures, wasn’t really part of “the Orient”) and subsequently embraced by Nagelmackers-was a grand affair attended by many of the leading lights of Paris’s diplomatic, financial, and journalistic circles. The lavish menu served on that test run-oysters, soup with Italian pasta, turbot in green sauce, chicken chasseur, beef tenderloin, venison, salad, and a variety of pastries, plus Bordeaux and Burgundy wines and, of course, French champagne-offered a taste of things to come. Maiden voyageĪ year before the inaugural departure of the Orient Express, on October 10, 1882, Nagelmackers invited guests on a trial run of his Train Éclair de luxe (luxury Lightning Train) on a round trip from Paris to Vienna. In time, it became the first multinational corporation dedicated to opulent transport and hospitality, with trains and other holdings eventually spreading from Europe to Asia and Africa. It would establish a network of luxury trains-including the Blue Train, the Golden Arrow, and the Taurus Express-all over Europe. After the creation of the Orient Express, the CIWL adopted a rather cumbersome new name: the International Company of Sleeper Carriages and Great European Expresses. Soon after its founding, the CIWL began providing catering and accommodation services to various European railway companies in the form of sleeper carriages, saloon carriages, and dining cars. Leopold II saw the business potential of Nagelmackers’s idea and helped him secure the necessary contracts with railway administrations in the eight different countries for what would become the CIWL’s flagship railway line. The monarch was widely known as both a savvy financier and a railroad enthusiast. Nagelmackers found the ally he needed in King Leopold II of Belgium.
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