by Marisol Dayton

Created on: August 21, 2010   Last Updated: November 09, 2010

In Agatha Christie’s classic murder mystery, Murder on the Orient Express, the great fictional detective Hercule Poirot finds himself stuck on the train in a snowstorm and embroiled in another mystery.  For many avid readers, this book brought to life the luxury of the Orient Express and the adventure of traveling by raid from Istanbul to Paris.

Agatha Christie, however, did not model her train after the real Orient Express.  The model for her novel was the Simpleton Orient Express, a sister service to the original Orient Express.

To say the Orient Express was one train is a misconception.  During its 116 year run, the Orient Express was traveled by many trains and in its heyday, there were at least six trains running the line in any given week.  The Orient Express has become synonymous with a single luxurious train, but in fact was a rail line – a service – that ran first from Paris to Vienna and eventually would be extended to Istanbul.

The first train to make the overnight trip from Paris to Vienna was Georges Nagelmackers’ Train Éclair de luxe, the lightning luxury train.  On October 10 1882, it departed Paris at 6:30 PM and arrived in Vienna the following night at 11:20 PM, taking almost 29 hours to complete the trip.  This train became known as the “test” train.  The invited passengers slept in one of four sleeping coaches and on the first night indulged from a menu that included oyster soup with Italian pasta, filet of beef with chateaux potatoes, chicken ‘a la chasseur’, ‘chaud-froid’ of game animals, and a buffet of desserts.

The first Express d’Orient left Paris for Vienna on June 5 1883.  The original route, until October 1883, passed through Strasbourg and Munich as well.  On October 4 1883, the line was extended to Giurgiu in Romania where passengers boarded a ferry to cross the Danube to Rousse in Bulgaria.  From there they continued by train to Varna and again took a ferry to Istanbul, which was still called Constantinople at that time.

From 1883 to 1885, the Express d’Orient ran twice weekly from Paris to Giurgiu.  The train consisted of four sleeper cars, a dining car, and two baggage cars.  In 1885, daily service began from Paris to Vienna.  From Vienna to Giurgiu it continued to run only twice a week.  In 1885, another leg from Vienna was added, this one traveling south to Belgrade and Nis. 

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