Solved: The 1920s Orient-Express carriages were found languishing in Poland. Photo / Xavier Antoinet, Supplied
Solved: The 1920s Orient-Express carriages were found languishing in Poland. Photo / Xavier Antoinet, Supplied
They are rail carriages synonymous with mystery. Now a very real 40-year-old mystery has been solved, with the help of a network of international train enthusiasts:
What happened to the Orient Express?
In the 1930s, writer Lady Clarissa Mallowan realised the glamorous cabins, with their concealed compartments and elegant panelling were the perfect vehicle for "cloak and dagger drama". Of course her pen name was Agatha Christie - and the book was Murder on the Orient Express.
It's considered the masterpiece of detective novels, but behind the rolling stock cliches was a real mystery. Since first travelling from Paris to Istanbul, the original art deco carriages of the story were lost.
A lady vanishes? The train disappeared for 40 years. Photo / Supplied
In the mid 1980s, the original carriages as travelled on by the author were bought by a Swiss businessman for an ultra-long journey: "Extrême-Orient-Express".
"The train made the longest journey ever between Paris and Tokyo, before stopping a few years later and disappearing," reads an official history from the current operator Accor. Somewhere between France and Manchuria, the most famous train in history went missing.
Seventeen cars - 12 sleeping cars, one restaurant, three lounges and one van - gone without a trace until a few years ago.
The Istanbul-Orient-Express was last seen travelling to Japan in the early 80s. Photo / Xavier Antoinet, Supplied
Arthur Mettetal, a French railway historian, was watching a train journey on YouTube - as one does - when a flash of blue caught his eye.
In a tiny rail yard in Małaszewicze on the border between Poland and Belarus there was a promising picture: several carriages in the same distinctive night-blue used by the original train livery.
He couldn't be sure of the condition or if they were the historic carriages, but the screenshots set online train spotting forums alight. He bought a rail fare to the end of the line to see for himself.
Cherchez la femme!
He had been looking for the cars since 2015.
"With a bit of persistence, Google Maps and Google 3D put us on the right track. The car roofs, visible on the aerial views, were indeed those of the Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express, neatly lined up on the border between Belarus and Poland."
Carriage of the train formerly known as Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express in Poland. Photo / Xavier Antoinet, Supplied
At dawn after a four-hour drive from Warsaw, there they were. The most written-about train in the world, hidden out in the open.
Finally able to look inside, Mettetal was amazed by the state of the carriages.
"Surprisingly well preserved, the interiors still revealed the Morrison and Nelson marquetry, as well as the Lalique panels, emblematic of the art deco style, which remained intact and engraved with "blackbirds and grapes" motifs."
The train's art deco interiors were perfectly preserved. Photo / Supplied
With the support of Accor's chairman Sébastien Bazin, Mettetal was able to put in a bid to restore the train to full operation.
Three years later, they signed the deal with the owner in 2018, it was finally transported back to France. However, Paris would not be the terminus for the famous train.
Accor has announced that it intends to restore the "Nostalgie" to her full 1930s glory.
In July 2024, she will be running from Istanbul to Paris in time for the Olympic Games.
Accor hopes to restore much of the original details in time for 2024. Photo / Supplied
"The entire project has been conceived as a work of art," lead architect Maxime d'Angeac says.
"From the nuts and bolts stamped with Orient Express' signature to the innovative concept of the suites, an exact science of detail will allow travellers to rediscover the great splendour"
After a decades-long detour, the most famous train in the world is on track to return to its full bombastic glory.
In a railyard in Poland, the world's most famous train languished. Photo / Supplied
