Recap    We now know a great deal about Agatha Christie and the Simplon Orient Express (SOE)—and also the OE--during the Second Golden Age of Wagons-Lits. We followed her from London to Mesopotamia on her first trip in 1928. We know she loved to stay at the Hotel Baron in Aleppo--particularly significant for the opening chapter of Murder on the Orient Express (M/OE)—and at the Pera Palace in Istanbul. We know the inspiration for M/OE came to her when she was with Max working at Tell Arpachiyah, and that she started writing it at the Baron, and at least continued it, and probably completed it, at the Pera Palace. We discovered why the alternate title to M/OE is Murder in the Calais Coach (M/CC). We know she wrote several major novels about the Middle East, of which we grouped three together as a pseudo-trilogy, with Murder in Mesopotamia (M/M) actually following M/OE. Yet she used the device of stating that M/M action actually took place before M/OE, and that was why Poirot was really in the Middle East in the first place for M/OE. And even the mention of a red kimono in Death on the Nile (D/N) referred back to an event on M/OE.

In the following we will hardly ever refer to the plot of the mystery, so no spoiler alert is necessary if you haven't read it. Our topic is, as it has been, luxurious rail travel in the 1930s, so having read the novel would be an enjoyable supplement to the topic, but not necessary to this discussion. So let's now take a 1934 train ride with Hercule Poirot.

Riding the [Simplon] Orient Express with Poirot    Chapter 1 of M/OE bears the title "An Important Passenger on the Taurus Express". That passenger is, of course, Hercule Poirot, boarding the Taurus in Aleppo. This is Aleppo station in 2008 (Photo by Mohammad AL yakoub).

Aleppo    Christie writes that it's 5 AM on a winter's morning at Aleppo station. Given that early hour, we have to adjust our mental image, since it would still be dark at that hour. This is the Aleppo station in 2007, in the dark (Photo by Reinhard Dietrich). (This night view also highlights that striking palm tree much better than the above day shot.) The Taurus is waiting at the platform.

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Here we have the station sign, which is also in the second view, tho harder to read. While we do see a train in the station, it's not the Taurus (nor is it 5 AM). We show it just to set the mood. Christie says the Taurus—as she knew it--consists of a "kitchen and dining car, a sleeping-car and two local coaches". At the step to the sleeper, beside a young French lieutenant, is a "small man muffled up to the ears of whom nothing was visible but a pink-tipped nose and the two points of an upward-curled moustache." We see here the type of description of Poirot Christie gives that David Suchet studied, to portray him so well on TV. We also find that the lieutenant charged with seeing him off knows nothing about how Poirot helped a local French general with his problem. And of course there's no reference to having come from Mesopotamia, as M/M hadn't been written yet.

The officer mentions that today is Sunday and after a night on the train Poirot will be in Stamboul / Istanbul / Constantinople on Monday evening at "seven-forty". Poirot comments that he's never been there and wants to spend a few days there. The two French-speakers both mention it's worth seeing "la Sainte Sophie", referring to the Hagia Sophia. The officer hopes snow won't block the Taurus trip, which is possible, and adds prophetically about the OE trip "In the Balkans there is much snow."

But Christie does give an indication of where the Taurus is coming from. Is it Cairo or is it Baghdad? The answer lies in her mentioning another passenger on the sleeper Poirot is about to enter, Mary Debenham, who was coming from Baghdad; her thoughts refer to "the train to Kirkuk [and], the Rest House at Mosul". Poirot also learns about a Colonel Arbuthnot from India on board, and these three are the only passengers on the train. "They arrived at Konya that night at about half-past eleven" where there's concern about a possible delay, since the two other passengers have a connection to make. Mary Debenham says "This train is due in at 6:55, and one has to cross the Bosphorus [sic] and catch the Simplon Orient Express on the other side at nine o'clock."

COOK'S: Let's pause and take a look at my reprint of Cook's Continental Timetable of August 1939. We know about the train to Kirkuk as being the narrow-gauge one, followed by the bus connection, which apparently stopped at a Rest House in Mosul. But there's a time discrepancy. Christie says in 1934 the Taurus left Aleppo at an early 5:00, while Cook's says in 1939 it left Aleppo at 7:25. So be it. However, Cook's confirms that the Taurus ran on WFSu, and Christie says it's Sunday, so that does match. Christie mentions a 23:30 stop in Konya still on Sunday, but Cook's shows no such stop. Instead there's an afternoon stop in Adana at 15:27, but schedules do vary over time. On Monday there's a stop in Ankara 8:00 she doesn't mention, and then it's on to Haydarpaşa.

Haydarpaşa    But the Konya delay was minimal and they arrived at Haydarpaşa station only five minutes late (Photo by A.Cihan CÖMERTEL).

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As this map reminds us, the ferry left right from the front of the station. On the ferry, Poirot was separated from the two others. "On arrival at the Galata Bridge he drove straight to the Tokatlian Hotel." This would be at the south side of Galata Bridge, in Eminönü on the Historic Peninsula, and is also the location of Sirkeci Maritime. Let's look at that. This is the area of the ferry terminals in Eminönü (Photo by gokcebim). Poirot would have taken a taxi over the Galata Bridge in the distance, past Galata tower, to the Tokatlian in Beyoğlu. But if we turn around to see what's behind us, we get the view toward Sirkeci station (Photo by mwanasimba). Poirot's two traveling companions would have just walked thru the small park to the domed Sirkeci on the other side. Anyway, Poirot won't be seeing the two again. Or will he?

There follows some confusion about times. Using today's 24h clock, I'll write that Cook's lists the arrival in Haydarpaşa (but with S) at 20:00; the Bosporus ferry leaves at 20:00; it arrives at Sirkedji [Sirkeci] (Mar[itime]) at 20:20, and the SOE leaves at 22:00. There's clearly a typo there (tho repeated elsewhere) because there's no time to get from the arriving train to the departing ferry.

Christie had the French officer in Aleppo say that the arrival at "Constantinople" will be at 7:40 (=19:40). That would allow 20 minutes to make the 20:00 ferry, and so it makes sense. But then she has Mary Debenham say the arrival is at 6:55 (=18:55), 45 minutes earlier. Furthermore, Mary says the SOE leaves at 9:00 (21:00). I mention these times and discrepancies because it will become important shortly for Poirot.

I think in the matter of the Bosporus connection we have to disregard Cook's and follow Christie, despite her own inaccuracy. So let's say the arrival at Haydarpaşa is at either 18:55 or 19:40. The ferry takes 20 minutes. And the SOE leaves Sirkeci at 21:00. This leaves either 2h05 or 1h20 between trains—and 20 minutes are needed for the ferry ride.

Tokatlian    Chapter 2 is titled "The Tokatlian Hotel", and this is Christie's second mention of it after it first appeared in that second Parker Pyne story in the previous posting.

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Above is a period ad for the Tokatlian, referring still to "Constantinople" and also to "Pera" (spelled Péra in French), the former name for Beyoğlu. But the luxury hotel has declined in modern times from what it once was. This is its façade in 2013 (Photo by Proudbolsahye). Part of the building is still a hotel, and other areas are shops and banks.

Remember that Poirot is planning some time to see Istanbul, and so he registers at the Tokatlian and asks for any mail he may have. But the mail includes an unexpected telegram telling him to return to London immediately regarding a case, so he doesn't even get a chance to go to his room, which he cancels on the spot, and asks when the "Simplon Orient" leaves—9:00. He asks about getting a first-class sleeper to London, and is told it should be easy, since at this time of year, the trains are empty. They'll book him on the "Stamboul-Calais coach".

But now we can stop speculating, since Christie gives us numbers. Poirot notes that it is "ten minutes to eight", which means that our first figure is closer, with 1h10 to departure. Still he asks the concierge if he has time to dine, and is assured he does. This being Poirot, this is not a quick sandwich on the run, but a full sit-down dinner. For me, that would be a stomach-churning meal!

Two other encounters happen in the restaurant to lengthen the time spent there, and that doesn't even include time for a taxi ride to Sirkeci. First, while working at "keeping his moustaches out of the soup", he meets and chats with M Bouc (M=Monsieur) who is Belgian and a director of Wagons-Lits. He knew Poirot from Poirot's time with the Belgian police. It's a providential happenstance for Christie that Poirot is Belgian and that the SOE is run by Wagons-Lits, originally a Belgian company. M Bouc learns Poirot will be taking the OE this evening. Bouc will be doing the same, on business as far as Lausanne, just north of the Simplon Tunnel in Switzerland. Also in the restaurant, Poirot (with Bouc) notices the disagreeable-looking gangster-type Mr Ratchett and his secretary Hector [MacQueen]. They will also be taking the SOE that evening, so at this point, Poirot has taken note of four people who'll be on the train, two from Aleppo and two more now (plus Bouc). Then the alarmed concierge arrives to announce there is no more room on the SOE, surprising, since normally there's plenty of room this time of the year. But M Bouc will be able to find room for Poirot and they finally (!!) head for the station.

The SOE at Sirkeci    With Poirot tagging along, the conductor first brings the Director, M Bouc, to Bouc's compartment, No 1 in the coach marked with the destination sign ISTANBUL TRIESTE CALAIS. Bouc then tells the conductor to give Poirot compartment No 16, which is always left free for emergencies, but to Bouc's amazement, he's told it's taken. As the three French speakers are conversing, the conductor comments on how crowded the train is, saying to M Bouc "It is incredible, Monsieur. All the world elects to travel to-night!" and M Bouc asks angrily "But what passes itself?"

The Calais Coach    We'll be seeing all along how Christie uses in M/OE her super knowledge of trains in general and of the SOE in particular, derived from years of travel—her literary license notwithstanding. But for now, just follow along with these arrangements for passenger accommodations. M/OE is so well known, and of interest to so many people, so that something like the below sketch can be available online (Image by Clemclar). Notice that even in the link, M/OE is expressed in French, further illustrating international interest:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Le_Crime_de_l%27Orient_Express_-_Plan_wagon.svg/2000px-Le_Crime_de_l%27Orient_Express_-_Plan_wagon.svg.png

This is the well-known Calais Coach, whose name appears in M/CC, the alternate name for M/OE. As we look at it now, it doesn't show the overcrowded first night, but the second night, which is slightly different. The conductor does point out there will be more space for the second night when the Kurswagen from Athens joins the train at Belgrade (and the Bucharest one as well), but it's this first night of the trip that's a problem.

This car is listed under the name "Wagon Constantinople-Calais". Each sleeper has 12 wood-paneled compartments with bunk beds, either one (first class, in blue) or two (second class, in beige), plus a washbasin. I cannot explain why first-class compartments 1-2-3 are out of numerical order. Typical of the era is that toilets are at either end of the car (the sketch in the book shows WCs to the left of 4-5 and to the right of 16). Unlike 21C trains, there are no baths or showers on board. The compartments convert for daytime use into a compact carpeted sitting room with sofa and small table. The blue compartments are single-occupancy first-class, and the beige ones double-occupancy second class. In second class, passengers traveling alone might pay for sole occupancy of a 2-bed compartment, but other passengers would share a compartment with another passenger of the same sex. We see on the left the diner that will be added to the front of the train once it's in Bulgaria in the morning, and on the right the Athens-Paris coach that will be added in Belgrade, easing congestion. In yellow is the corridor seat for the conductor, Pierre Michel. We see compartment No 1, at first given to M Bouc (that will change later when Poirot gets it). We see why Poirot couldn't have been given No 16, since M Hardman already has it.

Let's now pick up the conversation between Bouc and Michel about Poirot's plight. Bouc asks about second-class, and finds there is only one actual vacancy, Berth 9, but there's a (German) woman in Berth 8, so that won't do. The other possibility is Berth 7, which is reserved for a certain M Harris, along with another man in Berth 6, Hector MacQueen from the restaurant. But Michel points out that it's already "four minutes to nine" and Harris isn't here yet, so his reservation is forfeited and Poirot is given his place, Berth 7 for the first night, with MacQueen in 6.

Again we may wonder why there are, quite unexpectedly, so many people on the train this particular trip, but the answer to that is part of Christie's mystery plot, which we are not discussing. Poirot and MacQueen discuss exchanging upper and lower berths, but their conversation is interrupted, because Christie then describes a momentous event, which thrills the reader:

Catching Up    We need to do a bit more catch-up to our narrative before we return to the train itself. We saw Christie refer to Haydarpaşa station, even tho she mangled the name. But very oddly, nowhere does she ever mention Sirkeci station by name, even tho she's writing about the OE and it's the station the OE leaves from. She doesn't even respell it as Sirkedji, as the old Cook's does.

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Getting a better look at the arrival at Sirkeci, above is a striking picture of a train platform in the interior (it's by day, even tho they arrive in the evening). This is also a modern picture, since the sign points out the müze/museum that today encompasses at least some, and possibly all, of the station. Do note the Turkish word, and do realize it's just a respelling of the French word musée.

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Now take a look at the above picture, which I find even more striking. It again is a train platform at Sirkeci, but this time starkly illuminated at night, so it fits our narrative perfectly. In the picture, there is a train waiting at the platform, but it's assuredly not the OE, just a regular train, yet it evokes exactly the atmosphere we need to visualize Christie's imagery describing the long, lighted platform as it slid slowly past them. Keep this beautiful imagery in mind.

I say that, because I need to reveal something that should surprise everyone, since it continues to surprise me. The very good 1974 film with a so-so Poirot by Albert Finney shows a scene very similar to this empty, evocative one. As I recall, the scene starts with a low shot of a woman's high heels clicking along the pavement as she's on her way to board the OE. It's a great opening shot for the film, but yes, it IS an opening shot, since the story continues only starting at this point, and includes nothing earlier. In other words, the narrative is decapitated up to this point. No Aleppo, no Taurus, no Haydarpaşa, ferry, Tolkatian, telegram, soup. No old case in Aleppo (and certainly not one in Mesopotamia). No meeting of future fellow passengers on the Taurus or in the restaurant. I'm not sure they even have M Bouc involved in the film version, and if so, just minimally. The film, great fun, nevertheless all starts on this platform, and takes place only most literally on the Orient Express itself, nowhere else. Yet Christie did approve this abbreviated screenplay.

The Four Sleepers    I suspect there is imagery among readers of M/OE of the SOE being a train of substantial size. Well, perhaps in the mid-part of its run, as we saw in Italy, but not here at its eastern end. Let's recall Agatha's 1928 eastbound trip. We saw that a lounge car was added in northern Italy only, and then taken away. A sleeper was dropped off in Trieste, and two more Kurswagen went off to Bucharest and Athens. We came to the following conclusion in 2021/3:

As for the trip westbound out of Istanbul, I rely on the summary made by European rail guru Mark Smith on his website, seat61.com, and give him full credit for his explanation of the consist of the SOE, which differs slightly from the above arrival information—but schedules do change. What follows is my summary and embellishment of his research on taking the OE in the mid-1930s from Istanbul. I'll also blend in the Cook's timetable as appropriate. While Christie uses a departure time of 21:00, Cook's uses 22:00, as does Smith, and going forward, I'll be sticking to the Cook's timetable.

The blue-and-gold liveried train was short, just four sleeping cars plus a baggage car at either end. There were no day coaches, at least not during this golden age of Wagons-Lits. It might seem like a unified train, but was really a collection of Kurswagen, headed, like exploding fireworks, in different directions. I'm particularly fond of that allusion. Just as a firework no longer exists after sending its constituent parts in multiple directions, none of the four sleepers of the SOE will end up in the same location. You can say that the train "disappears"—and it does—but the sleeper going to Paris is considered the primary one, so "a train" does arrive in Paris at the other end.

The route taken is without doubt that of the SOE—check out again the route map we've used in the past (Map by MissMJ). In the narrative, we've already referred to stops in Belgrade and Lausanne, proving that.

1ST & 2ND SLEEPERS: But rather oddly, only two of our four sleepers ended up in Simplon Orient Express destinations—and not the same ones, at that. Both were headed via Sofia, Belgrade, Zagreb (an addition from earlier), Trieste, Venice, Milan, Lausanne, and Dijon (another addition) to Paris-Gare de Lyon. (1934 route à la Mark Smith; 1939 Cook's varies slightly.) But while one sleeper will end in Paris, the other will continue on to Calais for the ferry to connect to the London train. This is of course our well-known Calais Coach.

Another reason to understand that this was the SOE and not the OE is that the two above sleepers were the only ones that ran daily. The other two sleepers ran less than daily, and ran to varying destinations, depending on which day of the week it was, as follows.

3RD SLEEPER: The third sleeper had two different destinations, depending on the day. Three times a week it was the one and only Orient Express car. It went via Sofia and Belgrade like the SOE, but then (see route map) to Budapest, Vienna, Munich, and Strasbourg to Paris-Gare de l'Est. (Again, this is the 1934 route à la Mark Smith; 1939 Cook's varies slightly.) Thus, Poirot was not literally in an Orient Express coach, since the Calais Coach is part of the Simplon Orient Express.

On three other days, this third sleeper was instead the Oostende-Vienna Orient Express, going via Sofia, Belgrade (like the SOE & OE), Budapest, Vienna (like the OE), Frankfurt, and Cologne to Brussels & Oostende, again for a ferry connection to a London train.

I have no information about the seventh day, when apparently, this sleeper did not run, and the train was shorter still.

4TH SLEEPER: The fourth sleeper was in a sense daily, but to two different destinations. It went on to Prague three times a week and to Berlin four times a week.

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I don't know the exact route. I'm also not even sure if this unmarked map shows roads or rail routes, but I think rail. As just a guess, follow on this map this a possible route: Istanbul, Sofia, Belgrade (like the SOE & OE), Budapest, Vienna (like the OE), but then to Prague and Berlin. Since Berlin is just north of Prague, I'm guessing it was perhaps a matter of this sleeper either stopping short in Prague on some days, but going all the way to Berlin on others. But this is just speculation.

But if anyone asks "Where did the Orient Express go?", what's a good answer? Like that firework, it ended up everywhere. And as for Berlin's relationship with Wagons-Lits, I also ponder the fact that Berlin not only had this Orient Express Kurswagen from the southeast, but also the Nord-Express connection from the southwest.

Beyond Istanbul    Once we leave Sirkeci, Christie concentrates much more on her mystery plot and much less on geography, or names of countries. Our above route map, we're taking the green line, but the M/OE story runs just past Belgrade, and ends. To refresh our memories, let's look again at this map we used in the past:

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Click to see that, after Turkey, there were just two at the time, Bulgaria, which Christie never names, then what was then Yugoslavia, which Christie spells Jugo-Slavia, a spelling popular at the time. In modern terms, after Turkey, the train's route covers Bulgaria (in green), Serbia (in yellow), and just a bit of Croatia (in purple), where the story ends in the Vinkovci area, not paying any attention to where the train is later headed in the West. So mentally draw a line from Istanbul to Vinkovci, and that's the extent of where M/OE takes place.

That map is an excellent political map to see borders, but we can do better with this equally excellent rail map of Southeast Europe (Map by Maximilian Dörrbecker):

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Click on Istanbul. This first night out of Istanbul was still Monday, which started for Poirot on the Taurus in central Turkey after his trip had started on Sunday in Aleppo. Since Christie says little to nothing about stopping times or cities en route from now on, we'll have to pick it up from 1939 Cook's, which, again, started the trip out of Sirkeci at 22:00, one hour later than Christie did in 1934.

Overnight they would have crossed Eastern Thrace / Turkey-in-Europe (in gray) from Istanbul to Edirne. Edirne is so international lying on the border with both Greece to the southwest and Bulgaria to the west. The next morning, which would be Tuesday, Cook's says the train crossed into Bulgaria and stopped at the border town of Svilengrade [Svilengrad] at 6:20, leaving at 6:50. That half-hour would account for border formalities, but also for adding the Bulgarian dining car, and possibly changing engines. In the dining car, Poirot has a quiet breakfast, tho both then and at lunch, he gets to size up the very international clientele. He also refuses to take on the disagreeable Mr Ratchett as a client.

Now follow the rail map in Bulgaria / България / Bǎlgariya (in orange), from Svilengrad via Dimitrovgrad and Plovdiv. Tho Christie mentions not a word of it, the train reaches Sofia at 14:41. (Think back—the once-missing stretch of rail around Sofia was covered for a while in the 19C by stagecoach before the rail gap was finally completed.) After Sofia, we head in the direction of Niš, and cross into what was then Yugoslavia, specifically Serbia / Србија / Srbija (in yellow). The border stop is in Serbia at Dimitrovrad (Cook's still calls it Tzaribrod) arriving at 16:20 and leaving at 15:50. The discrepancy is due to the time zone change, as Bulgaria is on Eastern European time (UTC+2) and Serbia is on Central European time (UTC+1). Niš, which Cook's spells Nisch, is reached at 17:48.

The SOE reaches Belgrade / Београд / Beograd at 21:49 and leaves at 22:20. (However, Christie lists them at about an hour earlier at 20:45 and 21:15, in 24h notation.) This would seem to allow time to attach the Athens Kurswagen. Poirot steps out onto the platform to get some fresh air, but even tho the platform is covered, it's very cold out and heavy snow is falling (Uh-oh. Christie is warning us once again.) Back on board, the conductor informs him that M Bouc, as a courtesy, has moved out of compartment 1 to a compartment on the newly arrived Athens coach, to allow Poirot to move from Berth 7 into compartment 1, so for this second night on the SOE, the sketch of the Calais Coach is now accurate.

After Belgrade, we cross into Croatia / Hrvatska (in white) and come across the Latin alphabet for the first time since Turkey. Croatia is, oddly, shaped like the letter C, which you can see here with difficulty—the shape is clearer on the earlier political map. It's now the middle of the night, and we stop at Vinkovci at 1:01, so it's already Wednesday.

I hope we all remember the major rail hub of Vinkovci (VIN.kov.tsi) from when Agatha arrived here coming from the opposite direction in 1928. In the book, Christie anglicizes it as Vincovci. It's not only important as a rail hub, but to the story, since the entire rest of the action of M/OE takes place, and also ends, in this distant little corner of Croatia (tho still Yugoslavia when she wrote it). Let's take a look at the nondescript Vinkovci station (Photo by Phantom25). The picture shows rain in the daytime, but in the story it's heavy snow at night, so picture it accordingly.

Vinkovci is a hub and much takes place here. Of the four original sleepers in Istanbul, two leave us here, to the north. They would be going via Osijek to Pécs [rhymes with aitch, the letter H] in Hungary, then via Budapest and beyond. These would have been the 4TH SLEEPER (to Prague 3 days, to Berlin 4 days), and the 3RD SLEEPER (3 days as the OE to Budapest & Vienna, then via Germany to Paris-Est; 3 days as the Oostende-Vienna OE, which also went to Budapest and Vienna, but then to Frankfurt, Cologne, Brussels, Oostende; 1 day non-existent).

So with those reductions, when we say that the SOE leaves Vinkovci at 1:19, what's left?
We start with the original 1ST & 2ND SLEEPERS, one headed for Paris, the other beyond to Calais.
The Athens/Paris SLEEPER (with M Bouc) that joined us at Belgrade brings it to three.
Contrary to what is shown on the earlier route map (it can't show all the changes over time), the Bucharest/Paris SLEEPER also joins us at Vinkovci, bringing it to four. (It comes from the direction of Timișoara and Belgrade.)
Thus, while the story will terminate in the area of Vinkovci, the SOE will continue westbound to Italy, Switzerland, and France, possibly adding more cars, including that lounge. But that's not within the parameters of M/OE—the story remains here.

Waking up at some point after Vinkovci, Poirot wonders why the train has stopped. The conductor informs him that the train has run into a snowdrift (which I personally visualize as a snowslide) and cannot go any further. In his experience, the train has been delayed up to seven days. Those snow warnings Christie has been giving us, in Aleppo and on the Belgrade platform, now end up stopping the train and delaying it.

The Snow Delay    So how fanciful is Christie being about the Orient Express being stuck in snow? Not fanciful at all, since it's based on fact. Just six months after Christie's first OE trip in late 1928, in February 1929, a blizzard caused the westbound OE to become stuck in snow for six days, just west of Istanbul at Çerkezköy (the first syllable rhymes with "chair"). Find it on the rail map, close to Istanbul. This is what it looked like in Çerkezköy:

https://i.redd.it/zff8zv16ejny.jpg

Using literary license, Christie moved the location from Turkey to Croatia. In addition, just two years after the blizzard, in December 1931, Christie herself was involved in a similar scenario on the OE (precise location unknown), where the train got stuck for 24 hours due to heavy rainfall and flooding, which washed part of the track away. So natural delays did happen.

Location of the M/OE Delay    Back to Croatia. The train had just left Vinkovci right after midnight when the conductor tells Poirot about the snowdrift. Poirot asks just where they are, and he's told "Between Vincovci [sic] and Brod".

The Mystery    Everything from here on in goes heavily to presenting the mystery, which we are not dealing with. One point we'll mention is that Poirot is woken again by a noise, and he looks outside his door, and sees "some distance down the corridor, a woman wrapped in a scarlet kimono . . . retreating from him. . . . Everything was deathly quiet." There are later on other references to it. We won't go into how that might be a part of the mystery, but will remind that in Death on the Nile, Poirot makes a reference to having seen a scarlet kimono in an earlier adventure. This is that minor reference that nevertheless connects the two novels.

He rises at 9:00 to see they are still stuck, and at breakfast at 9:45 a camaraderie starts to develop between the passengers due to the problems caused by the delay. At that time it's reported that sometime during this night, which is actually very early Wednesday morning (we left Vinkovci at 1:19), the universally disliked gangster Ratchett in compartment 2, prophetically right next to Poirot in 1, is stabbed to death, and so his death turns out to be the Murder on the Orient Express. A damaged pocket watch shows 1:15, which implies it happened while the train was stopped in Vinkovci—unless the watch had been tampered with.

The rest of the novel involves interviews with the passengers in the attempt to lead to a conclusion. I'll just comment on a few further points.

There are several interesting points, including some language surprises. When Poirot interviews Hildegarde Schmidt, who is German, Christie tells us: "The interview took place in German." I know of no other indication that Poirot ever knew any German at all, let alone that he would be fluent enough to conduct a formal interview.

Christie helps the reader out by providing a Cast of Characters in the beginning, which in this case, comes to 17. In this list, Christie describes Hildegarde Schmidt as being "deeply involved in the murderous game of chemin de fer". I don't know why Christie picks Schmidt out, since they the entire Calais Coach is involved, but the metaphor is interesting. I'm not a gambler, but am aware that chemin de fer, aside from being the French phrase for "railroad", is a casino gambling card game. Looking it up, I find the basic game it's based on is another term I've heard of, baccarat (ba.ka.RA); chemin de fer is a version of baccarat particularly popular in France. (It was the favored game of James Bond, which he played in various novels, most notably in Casino Royale.) I also now learn that it's played more quickly than the original version of baccarat, and that it got its name when it first appeared in the late 19C because at the time, railroads were the fastest type of transport. It remains the most popular version in France.

So Christie is drawing a parallel between a fast-moving card game whose name refers to a railroad, while Poirot on a railroad train interviewing numerous suspects, ALL of whom, not just Schmidt, are "deeply involved in the murderous game of chemin de fer". And get this: chemin de fer is played by up to 12 players. Now go back to the sketch of the Calais Coach and count the number of passengers on that coach besides Poirot and Ratchett.

And there's more. Christie presents an issue that has a sweet language twist—or two. One clue in the investigation is a lady's handkerchief that was found at the murder scene with the initial H on it, but it doesn't belong to Mrs Hubbard, Mary Hermione Debenham, or Hildegarde Schmidt. He then works around another twist.

We talked last in 2021/1 about twinned names with and without H, since H is such a fleeting sound. We said that the city of Edirne in East Thrace was founded by Roman Emperor Hadrian as Hadrianople, also known as Adrianople, since Hadrian / Adrian are variants of the same name; so are Helen / El(l)en; Hester / Est(h)er; Hanna(h) / Anna. We can build on that second pair with the additional variants Helena / Elena—which is just what Poirot does. He approaches Countess Andrenyi and says the handkerchief is hers, since it has her initial, H. She protests that her initials are E. A., with E for Elena. But Poirot has found out that her name was originally Helena. However, it's not hers, either.

He finally approaches the Russian Princess Dragomiroff, whose first name is Natalia (Наталья), and what was thought to be a Latin H was actually a Cyrillic N. Tho the Princess is Russian, Cyrillic is common in the region: Serbian, Macedonian, and Bulgarian all use Cyrillic, as we saw in city names en route.

Finally, the very last chapter is called "Poirot Propounds Two Solutions", which he does in the restaurant car with all present. The first possible solution is that a stranger boarded the train when it stopped at Vinkovci, or else Belgrade—that "man" Mrs Hubbard was "sure" she heard--committed the crime, and shortly afterward disembarked at great risk through the snow. The second possible solution, that the killer is among the passengers, tho exceedingly probable, is dismissed for reasons readers of the mystery will understand, and to this, everyone agrees. Thus Poirot concludes that "having placed my solution before you, I have the honour to retire from the case . . . "

I heartily agree with Mark Smith when he points out that there's no doubt that Christie's M/OE novel is in large part responsible for the cachet which surrounds the Orient Express today. But it was able to do so only because the Orient Express already had a degree of exoticism imparted by its Istanbul destination at the edge of Europe. After all, despite Christie also writing "4.50 from Paddington", there is little similar excitement among the wider world for catching the 16:49 Paddington to Oxford (the closest modern departure to 4:50pm) beyond just taking a train ride.

The Finney Film    There are three noteworthy film versions of M/OE, which we'll mention again in reverse chronological order.

The • third one, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, came out in 2017. I did not see it, but earlier we saw a Russian movie poster for it. It includes some very impressive A-list names, but I've read that some of Christie's characters are merged and nationalities changed, all of which irks me. I'll just give these two illustrations of the cast:

http://dailynewsgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/murder-on-the-orient-express-2017.jpg

https://pyxis.nymag.com/v1/imgs/a8a/08c/389f0102f44cb122034f2733ac09cddaa8-08-murder-on-the-orient-express-2.rhorizontal.w710.jpg

Kenneth Branagh in the first link seems to make an impressive Hercule Poirot. He has an impressive, imperious look, and that moustache is incredible. But I don't see any fussiness or any trace of Poirot's OCD, and I pictured a much smaller, darker, more delicate moustache. Of the impressive cast, I couldn't resist showing at least the wonderful Dame Judi Dench as Princess Natalia Dragomiroff, along with Olivia Colman as Hildegarde Schmidt, her maid.

The • second version—cited earlier--starred David Suchet, and was broadcast in 2010 as part of the British television series "Agatha Christie's Poirot", which aired from 1989 to 2013. The brilliant Suchet characterization of Poirot was discussed fully in 2021/4.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fCyGOyfre8Y/UlmmqejX9eI/AAAAAAAABMY/vNuu1jKnsm8/s1600/MYS_MOTOE.jpg

I'll just show this one cast photo, appropriately showing the snow scene. Once again, David Suchet is the definitive Poirot, fussy and with the right moustache. Since this was a TV production, it doesn't have the spectacularly famous casts that the other two have. But I'll point out in the back row left, in a bowler hat, a pre-Downton Abbey Hugh Bonneville, playing Masterman, Ratchett's valet, and, right in front of him, the red-headed Jessica Chastain as Mary Debenham. But up front, in a place of honor next to Suchet, is Dame Eileen Atkins (in the large hat), playing Princess Dragomiroff.

The • first version ever made was the 1974 version, and I'm delighted to have found this picture:

https://wallpapercave.com/wp/wp2272196.jpg

It shows French actor Jean-Pierre Cassel playing conductor Pierre Michel, but more importantly he's shown standing on the dark platform at Sirkeci station (I don't know where it might have actually been filmed) before the Simplon Orient Express leaves Istanbul at the start of the story. Above you can read "Wagons-Lits" and next to him is "Voiture-Lits" so you know it's a sleeping car. The picture I showed earlier at Sirkeci was meant to evoke this.

https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/sm/upload/4q/ht/mr/29/murder-on-orient-express-1200-1200-675-675-crop-000000.jpg?k=72542653e9

This is the one with Albert Finney as a ponderous, wooden Poirot, adequate, but not my favorite. The moustache is good, as is the hairstyle. But he tilts his head forward as tho he has a crick in his neck.

https://bigotherbigother.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/murder-on-the-orient-express-1974.jpg

I really loved its star-studded cast and stage setting (including Sirkeci, above). Click on this movie poster, and you'll find you recognize almost every name.

https://www.moviehousememories.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Murder-on-the-Orient-Express-1974-featured.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XI43XYAKckM/UGL7dkmHCGI/AAAAAAAACWs/yHev9YEfWcE/s1600/murder.png

Now use the poster as a guide to identifying all the famous faces in these two views in the SOE dining car. In both, you can see how Finney feels tilting his head makes him look like Poirot. In the second one, it's Martin Balsam who's addressing the group. This was one of very few adaptations of any of her works (another was Witness for the Prosecution) that Christie herself personally approved of. Beverly and I had seen it when it first came out, and we rented it to see it again before leaving home to take the trip on the VSOE cruise train in 2002. I also reread the novel while we crossed the Atlantic on the QE2.

One person I was particularly happy to see again on the screen was Dame Wendy Hiller, playing Princess Dragomiroff.

https://cultura.hu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/cultura-murder-on-the-orient-express-1974.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U7GzAdeyLZc/VFK6wyQP2lI/AAAAAAAAPZI/R4vYCmVZ7FA/s1600/Wendy-Hiller-Murder-on-the-Orient-Express-1974.JPG

The first link shows her regally seated in the snowbound dining car surrounded by Ingrid Bergman, Vanessa Redgrave, Rachel Roberts, Sean Connery, Lauren Bacall, and Martin Balsam. The second link is a headshot of Wendy Hiller at age 62 playing the imperious princess.
I was so pleased to see her again after having seen her years earlier on TV when they rebroadcast her in her breakout role, that of Eliza Doolittle, in George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" made in 1938, with Leslie Howard as Professor Henry Higgins. Shaw's original play had appeared in 1913, and years later, after she had appeared in a stage production, Shaw himself insisted she play Eliza in the film. That very screenplay was later adapted into the 1956 musical (and 1964 film) "My Fair Lady".

This is now Wendy Hiller at age 26 playing Eliza Doolittle, and here she is with Leslie Howard (center) as Higgins in 1938—just four years after Christie wrote M/OE in 1934.

The film, directed by Sydney Lumet, was a commercial and critical success. It received six nominations at the 47th Academy Awards: Best Actor (Finney), Best Supporting Actress (Bergman), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Costume Design. Of these nominations, Bergman was the only winner.
At the age of 84, Agatha Christie made one of her last public appearances at the royal premiere of the 1974 film in London. She died just thirteen months later.

Trailing OE Routes Today    Both the OE and SOE are long gone. But the question remains just how one can reach across Europe to Istanbul by train today. It wouldn't be the same, but would at least give one a feeling for traveling the historic, traditional route. For the answer, it's easy to once again go to the guru, Mark Smith, the Man in Seat 61 (seat61.com), who shows people on his website how to make all sorts of rail connections, many of them long-distance ones. Since he's based in the UK, he always starts his trips out from London, but one can modify the routes to order. Do note that even the best routes involve changing trains and overnighting in hotels. Most trains are very comfortable, but he recommends that, for some routes in the east, to bring food.

For reference, let's look again at the OE route map we've been using (Map by MissMJ). We can simplify it by saying that it comes down to routes in the West and routes in the East.
The western routes are the older, German one dating to 1883 via Strasbourg and Munich to Vienna and Budapest, and the later one established after WWI via the Simplon Tunnel and northern Italy, notably Venice.
The eastern routes are either the older route via Bucharest, or the slightly newer one via Belgrade and Sofia.

Let's see on this map what Mark Smith at seat61.com suggests as we plan an eastbound trip.

https://www.seat61.com/images/Turkey-map.jpg

From the UK, one can take a fast, same-day Eurostar thru the Channel Tunnel, London to Paris, to begin with, which doesn't extend the total number of days. This puts London and Paris on an equal footing.
On the map, check out the dark blue and the red lines. We see he recommends the (older) western route thru Germany, and makes no reference to the Simplon route via Italy. Presumably there would be too many connections and few overnight sleepers along that route. That doesn't mean it's impossible, just less practical.
On the other hand, in the east, he presents both traditional routes, via Bucharest and via Belgrade/Sofia. However, connections aren't perfect, and overnight stays in a hotel will be necessary. Variations are possible, and some are shown on the map. But this is what Mark Smith suggests.

Paris-Munich    Both routes to eastern Europe start out on the traditional stretch from Paris via Strasbourg to Munich. Tho it involves a day train, that's of no concern, since it's the French TGV Duplex, a bi-level high-speed train, shown here in Paris at the Gare de l'Est (Photo by Remontees).

TO BUCHAREST: Munich–Budapest-Bucharest    Arrival in southeast Europe from Munich involves two overnight sleepers. The first one, Munich to Budapest, is by the Hungarian sleeper train Kálmán Imre (he was a composer of operettas, known in German as Emmerich Kálmán). This YouTube video (1:18) shows the Kálmán Imre leaving from Munich's Hauptbahnhof and arriving (via Vienna) in Budapest. (Follow the rest on our rail map.)

The second overnight sleeper, Budapest to Bucharest, is by the Romanian sleeper train Ister (an old name for the Danube). Smith reports that it's modern, air-conditioned, and has carpeted 1, 2 or 3-berth compartments with beds & washbasin, plus several deluxe 1, 2 or 3-bed compartments with private toilet & shower.

https://www.seat61.com/images/Romania-ister-train2.jpg

https://www.seat61.com/images/Romania-ister-sleeper2-large.jpg

On the first picture of the Ister, I hope you can figure out that the Vagon de Dormit means "sleeping car". CFR stands for Căile Ferate Române. If it were in (closely related) French, it would be Chemins de fer Roumains, or Romanian Railways (actually, Iron Roads). There's a Romanian bar-bistro car attached once it's in Romania serving a cooked breakfast eastbound and dinner westbound, but taking some supplies of your own is always a good idea. Stay overnight in Bucharest.

TO SOFIA: Munich-Zagreb-Belgrade-Sofia    From Munich to Zagreb one travels overnight on the Croatian sleeper train Lisinski (Vatroslav Lisinski was a Croatian composer). The sleeper is smart, modern, and air-conditioned (1, 2 & 3-bed compartments with washbasin). Click on the below link to read the destination sign in the window of the Lisinski.

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Travel from Zagreb to Belgrade is by day train (see rail map). It apparently goes via Vinkovci and follows the M/OE route in reverse. It's air-conditioned, but bring food. Stay overnight in Belgrade.

From Belgrade to Sofia is also by day train. Bring food. Stay overnight in Sofia.

Final Connection to Istanbul    We've now arrived either in Bucharest, where we had to stay a night in a hotel, or in Sofia, where we also had to stay a night (after an earlier night in Belgrade). For the final connection to Istanbul, we have two daily Turkish trains, but that masquerade as one, so we have a similar situation to what we've discussed before.

But we're traveling eastward, so let's check out each of the two connections in that direction.

SOFIA: After we spent that night in Sofia we take the daily Istanbul-Sofia Express (Istanbul-Sofya Ekspresi, Истанбул-София Експрес / Istanbul-Sofiya Ekspres) at Sofia Central Station, shown here in 2019 (Photo by Btian Paul Dorsam). Mark Smith says that it has two safe and comfortable Turkish air-conditioned sleeping cars (Photo by Yann Forget). We go eastward via Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second-largest city, and later stop in Dimitrovgrad, where we merge with the other train.

BUCHAREST: After we spent that night in Bucharest, we take the Bosphorus Express [sic] / Bosfor Ekspresi out of Bucharest Nord (North) Station, shown here in 2019 (Photo by TrainSimFan). [The pronunciation and spelling with PH (F) instead of P is used in the name, but from here on in, I'll go with the sensible pronunciation and spelling Bosporus Express.] Apparently it used to include a Romanian sleeper, but that was discontinued in 2017. My latest information is that it now consists of 3-4 cars usually mixed from the Romanian, Bulgarian, and Turkish railways, including a single coach car and a Turkish four-berth couchette car, tho Mark Smith points out that one can book all four berths for sole occupancy.

It's a short run south to where the train crosses the well-known Danube (rail-and-road) Bridge we've discussed before (see map), between Giurgiu (JUR.ju) and Ruse (RU.seh), then over the Balkan Mountains (literally), to the meeting of trains at Dimitrovgrad. The combined trains then cross into Turkey, stopping at Erdine on the way to Istanbul.

Halkalı    I have to bring up now what I consider unfortunate news, which we'll discuss in a moment in greater detail, but this and other trains do not go to Sirkeci Station. They stop at suburban Halkali Station, on the west side of the Istanbul urban area. Note the below destination plaque from Mark Smith:

https://www.seat61.com/images/Turkey-sofia-express2.jpg

This change has come about only in recent years, so as we look at the following pictures, we'll point out those pictures that are out-of-date (of which there are many online showing Sirkeci), showing arrivals and departures still at Sirkeci, as opposed to those of a more recent date, showing arrivals and departures at Halkali. You'll also note that above I dated photos at the opposite ends, in Sofia and in Bucharest, as both being new, as of 2019.

SIRKECI IN 2007: This is the combined modern train at night waiting to depart Sirkeci. I hope it brings thoughts of Agatha Christie (Photo by Bahnfrend). This is the combined train in daylight waiting at Sirkeci (Photo by B'Tian Denizcan P. Dorsam).

Here we have once again the combined train at Sirkeci, but showing the Bosporus Express section of it. Read the signboard. And this picture is doubly outdated. Not only is the train still at Sirkeci, but it still shows a Romanian sleeper headed for Bucharest (read the sign) which was phased out in 2017 (Both Photos by Bahnfrend).

HALKALI TODAY: This is now the westbound combined train in suburban Halkali in 2017 (Photo by Ihsan Dolguner). We'll talk about all this below.

Route Comments by Mark Smith    He says both routes are similar in cost, in time spent, and in comfort. He adds that: If you want to retrace some of Agatha Christie's traditional Orient Express route and travel in the comfort of the . . . Sofia-Istanbul sleeping-car, you should travel via Belgrade & Sofia. If going both ways, I'd go out via Bucharest and back via Sofia. At first I wondered why he said that, but now it's clear. Christie wrote M/OE as a trip departing Istanbul and continuing up to north of Belgrade to Vinkovci. He adds The journey is remarkably straightforward, safe & comfortable. . . . Yet it's also an epic [3,200km] 2,000 mile 3 or 4-night adventure, rediscovering some of the mystery, intrigue and romance of long-distance train travel through the Balkans.

Istanbul Updated    In 2021/1, we discussed Constantinople-cum-Istanbul, but with a tilt toward how I had known it during our 1965 visit. Yet even then, I found and showed a couple of updates, and the extent of change they showed was astounding. I said I'd "been looking at some pictures like this contemporary panorama looking north from the Sea of Marmara and am shocked (Photo by Ben Morlok). Every city has a right to modernize, but I find it hard to believe that so much Manhattanization (and I use that term pejoratively) has hit Istanbul." I still find it hard to imagine that the historic peninsula with the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque could now have that skyline in the background. It looks like a false backdrop for a stage setting. But time marches on. As to travel infrastructure changing as well, aside from the ferries, there are now bridges and tunnels crossing the Bosporus.

Bosporus Crossings: Ferry    When we were there in 1965, the only way to cross the Bosporus between Europe and Asia was by ferry—unless you could borrow someone's rowboat, or were a really good swimmer. Particularly notable was the ferry connecting Sirkeci and Haydarpaşa stations, used repeatedly by Agatha Christie, to the point that she had Poirot and two traveling companions in M/OE use it as well. In 2021/1 I'd said: The ferry crossing would have looked something like this (Photo by Ilya Plekhanov). I used that photo to represent our round-trip ferry ride between Eminönü and Üsküdar, but noted that there was no bridge there in the background at the time.

http://www.vazyvite.com/photo_div/2011_istanbul/istanbul_ferry_SEHIR_HATLARI_map_carte_plan.jpg

This is a newer map of ferry routes across the Bosporus, so despite other improvements, the ferry business still looks good. In the center, find the light-colored dashed line named "Sirkeci-Haram Feribotu". This is another improvement, a car ferry (Photo by Abdullah kıyga)!

The green route is exactly the one we took, and this map also shows the bridge just north of Üsküdar shown in that picture. But look at the blue route out of Haydarpaşa. It still crosses to the European side, but not to Eminönü, where Sirkeci is. It now goes to Galata (now called Karaköy) on the north side of Galata Bridge, so it's obviously no longer intended to connect rail termini. However, that can be done by taking the blue route south to Kadiköy, then taking the black route to Eminönü.

Bosporus Crossings: Road    Truthfully, back in the day, a few years after our visit, I did learn about a bridge having been built across the Bosporus, as shown in that picture and on that map. But I didn't know there were two more, now making three. The ●First Bridge, closest to the center and for road traffic, was opened in 1973, eight years after we were there. North of that, the ●Second Bridge opened in 1988, and is also a road bridge. Further north still, and not far from the Black Sea, the ●Third Bridge opened in 2016, and is huge. At 322 m (1,056 ft), it's the third tallest bridge in the world of any type. It's also one of the world's widest suspension bridges, at 58.4 m (192 ft) wide. The reason for this great width is that carries eight motorway lanes and one railway line in each direction. The two-way rail lines are in the center, and four motorway lines are on each side. At present the only rail using the bridge are freight trains, but it will be integrated into other rail and road links and is described as being "accessible" to passengers traveling between Edirne in the west and Izmit, about half that distance to the east.

I find it amusing that, tho each of the bridges has a lengthy official name, familiarly, they're called, in the south-to-north direction they were built in, the First Bridge, Second Bridge, and Third Bridge, as can be seen on this map:

https://www.tunneltalk.com/images/article-0288/image1.jpg

I don't have a date for this map, but it's slightly out-of-date, since the Third Bridge is shown, but the bypass road around the urban area that crosses this bridge is still shown as dashed lines. But do note how much closer to the center the First and Second Bridges are.

And so this map leads us to the next road crossing, the sensibly named Eurasia Tunnel. Since it opened at the end of 2016, and since this map only shows construction phases, we see again that the map is dated—but serves the purpose. (Before we leave this map, note the short blue line crossing the Bosporus just north of this tunnel—we'll discuss this "blue tunnel" in a moment.)

The Eurasia Tunnel is called in Turkish the Avrasya Tüneli, since it connects the continents of Avrupa (consider it "Europa") and Asya. The double-decked tunnel itself is 5.4 km (3.4 mi) long, but including the approach roads the total route is 14.6 km (9.1 mi).

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The tunnel proper is in red on this map, with the approaches in green. It was built this far south to better balance the distribution of traffic between it and the three bridges, but that ends up locating it on the south side of the Historic Peninsula. The journey by car between the two continents takes about 5 minutes.

Bosporus Crossings: Rail    But now we get to the heart of the matter. We'll move now to the dashed dark blue line on this map that we also saw on an earlier map, marked here simply "Marmaray". This is the Marmaray Tunnel, which we need to look into.

The increase of rail infrastructure in Istanbul is astounding. I recall, with difficulty, some streetcars, but now the complete system looks like this (Map by Maximilian Dörrbecker):

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Istanbul_Rapid_Transit_Map.png

This is a fine rail map of Istanbul, a Rapid Transit Map, dated January 2021, so it's very up to date. It shows the incredible increase in the interconnected rail infrastructure in recent decades, besides the three road bridges and tunnel. It's explained in the upper right, but generally, it comes to this:
the blue Ms are the metro lines (underground dark blue, light rail light blue). The oldest section of the Istanbul Metro / İstanbul Metrosu is the M1 line, which opened in 1989, LONG after our 1965 visit;
the red Ts are the trams, both modern and historic;
the yellow MBs are the metro-buses; note how they cross the Bosporus on the First Bridge;
the Fs are the three funiculars, all indicating how Beyoğlu seems to be higher than the area around it.

But that's all of secondary interest to what we're investigating. Of prime interest, indicated right at the top of the inset, is the Marmaray route in green, which connects Europe and Asia by rail via the "blue tunnel" that we just mentioned.

We mentioned above that the Third Bridge also carries rail tracks, and that will become more important in the future. But at the present, the most spectacular rail crossing of the Bosporus involves the new major commuter rail line, the Marmaray (MAR.ma.ra.i, rhymes with "rye"). It's the Marmaray—and NOT the metro—that uses the Marmaray Tunnel, that "blue tunnel" at the northern end of the Historic Peninsula, that also runs under the Bosporus between Europe and Asia, lying about 1 km north of the Eurasia Tunnel for cars at the southern end of the Historic Peninsula.

Marmaray Tunnel    Above we talked about the Marmaray Tunnel (Marmaray Tüneli) being under the Bosporus, and indeed, its undersea section is the deepest immersed tube tunnel in the world (constructed in pieces elsewhere, floated to the area, then sunken and connected)--its deepest point is 60 m (200 ft) below sea level. But tunnels (and bridges) need approaches and there's no surface area in the Historic Peninsula that's appropriate, and not much on the Asian side, either. Therefore the tunnel is much longer than the 1.4 km (0.8 mi) actually buried under the seabed. It's actually 13.5 km (8.4 mi) long!

https://www.tunnel-online.info/imgs/100842523_3f65f20986.jpg

This illustration shows very well how long the tunnel really is, beyond the underwater part. Start with the lower sketch. The violet area shows just where the immersed tunnel was laid under the Bosporus. The pink areas were excavated underground by a tunnel boring machine (TBM). The yellow areas were done by the cut-and-cover method, like many subways are—dig a trench, then roof it over. The two tunnel portals are shown at either end.

The middle sketch shows just how the Bosporus is deepest at the western side, near Sirkeci, and indicates the 60m depth, so it becomes more obvious why long approaches were necessary. Also note the hills to be taken into consideration, especially on the Asian side.

The map at the top shows the route. The western, European portal is in Kazlıçeşme, where there's also an above-ground station outside the portal. The eastern, Asian portal is in Ayrılıkçeşmesi, where there's also an above-ground station outside the portal, but that's not shown on this map.

But such a long tunnel would be useless for central-city traffic, so three stations were actually built into it! Remember, these are not metro/subway stops, but commuter rail stops in the center city. The map shows the new underground stations in Yenikapı, Sirkeci, and Üsküdar. If you check the middle sketch again, you'll find that it's the stations that required the cut-and-cover excavation, but that makes sense, since they needed access from above. You can also compare how deep below ground the three stations are, with Sirkeci being the deepest.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EngBbbN1Sas/maxresdefault.jpg

The escalators (above) at the southern entrance to Sirkeci Marmaray station are the longest escalators in Turkey with a height of 61 m (200 ft).

Marmaray tunnel is actually a double tunnel, opened to passenger traffic in 2013, with each tunnel containing a single track (Photo by MEOGLOBAL), one in each direction. Now let's see how this overlong tunnel fits into the system. On the Rapid Transit Map, find the green line coming from the west showing the Marmaray commuter line. Find that last surface station before the west portal, Kazlıçeşme and you'll see something interesting. Of the three tracks that approach the west portal, only two of them actually enter the tunnel, while the third track, shown by a white-and-green line, actually does continue to the traditional surface Sirkeci station. This is also indicated by a black dashed line on our tunnel map.
Back on the Rapid Transit map, now look at the other side, where east portal opens at Ayrılıkçeşmesi. The two emerging tracks connect to the Istanbul-Ankara railway, and also vaguely to Haydarpaşa station. This might be a little clearer on the tunnel map. (I'm not sure what to make of these connections to the traditional stations. See below.)

Marmaray Commuter Rail    The tunnel is simply named after the Marmaray rail route it carries, which is shown in green on our Rapid Transit Map. Go to the western terminus at Halkalı, a name we've heard before and will discuss more later. Trace the green Marmaray line from here on the European side, thru the tunnel, and down the Asian side to where it runs off the map at Tuzla Tersane. Then move up to the center inset to continue from there to the last stop in Gebze. What you've just traced is not new trackage; 63 km (39 mi) of existing suburban rail lines were modernized (clearly including former Orient Express trackage in the west). Add to that the distance of the (extended) tunnel, and the entire route is 76.6 km (47.6 mi) long. There are 37 surface stations and three underground stations, several of which connect—or will connect--with the metro (see map). There is also new rolling stock--440 electric multiple units—EMUs, which we've talked about--self-propelling cars, like on a subway. This is a Marmary train in Bostancı station on the Asian side, obviously headed for Halkalı (Photo by Neltharion). The delayed opening of the line was in March 2019, delayed due to archeological discoveries near Sirkeci, with artifacts dating back 8,000 years. That's what you get when you tunnel in ancient cities.

I have to admit that at first I was nonplussed about all this, it seemed so unusual. Then in an epiphany, I saw how absolutely normal this is. Berlin (and other German cities) has its subway, the U-Bahn, but it also has its suburban commuter network, the S-Bahn, which has its own stations in the center city, many of which connect to U-Bahn stations. Paris has its Métro, but in the recent visit we discussed the RER suburban commuter rail system, with its own stations, some connecting to the Métro. And London has been building similar systems in addition to its Underground, the Thameslink and new Crosslink systems. Interestingly, these are now called the Overground!

Non-Commuter Rail    But the Marmaray line and Tunnel are also used for other, non-commuter trains. In non-rush hours, mainline and regional trains use the route, as well as a high-speed rail line.

Actually, freight trains free of dangerous and uncovered goods (which have to go by ferry) also use the tunnel, but only once regular traffic stops, so they're limited to overnight between 1-5 AM, when traversing the whole route takes about an hour. (But a caveat about weight in a delicate tunnel: freight trains can be twice as heavy as commuter or high-speed trains.) Yet this leads us to a very important point. The Turkish press has compared the Marmaray project to the historic Silk Road. The motto that's been used is "connecting China to the UK", especially when considering that it's the first standard gauge rail connection between Europe and Asia, keeping in mind Russian broad gauge tracks. Take a look at a flashback to 2009/33, when we followed Marco Polo along the Silk Road to China, and locate Constantinople on a connecting route:

International Passenger Rail?    The railroad days of the 1920s and 1930s where Agatha Christie (and Hercule Poirot) passed thru this area are long gone. No ferry, no terminal stations on either side of the Bosporus, and what about the old station buildings? She's probably spinning in her grave. There's no more (Simplon) Orient Express anyway, nor Taurus Express, other than within Turkey. But if the tunnel had existed then, might Wagons-Lits have actually extended the OE or SOE to envelop the Taurus and go under its own name to Baghdad and Cairo? Heady thoughts. But there's little to no international passenger rail in this area, and the Middle East situation is a mess. (Turkey rail lines could always reach out toward western connections, but that's again wishful thinking.)

So all this passenger rail (and freight) goes right past Sirkeci, but not up on the ground at the traditional surface station, but deep under it, via the Sirkeci Marmaray station. This YouTube video (2:07) says that it shows the new Ankara Express passing thru Sirkeci just before entering the underwater part of the tunnel. However, I don't know which one of the three trains we see is that express. But it's described as a night train that operates between Ankara and Istanbul (do understand that by "Istanbul" it means the Halkalı station at the western end of the route) with three types of cars, day coaches, dining cars, and sleeping cars. Still, I have a hard time picturing Hercule Poirot and the others in one of these trains.

I understand they've done a lot with art work in the stations. This is a copy of that tile mural we just saw in the video (Photo by Dosseman). It shows the interesting contrast between the new and the old that seems to typify Istanbul these days. This is the Cağaloğlu entrance to the Sirkeci Marmaray station (Photo by Ex13). Note how istasyon (with a grammatical ending in U) is directly derived from French, whose pronunciation it imitates, and not English.

The Traditional Stations & Halkalı    It has been exceedingly difficult to determine what's going on at the traditional Sirkeci and Haydarpaşa stations, as it's all happening now, and the pandemic makes it more confusing as to what, if anything has been or is being accomplished. Thus, the answer is—I don't know. As we said earlier, until 2012 Haydarpaşa was a major intercity, regional and commuter rail hub as well as the busiest railway station in Turkey. As of 2013, all train service to it was indefinitely suspended because of the construction of the Marmaray project. There had been talk of replacing it with housing, but after a public outcry, as of 2018, the station is now open again. (?) The station building still houses the headquarters for District 1 of the State Railways, and was placed back on official railway maps for Istanbul. (But do any trains service it? Will any in the future? Who knows?)

I find a lot of pictures of trains in Sirkeci station, but I'm sure they're all out of date, since again, as of 2013, service to Sirkeci was indefinitely suspended because of the construction of the Marmaray project. As we mentioned when talking about international trains from Sofia and Bucharest, they terminate in Halkalı, 28 km (17 mi) west of Sirkeci—and now we know just where that is, and why. As we'd noted earlier, the Istanbul Railway Museum (İstanbul Demiryolu Müzesi) is situated within the historic İstanbul Sirkeci Terminal. Opened in 2005, the museum is owned and operated by the Turkish State Railways and has free entry. In the museum, around 300 historical items are on display. The Orient Express Restaurant seems to still be open, but I'm not at all sure of that.

As we've seen Halkalı is now the terminus for international trains coming from Sofia and Bucharest. This view at Halkalı looks north at the direction they'll be arriving from with platforms spanned by an overpass (Photo by Btian P. Dorsam). But this means arriving passengers are left out in the boondocks, and departing passengers have to voyage to the boondocks to leave. However, there are connections. There's a free bus (ugh) service that connects Halkalı and Sirkeci. Also passengers can, for a fee, take the Marmaray commuter rail to Sirkeci—or to anywhere else in town, which begs the fact that, if you're going elsewhere, why go to Sirkeci first? If you check the Rail Transit map, you'll see you can also get a metro ticket for the M11, which seems to parallel Marmaray to Yenikapi, then continue northeast to Beyoğlu. And the M1B light rail also does—or will--swing north, then east to make connections. But why am I not happy?

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Here's a surprising map. We said that the Third Bridge will also have a rail line crossing it, and this map shows a planned rail rectangle formed around Istanbul, also connecting Gebze and Halkalı via a northern route. There are high-speed rail lines mentioned, as well as a projected third airport for Istanbul. Will high-speed trains be using this as well as the Marmaray Tunnel? Instead of it? Who knows? But a statement I found says that, either way, Halkalı is expected to be the main high speed train station on the European side of Istanbul after the railway connection via the Third Bridge is completed.

I have few to no answers to all these changes. The best I can get is from Rail Turkey, the Turkish Railway Journal, but it's dated August 2017, so is already suspect for being out of date. Take it for what it's worth.

Articulation    Before we move on to the "modern antique" VSOE cruise train in the next posting, we need to quickly present another phenomenon, the articulation of vehicles, including trains. Articulation here doesn't mean speaking clearly, it means connecting to form a unit, such as the bones in an arm are all articulated, or connected together. And articulation has affected all forms of transportation.

We'll start with a city bus, which has two axles, front and back. Supposing you need to increase volume, but don't want to hire another driver to send an additional bus down the line. The answer is an articulated bus, which I like to call a "bus-and-a-half". On a regular two-axle bus, you remove the back and attach the open end of a half-bus, with one axle. But you cannot do it solidly, or you'll have a vehicle much too long to turn corners. Since it needs to bend, you make a joint between them that pivots, and cover it with flooring, so passengers can move from the front to the "half-bus". For flexibility you put accordion walls and ceiling at the joint, and you end up with the longer bus you need, but one that can turn corners. Articulated buses are everywhere, but I found a good picture in England. This is an articulated bus in Brighton (Photo by Les Chatfield). The two axles up front and the single one in the "half-bus" are obvious, but we show the picture to illustrate the accordion connection between the two parts that allow this bus to turn the corner. More and more of these are appearing in NYC, and in the last year or so whole major streets, most notably 14th Street in Manhattan, have become busways, for these buses and emergency vehicles only (cars can drop off and pick up, but must then take the next right turn off 14th Street).

Moving to vehicles on tracks, this is a view inside a Czech articulated tram (Photo by cs:ŠJů), clearly showing the pivoting floor and the accordion gangway connection. And this shows continuous articulated subway cars in the Barcelona metro (Photo by Eric Fischer). Click to look right into the next car thru the gangway connection, and note how easy it becomes to walk not only car-to-car, but also the length of the train if so desired. I remember reading that NYC was planning to buy new articulated subway cars for its lettered trains and for the Staten Island Railway before pandemic delayed those plans until 2022. But this is a mockup of a car due for NYC showing the open gangway between cars--there's no second car shown here because it's just a mockup of one car (Photo by Tdorante10).

Articulated Trains    Articulation has also reached intercity trains, but we have to see this on a larger scale than with smaller vehicles, since trains go greater distances over varying terrain. And to understand how this is done, let's make sure you're familiar with a bogie, also called a truck in North America. (Yes, bogie sounds just like Bogey, Humphrey Bogart's nickname.)

A bogie is an assembly of wheels and axles (Photo by Ketamin). They vary in style, but this is a standard two-axle bogie with four wheels, two on each side. Since it's holding up the end of a car/coach/carriage on a train, you see the springs as well that will help smoothen the ride. A standard bogie such as this goes near each end of the car.

But this has some negative features. On a straight track, there's no issue, but how about when the train goes around even a mild curve (Diagram by Wiki LIC)? Note the red axles, and how their bogies follow the curve of the track while the cars themselves stay rigid, causing them to protrude at the ends. This bending causes difficulty for passengers crossing between two adjoining cars, and also externally. Tunnels and station platforms that happen to be curved have to take this into allowance.

The Jacobs Bogie    In 1901, the German mechanical engineer Wilhelm Jakobs patented his new idea for a bogie. Actually, it was all about placement. As this sketch shows at the top (Sketch by Partim), Jakobs suggested putting one single bogie between every pair of cars, rather than having two bogies so close to each other on each car, as at the bottom. This eliminates the problem of car ends sticking out on curves, and with the weight of each car spread across the bogie, a smoother ride is provided without the additional weight and drag. This 'tween-car bogie is now called a Jacobs bogie, with Jakobs being respelled (K to C) in international use.

So what is the practical result of the Jacobs bogie? Quite a number of trains are now articulated, with Jacobs bogies forming (relatively) permanent connections between the cars. This is a Jacobs bogie connecting two articulated cars on a Czech train (Photo by PetrS). Early forms of the Jacobs bogies were used in Germany as early as 1932, and in the US as of 1934. Today, high-speed trains built by most manufacturers are articulated with Jacobs bogies.

The Talgo Bogie    Jakobs had a good idea. But can articulated trains be improved on still? Sure, and for that we move from Germany to Spain. Of all the companies involved in building Trains, Talgo is one of the most innovative. It's one of the companies that builds a tilt train, but that's another story.

Talgo took the Jacobs bogie and modified it rather surprisingly. Talgo kept its bogie between cars, like the Jacobs bogie, but made two major differences. While the Jacobs bogie has two axles and four wheels, the Talgo bogie goes down to only two wheels—with no axle whatsoever! You'll see this in this sketch (Sketch by Pechristener). At the top is a train whose cars have conventional bogies; in the middle is an articulated train with Jacobs bogies; at the bottom is an articulated train with Talgo bogies. Talgo patented its bogie in 1941. The sketches do seem to indicate that, as the number of axles is reduced, car length is shortened, since there's less understructure to support car weight. But this doesn't seem to be a major problem. This is a Talgo bogie in use, with one wheel on each side (Photo by Tiago Miranda). Without an axle, the wheels are allowed to spin independently of each other, improving stability.

I'm sure axles go back millennia, to ancient oxcarts and the like, but this type of Talgo bogie manages without them. The wheels are still mounted in pairs, one on each side, but are connected individually to the bogie half-frame, which allows the car to take a turn at higher speed, and also allows the cars to be more insulated from track noise.

Talgo has a manufacturing facility in Wisconsin to build for the North American market, and has built an articulated train for Amtrak. It's the Cascades, in the Pacific Northwest, that connects Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver in Canada. Service on the Cascades route is provided by seven articulated Talgo trainsets. (These cars are also designed to passively tilt into curves, allowing the train to pass through them at higher speeds than a conventional train.) This view looks south as Amtrak's Cascades (click) departs Portland Union Station northbound (Photo by Oregon Department of Transportation). Note how the articulated cars in the trainset, including the engine, seem to blend into each other—articulated trains tend to form one sinuous whole.

Since railroad wheels are heavy—a single 36-in (91-cm) rail wheel can weigh more than a ton—these shared bogies, either Jacobs or Talgo, reduce the number of wheels and thereby the weight of the train, letting trains accelerate faster and reducing wear on the track, also reducing rail squeal and noise in general. This improves average speed and passenger comfort as well. They are also safer, since, in case of derailment, the cars are less likely to fold like an accordion. Bogies are also complex and expensive, so the fewer the better, for better economy.

The obvious disadvantage is that the cars can only be separated at the workshop, so train routes become less flexible than they once were—forget using any Kurswagen.

Unique Quality of Trains?    I refer back to 2020/6, to the section describing the "Unique Quality of Trains". We said it's the only kind of transportation where a unit can separate and rejoin en route. But not if articulated.
Think of the Texas Eagle joining with the Sunset Limited in San Antonio to form one single unit to Los Angeles, and how on the return, the one train splits again to form two.
Think of the Sofia and Bucharest trains joining in Dimitrovgrad on their way to Istanbul, and splitting in two at that point westbound.
Think of the Orient Express as it left Istanbul, where each of the four sleepers ended up in a different location. Also consider the names, one being the Calais Coach, whereby Murder on the Calais Coach ended up as the alternate name for Murder on the Orient Express.
None of that would be possible with an articulated train. But with all the advantages of articulated trains, including high-speed trains, the future of rail seems to be moving in that direction. That may be fine, but trains are losing their unique quality of great flexibility. What would Hercule Poirot say?

Again, we're discussing articulation now because in the next posting, we'll be following my 2002 trip on the VSOE cruise train that uses original Orient Express coaches. Part of that trip involves making connections on a very interesting articulated train, unique in my experience, and possibly unique in the world.