4 October: The Orient Express

On this date in 1883 the Orient Express first ran, linking Turkey to Europe by rail. 10 things you didn't know about the Orient Express.

1. The first Orient Express was actually two trains and two ferries. Passengers travelled from Paris to Vienna, where they were ferried across the Danube in order to catch another train to Varna, Bulgaria, where they'd catch another ferry to Constantinople. By 1889, the whole journey was being made by train.
2. The direct train journey from Paris to Constantinople in those days took 67.5 hours.
3. Direct trains from Paris to Istanbul stopped running in 1977 except for occasional revival services. The original Orient Express continued running until 2009 between Paris and Vienna. Nowadays other train companies run similar services, such as the Venice-Simplon Orient Express which travels between London and Venice. A trip on that one would set you back at least £2,000.
4. Agatha Christie's famous novel, Murder on the Orient Express was inspired by a severe delay on the service. In 1929 there was a severe case of "the wrong kind of snow" in Turkey which meant the train had to stop there for several days. There was no murder on that occasion but Agatha Christie was inspired to use such a delay as her inspiration. In the book, the murder takes place in Croatia.
5. The wrong kind of snow wasn't the only problem passengers faced in earlier times. In 1891, five passengers were kidnapped and held to ransom. In 1892, there was an outbreak of cholera on board. In 1901 the brakes failed and the train crashed into a restaurant at Frankfurt station, and in the 1930s it was attacked by Hungarian terrorists.
6. Agatha Christie isn't the only author who has written about the Orient Express. It also appears in Bram Stoker's Dracula, when vampire hunters use it to catch up with Count Dracula, who is fleeing from England to Bulgaria by ship.
7. Another fictional character to travel on it was James Bond. The Orient Express was a popular way for secret agents to travel in real life, to the extent that it was nicknamed The Spies Express. Mata Hari was one real life spy who used it; another was Robert Baden-Powell, who would go on to found the scouting movement. He used the trip to make sketches of coastal fortifications in Dalmatia. To avoid suspicion, he disguised his drawings to make them look like drawings of butterflies.
8. There have been a couple of kings of Bulgaria who weren't just content to ride on the Orient Express but would use their power and influence to get a go at driving it. Boris III, who reigned from 1918 to 1943 was one, another was Ferdinand I. Other kings such as Leopold II of Belgium and Carol II of Romania preferred to seduce women during their trips.
9. Some other famous passengers have included Tolstoy, Trotsky, Marlene Dietrich and Lawrence of Arabia. In modern times the Venice-Simplon Orient Express has had JK Rowling, Peter Gabriel, Julia Roberts and John Travolta as passengers.
10. The Armistice which ended the first world war was signed in an Orient Express coach. Hitler would later use the same coach to force the French to sign their surrender in 1940.

NEW!

Obsidian's Ark

Teenage years bring no end of problems. Daniel Moran's include getting hold of computer games his parents don't think he should have; a full blown crush on the beautiful Suki from Zorostan; maintaining his status as a prefect and getting his homework done. He must also keep from his parents and sister the fact that he is a superhero with a sword from another world.

Trish wonders how to get science whizz Tom to notice her; how to persuade him that the best way to stand up to the school bully is to fight back. She doesn't want her friends, especially not Tom, to know she is a genetic variant with superpowers. Little does she know that Tom has secrets of his own.

Suki struggles to make friends at school when she cannot understand everyday cultural references, and they all suspect her of being a terrorist. She, too, has a secret, but is it what her classmates assume?

When Daniel stumbles upon a plot by an alliance of supervillains to plunge the world into war, he tries to alert the established superheroes, but none of them believe him. When the Prime Minister's only daughter, Yasmin Miller, is abducted, Daniel knows the villains' plan is underway. It seems humanity's only hope may be Daniel and the ragtag bunch of teenage superheroes he recruits. Can he pull together, not only his own team, but the older heroes as well, in a bid to save the Earth from a devastating war?

Themes: 

Superheroes; Coming of age; Leadership; Kidnap and rescue; Aliens; Friendship and rivalry; Terrorism; Secrets.

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