With luxury train travel, the traveller can experience first class service on a middle class budget. From the Orient Express to the Canadian Winter, the passenger takes in exquisite scenery all over the world while their every need is catered for by skilled and experienced staff.
The most widely known service the world over has got to be the familiar Orient Express. It all began in 1864, when George Pullman (1831-1897), an entrepreneur and rail enthusiast in America, built what was at the time a sophisticated, high technology train. By the 1870s, he had introduced sleepers and parlor carriages in Great Britain. Travellers could, for the first time, enjoy the comfort and convenience of taking their meals on the train. The Pullman Limited Express launched a regular luxury rail service between Brighton and London in 1881. Eventually, Pullman Limited formed connections with the ferry companies and established a service between Paris, France and London, England.
Over the same period of time that Pullman services were becoming established in England, George Nagelmackers was busy on the other side of the Channel in Belgium, designing his own dramatically luxurious train carriages. The Orient Express introduced its service between Paris and Giurgi, Romania, in 1883. When the Simplon Tunnel through the Alps was completed, it dramatically cut the journey time from Paris to Venice. Befitting the Roaring Twenties, the Golden Age of railway travel was fully underway with the luxury voyage to Istanbul, Turkey.
Sadly, the closure of borders and the termination of ferry services in Europe during World War II brought the dream to a premature end. Cheaper, more modest air travel sealed the fate of luxury rail travel and the Orient-Express halted its service in 1977. The train carriages were auctioned off in Monte Carlo.
There was, however, a light at the end of the tunnel. American James Sherwood, a railway enthusiast and founder of Sea Containers Limited managed to buy 35 of the original carriages and restore them to their former luxurious standard. The Orient Express from London to Venice had been reborn.
Before it was introduced to Europe and the Orient-Express, the Pullman carriage was used to transport the body of American President Abraham Lincoln from Washington DC to Springfield, Illinois, his final resting place. This drew national attention to the new mode of rail travel. Since then, the first class train service has been appreciated by numerous notables, both actual and otherwise. Actor Gregory Peck, international film and rock star, Cher, and Agatha Christie’s brilliant detective, Poirot have all snoozed nights away to the gentle rolling of the wheels on the Pullman carriage.
Today, the Royal Scotsman, also run by Orient Express, is arguably the most luxurious rail service. Its passengers are carried into the heart of the Scottish Highlands and treated to exclusive visits to castles, country homes and distilleries. A maximum of 35 guests are transported through some of the most magnificent scenery that Scotland has to offer.
The taste for luxury train travel has spread far beyond the borders of Europe. Intrepid voyagers can now mimic the lifestyle of the Maharajas on India’s Palace on Wheels. The really bold can travel on the Canadian in Winter, a snow-filled journey through the Rocky Mountains. The trip includes a visit to Niagara Falls and concludes with a farewell dinner in Vancouver.
