TTHE STANDARD BEARER OF THE BELMOND LUXURY TRAINS

he Venice Simplon – Orient Express represented, without doubt, an important stage in the resurrection of the luxury train, but to all intents and purposes was an act of ‘folly’.

In 1977, James B. Sherwood, an American entrepreneur who had made a fortune out of his containers business, took a gamble that, in retrospect, had nothing foolish about it at all. The previous year, Sherwood had attended a sale of two carriages from the legendary Orient Express in Monte Carlo. The famous old express train had just been decommissioned, unable to compete with air travel and heavily penalised by the customs formalities involved in crossing several countries in the communist bloc. Sherwood, who had just acquired the Cipriani hotel in Venice the previous year, saw in these two carriages an opportunity to revive a certain idea of luxury travel, as well as delivering his clients to his new establishment. Grabbing the opportunity with both hands, he acquired the two Pullman carriages.

This was the start of a real treasure hunt, as he searched for more Pullman carriages to realise his project: the launch of a luxury line from London to Venice. It was a daring gamble. Nevertheless, after five years of investigations and negotiations with various players in the railway world, and nigh on $16 million of expenditure, the dream became a reality. On 25 May 1982, with its 18 Pullman carriages impeccably restored by the workshops of the Compagnie Internationale des

Wagons-Lits in Ostend and DDG Hansa in Bremen, The Venice Simplon – Orient Express made its official maiden journey between Calais and Venice – on the other side of the Channel, the British Pullman connected the port of Folkestone to the British capital. The Venice Simplon convoy was made up of 12 sleeping cars, a bar carriage, three dining cars and two carriages reserved for staff and luggage. The interior architects James Park Associates were tasked with bringing the carriages up to scratch and endowing them with modern comforts, while at the same time not tampering with the original layout. For the particular delight of the passengers, bathrooms – albeit shared – were installed in each carriage. Gérard Gallet, the French designer, took care of the decoration for the carriages. Crockery, furniture, Art Deco elements, almost everything was renovated or recreated identically. Original moulds enabled the manufacture of new lamps and glass panels, and the firm Ercuis was commissioned to create original silverware stamped with the initials VSOE to blend perfectly with the masterpieces of the carriages themselves.

The work of designer René Prou, six of the sleeping cars feature floral motifs – his trademark – cleverly camouflaging basin and mirrors in each of the cabins. Amusingly, one of the carriages had been used as a house of pleasure in Limoges before being brought back into commission, while another was used by King