CIWL type Lx

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Lx sleeping car on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express in Dresden Hbf
Compartment in sleeping car 3532

The Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL) designated a sleeping car type acquired in 1929 as type Lx ( Voiture-Lits de grand luxe ) . The total of 90 purchased cars are considered to be the most luxurious sleeping cars ever acquired by the CIWL. They were in the years before the Second World War in the exclusively from sleeping and dining cars assembled luxury trains CIWL as the Train Bleu and the North-Express used. After the war, the cars were also used in individual sleeping car courses in normal night trains. Preserved copies are used in nostalgia trains such as the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express .

history

Car 3552, the oval door window characteristic of the Lx type is clearly recognizable

After the First World War , the CIWL replaced its older sleeping cars, recognizable by their characteristic teak paneling, with new, blue-painted all-steel cars from 1922. First of all, the Calais-Mediterranée Express was equipped with new CIWL type S coaches from 1922 , which was quickly nicknamed "Train Bleu" due to its color, which it then officially received from 1949. These wagons represented a considerable improvement over the previously used teak wagons of the CIWL type R. They were approximately half equipped with one and two-bed compartments. In the 1920s, however, the new competition from air transport and the automobile first made itself felt in the railroad. The luxury trains of the CIWL, which were geared towards a wealthy clientele, felt this particularly hard. The CIWL reacted to the important connection between Paris or London and the Côte d'Azur by using the Train Bleu, which had previously only run in the winter season, all year round from 1929 and equipping it with new, particularly luxurious cars to take part in the competition wanted to include the luxury cars from Bugatti and Hispano-Suiza . The offer was also supplemented by a day train equipped with new Pullman cars , the Côte d'Azur-Pullman-Express .

A total of 90 wagons of the new type Lx ( Voiture-Lits de grand luxe ) were procured , which received only 10 individual first-class compartments equipped with their own wash cabinet and were also referred to as Lx 10 depending on the space available. There was thus considerably more space available per passenger than before. The first 30 copies were delivered by Metropolitan Cammell in Birmingham , the remaining 60 by Entreprises industrielles des Charentes (EIC, now part of Alstom ) in Aytré . The copies from Birmingham were given the numbers 3466-3495, the wagons from Aytré the numbers 3496-3555. For the interior, the CIWL relied on renowned designers, the cars produced in Aytré received their equipment from the French designer René Prou . The compartments were veneered with fine woods such as mahogany , and some of the veneers were inlaid. From the outside, the type Lx wagons can be distinguished from other CIWL sleeping car types mainly by their doors; these are the only CIWl sleeping wagons to have the oval door windows that are otherwise only used in the CIWL Pullman wagons .

The new coaches were used in Train Bleu from January 1929, and the CIWL organized an inauguration trip from Paris to Nice for the press and prominent passengers on January 18, 1929. The new wagons were well received by the passengers, especially since, in addition to the stylish interior and improved heating, the new bogies with roller bearings offered significantly smoother running. In addition to the Train Bleu , the new Lx cars were also used in the Nord-Express , the Rome Express and various French sleeping car courses, but not in the Orient Express . In the Simplon-Orient-Express , they were used as through cars on sections of the route.

However, the global economic crisis that began in autumn 1929 soon led to utilization problems. As early as the early 1930s, the CIWL therefore decided to convert the cars. In all cars, the previous single-bed compartments were completely or partially converted into two-bed compartments, accordingly the cars were designated as Lx 16 (four single and six two-bed compartments) or Lx 20 (ten two-bed compartments). In the modified form, they were still used in the Train Bleu . The 3538 car was converted separately in 1938. Especially for the Duke of Windsor and his wife, a salon was merged from two neighboring compartments and a shower was installed. The car was used by the duke couple until 1940, after the war it was used in normal sleeping car courses.

During the Second World War , some of the wagons were parked in rural regions of France, such as the Eymet train station . Some of them were used for military purposes, for example in command trains. In Limoges , car 3544 served as a brothel . Some wagons were destroyed in the war, others remained with Eastern European railway companies after the war. An Lx car was used from 1946 in the pair of trains known as the “Blue Express” between Berlin and Brest for the Soviet military administration in Germany . The US Army Transportation Corps also used some Lx cars in the post-war years. Another carriage was converted after the war and used in the court train of the Dutch queen .

After the war, the Lx cars again formed the train set of the Train Bleu and were used in sleeping car courses across Western Europe. Some of the cars were re-gauged and used on sleeping car courses in Spain and Portugal , where the last copies remained in scheduled service until the early 1980s. In the Train Bleu they were only replaced by other, newer designs from 1960. The remaining standard-gauge wagons of the type were withdrawn from planned service by the CIWL and taken out of service by the mid-1970s, some were sold to state railways, for example to the Greek OSE . In 1974 the car 3504, one of the last cars still in use, was used for the shooting of the film Mord im Orient-Express (directed by Sidney Lumet ) based on the novel by Agatha Christie .

From the mid-1970s, wealthy enthusiasts acquired the first Lx models for museum railways. The operators purchased different Lx vehicles for the Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express (NIOE) and the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE). The cars were overhauled and technically modernized, including with air conditioning . In the VSOE wagons, a sleeping car compartment was converted into a compartment for the sleeping car attendant, and the carriages have been called the Lx 18 type ever since. While the NIOE wagons have not been used since 2008 due to a legal dispute, the VSOE wagons continue to run on special trains. They were modernized from 2003 to 2006 and received, among other things, modern bogies from Bombardier and new air conditioning systems. Since then, the cars have been approved for 160 km / h. In the set of the Al Andalus Expreso , which is used for rail cruises in Spain , some Lx cars are also in use, but the interior has been fundamentally rebuilt.

technology

With the introduction of all-steel wagons, CIWL went over to building all vehicles, with a few exceptions, on a uniform frame with a length of 23,452 mm over buffers and a pivot distance of 16,000 mm. The vehicle width is 2850 mm, the height above the top of the rails 4000 mm. On this basis, in addition to the type Lx, the sleeping cars of the types S, Y and Z were created. The same frames were also used for dining cars and Pullman cars ; they consist of three longitudinal beams with cross connections and two cast steel blocks at the ends to accommodate the pulling and pushing devices . The side walls and floors as well as the two boarding platforms are built on the frame. The weight of the type Lx is 53 tons. As bogies, the wagons were originally given gooseneck bogies with roller bearings, also known as Pennsylvania bogies. Over the years these have been partially replaced by newer bogies or other types. Originally the cars were only approved for 130 km / h, after the war the speed was increased to 140 km / h. The VSOE cars, which have been modernized with new bogies, are approved for 160 km / h.

In addition to a steam heating system supplied via the heating steam line of the train, the CIWL equipped all the cars with an independently operated coal heating system, which was operated by the sleeper-car attendant and was used when a train was idle for a long time. In the post-war years, many vehicles also received electrical heating cables. In each compartment there was a fan for ventilation, in later years the vehicles still in use were retrofitted with air conditioning.

There was no separate compartment for the sleeping car attendant, who slept on a bunk in the aisle that was opened at one end of the car. Supplies for the supply of the passengers were in cupboards at the ends of the car. There was a toilet at one end. Two of the compartments (with the exception of the two outermost compartments) could be connected to a larger suite by means of a lockable door. Some of the still-preserved wagons of the type used in the historic luxury trains have been extensively modernized and converted. In the cars used in the VSOE, one of the compartments is used for the conductor. The Al Andalus Expreso cars have been extensively rebuilt, with several compartments being combined and some with their own shower and toilet. The cars also have modern air conditioning.

Received vehicles

In addition to the wagons of the various historical luxury trains, other type Lx wagons have been preserved, some on museum railways, some as stationary vehicles in railway museums:

CIWL number Manufacturer owner Remarks
3469 Metro Cammell, Birmingham EYELET Stored in bad condition in Nea Magnisia, Thessaloniki
3472 Metro Cammell, Birmingham unexplained Until 2008 use in the Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express
3473 Metro Cammell, Birmingham Belmond Ltd., formerly James Sherwood, VSOE Use in the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express
3475 Metro Cammell, Birmingham unexplained Until 2008 use in the Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express
3480 Metro Cammell, Birmingham unexplained Use in the Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express
3482 Metro Cammell, Birmingham James Sherwood, VSOE Use in the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express
3483 Metro Cammell, Birmingham Belmond Ltd., formerly James Sherwood, VSOE Use in the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express
3487 Metro Cammell, Birmingham unexplained Until 2008 use in the Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express
3490 Metro Cammell, Birmingham Asociación Zaragozana de Amigos del Ferrocarril y Tranvías (AZAFT) Broad gauge bogies
3501 EIC, Aytré Al Andalus Expreso Broad gauge bogies
3502 EIC, Aytré Al Andalus Expreso Broad gauge bogies
3509 EIC, Aytré Chemin de Fer Touristique des Hautes Falaises (CFTHF)
3510 EIC, Aytré Asociación Zaragozana de Amigos del Ferrocarril y Tranvías (AZAFT) Broad gauge bogies
3511 EIC, Aytré Al Andalus Expreso Broad gauge bogies
3514 EIC, Aytré EYELET Stopped in bad condition in Lachanokipi, Thessaloniki
3519 EIC, Aytré Privately owned Location in Longueville (Seine-et-Marne) , as a monument historique listed
3520 EIC, Aytré Asociación Zaragozana de Amigos del Ferrocarril y Tranvías (AZAFT) Broad gauge bogies
3525 EIC, Aytré Belmond Ltd., formerly James Sherwood, VSOE Use in the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express
3532 EIC, Aytré Cité du train , Mulhouse Exhibit in the Mulhouse Railway Museum
3537 EIC, Aytré unexplained Until 2008 use in the Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express
3539 EIC, Aytré Belmond Ltd., formerly James Sherwood, VSOE Use in the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express
3541 EIC, Aytré Al Andalus Expreso Broad gauge bogies
3542 EIC, Aytré unexplained Until 2008 use in the Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express
3543 EIC, Aytré Belmond Ltd., formerly James Sherwood, VSOE Use in the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express
3544 EIC, Aytré Belmond Ltd., formerly James Sherwood, VSOE Use in the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express
3547 EIC, Aytré Al Andalus Expreso Broad gauge bogies
3551 EIC, Aytré unexplained Until 2008 use in the Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express
3552 EIC, Aytré Belmond Ltd., formerly James Sherwood, VSOE Use in the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express
3553 EIC, Aytré Belmond Ltd., formerly James Sherwood, VSOE Use in the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express
3555 EIC, Aytré Belmond Ltd., formerly James Sherwood, VSOE Use in the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express

literature

  • Jean des Cars, Jean-Paul Caracalla: Train Bleu and the great Riviera express trains. Orell Füssli, Zurich / Wiesbaden 1989, ISBN 3-280-01908-7
  • Hans D. Reichardt, Joachim Deppmeyer: The Blue Sleeping & Dining Cars: A History of the International Sleeping Car Society . Alba Verlag, Düsseldorf 1976, ISBN 3-87094-035-2 .
  • Fritz Stöckl : Rolling Hotels Part 1: The International Sleeping Car Company . Series Eisenbahnen der Erde, Volume VIII, Bohmann Industrie- und Fachverlag, Vienna / Heidelberg 1967.

Web links

Commons : CIWL Type Lx  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jean des Cars, Jean-Paul Caracalla: Train Bleu and the great Riviera express trains. Zurich / Wiesbaden 1989, p. 75
  2. ^ A b Jean des Cars, Jean-Paul Caracalla: Train Bleu and the great Riviera express trains. Zurich / Wiesbaden 1989, p. 76
  3. ^ Hans D. Reichardt, Joachim Deppmeyer: The blue sleeping & dining cars: A history of the international sleeping car society . Alba Verlag, Düsseldorf 1976, ISBN 3-87094-035-2 , p. 80
  4. ^ Jean des Cars, Jean-Paul Caracalla: Train Bleu and the great Riviera express trains. Zurich / Wiesbaden 1989, p. 97
  5. ^ Jean des Cars, Jean-Paul Caracalla: Train Bleu and the great Riviera express trains. Zurich / Wiesbaden 1989, p. 98
  6. ↑ trains-worldexpresses.com: "Blauer Express" , accessed on May 10, 2016
  7. ^ Jean des Cars, Jean-Paul Caracalla: Train Bleu and the great Riviera express trains. Zurich / Wiesbaden 1989, p. 126
  8. ^ Railways in the Film - Rail Movies: Murder on the Orient Express , accessed on May 16, 2016
  9. ↑ a b Asociación Zaragozana de Amigos del Ferrocarril y Tranvías: CIWL Listado , accessed on May 16, 2016
  10. ↑ Renfe, Al Andalus: Superior Suite , accessed May 16, 2016
  11. ↑ International Railway Preservation Society (IRPS), Preserved Wagon Lits Cars , accessed May 16, 2016
  12. ^ International Railway Preservation Society (IRPS), Other Wagons-Lits Cars , accessed May 16, 2016
  13. ^ Patrimoine Ferroviaire Français, Rolling Stock Directory , accessed May 16, 2016
  14. ↑ Ministère de la Culture: Monuments historiques, voiture à voyageurs: wagon-lits, type LX, n ° 3519 , accessed on May 16, 2016