COMPAGNIE INTERNATION ALE DES. The International Sleeping Car company was started in 1876 by M. Georges Nagelmackers who purchased the patent of the "Mann Railway Sleeping Car Carriage" from America to provide sleeping car accommodation in Europe. It was only between 1883 and 1896 that contracts with the main railways in France were definitely concluded and the company put on a firm basis. This period saw the inauguration of the Orient express, the Sud express, the Mediterranean express, and, in 1885, the extension of the Orient and Ostend-Vienna expresses to Constan tinople. In 1896, the inception of the Nord express services took place, linking Paris and St. Petersburg, and in 1897, the Nord Brenner express, uniting Berlin, Milan and Naples. In 1898, complete sleeping car trains, together with restaurant wagons, were run throughout Europe, and the Trans-Siberian service from Moscow to Irkutsk, and finally the service from Vladivostock to the Pacific first functioned. In 1906, the Simplon Pass being opened, the company at once started the Simplon express, uniting Paris, Milan and Venice. The World War in 1914 disorganised
the services, and it was not until 192o that all these were running again in full and the famous train, Calais-Mediterranean, known as the "Blue Train," was first commissioned. From 1923 on wards, great strides were made, especially in the Oberland and Engadine expresses, also the Pyrenees Cote-d'Argent. In 1926 the company included Pullman trains similar to those run by the Pullman company in England, on such trains as the Sud express between Paris and Madrid, the "Golden Arrow" between Paris and London, the Edelweiss express, Antwerp-Basle, and the "North Star," Paris-Amsterdam. The two last mentioned trains have both first and second class Pullmans.
In 1928, the company acquired the capital of Messrs. Thomas Cook and Son, thereby extending their amenities to all classes of travellers and tourists. The Sleeping Car company, as it now exists, can safely be said to be the most extensive travel bureau in the world, having numerous agencies in all corners of the globe.
(H. M. S.)