My vintage moment: Gary Buchanan

1977: Gary Buchanan describes a strange auction in Monte Carlo that led to the rebirth of the legendary Orient Express

Gary Buchanan was inspired by the iconic train, The Orient Express

 

On May 19, 1977, the world’s media descended on the Gare de Lyon in Paris. Camera crews and paparazzi jostled for the best vantage point from which to film the last departure of the dilapidated Direct-Orient Express. At 23.56 the most famous train in railway history pulled out of the station, bound for Istanbul, and consigned to history a tradition of regular trans-European travel that began in 1883.

Three years earlier the lavish film of Agatha Christie’s whodunit Murder on the Orient Express had been released, with a stellar cast headed by Albert Finney in the role of Hercule Poirot. The legendary train had also been the central character in The Lady Vanishes; From Russia with Love; and Agatha. Little wonder there was global interest in the passing of such a railway icon.

Five months later, on October 8, 1977, the world’s media, myself included, assembled again – this time for an auction in Monte Carlo. The lots included five carriages which had once run on Europe’s grandest trains, including the Orient Express. The bidding frenzy began. A Pullman car and a sleeping car were sold to King Hassan II of Morocco. Albert Glatt, a Swiss railway enthusiast, bought a dining car. While James Sherwood, president of Sea Containers Ltd, secured two 1929 vintage sleeping cars for £65,000. I was captivated.

The hype that followed the Monte Carlo sale convinced Sherwood that the name Orient Express had tremendous power. In the next five years, Sherwood and his wife Shirley scoured Europe for carriages to be restored to their former glory.

Around this time I read newspaper snippets about a recreated Orient Express train. When it was announced the train would begin regular service between London and Venice in 1982, I was determined to be aboard the inaugural journey and started saving in earnest.

On May 25 that year, I watched as Sherwood stood in front of the lavishly restored Pullman carriages at Victoria in London and proudly announced: “The Venice Simplon-Orient Express is resumed.”

I had discovered a love for railway travel. From that day forward my interest in this celebrated locomotive knew no bounds and it inspired my career as a travel writer. Now, 29 years later, I’ve journeyed on the Orient Express 63 times – more than anyone else in the world – and have written many thousands of words extolling its sense of romance and nostalgia. That oddball auction in 1977 not only changed my life, but it was also a vintage moment for this most special of vintage trains.

VINTAGE MOMENTS WITH THE GLENROTHES VINTAGE SINGLE MALT WHISKY

Every vintage moment is a matter of excellent timing. We all have them: a perfect convergence of time, people, place and occasion that stays in the memory forever.

And just as everyone has their own perfect moments, so it is with The Glenrothes Speyside Single Malt Whisky. Unlike other malts, it’s not bottled at a pre-determined age, only when it’s at the peak of perfection.

This is the job of our Malt Master: to decide when the taste and character of our whisky is at its utmost. Only then is he ready to bottle and sign it as a Vintage.

But there’s a good reason for that. Because maturity matters, not age.

via My vintage moment: Gary Buchanan – Telegraph.