This train defined luxury back in 1883 when it was launched by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL).

There are only a couple of these beauties left in the world. One, for example, was repurposed into hotel suites in Venice-Simplon Orient Express. The other, the one, stands dormant in Belgium.

The fact that the abandoned Orient Express stock stands on a rusted siding in Belgium – away from the iconic train’s regular routes of London to Venice and Paris to Istanbul – may suggest it was a separate venture using vintage rollingstock. Or perhaps that’s just where it ended its days, destined to rust away slowly until eventual scrapping....