Orient Express Medal

This silver medal was struck in 1977 to commemorate the final run of the Orient Express through sleeping car train between Paris and Istanbul.

Obv: arms of the Wagons-Lits company with inscription "LE DERNIER VOYAGE DE L'ORIENT-EXPRESS 19-22 MAI 1977(The last journey of the Orient Express 19 - 22 May 1977).
Rev: map of the route from Paris to Istanbul via Central and Eastern Europe.

The medal is very well executed with a frosted proof-like finish, and has full London silver hallmarks for 1977 on the edge, so it was obviously produced in England.

Apparently the final run of the Orient Express itself was something of a non-event. The train, consisting of a mere 4 coaches, including one sleeper, had no catering facilities whatsoever for the entire journey and left Paris 20 minutes late, at 00.13 CET on 20th May. A group of journalists had got all the sleeping berths; everyone else had to put up with crowded and uncomfortable ordinary day coaches. Meals had to be hastily snatched in station cafeterias, communist border officials at the Yugoslav and Bulgarian frontiers harassed the "ordinary" passengers (though not the VIP journalists), and the train eventually arrived at Istanbul over 5 1/2 hours late.

If anyone would be interested in seeing examples of other Wagons Lits related items I would be quite happy to write something on them.