Agatha Christie Loves Trains

This map, used in the beginning of the
 Agatha Christie's Poirot production of
"Murder on the Links," 
adorns a wall in the Deauville Train Station.

Trying to decide where to spend your next vacation? Then consider Deauville, a romantic seaside town in France. It's a historic town with a rich history in sports and cinema. The local casino may even have inspired Ian Fleming to write his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale.

While there are other ways to travel, there's no better way to arrive in Deauville than by train. With the steam engine chugging and hooting, and the passenger cars gently rocking you from side to side, you can drink in the beautiful French scenery rolling past your window, without worrying if you'll make the appropriate turns without getting lost. Plus, you won't have to worry about where to park your car. 

If, like Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie's novel The Murder on the Links, you discover that you need to make a quick journey to Paris, Deauville's train station can accommodate you. If, like Hercule Poirot in the Agatha Christie's Poirot TV adaptation, you decide to visit London instead, the train station can help you reach that famous city as well. In fact, whatever your needs, you'll find the porters and station staff ready to render any assistance you require, from carrying your golf clubs to telling you when suspects in a murder investigation arrived or departed. They'll even happily summon a cab for you to transport you to wherever you might be staying. 

As trains formed a crucial part of the transportation system in Agatha Christie's day, they frequently featured in her novels. This proved the case not only for her stories set in France, where events in The Murder on the Links took place, but also those set in England. During our stay outside Torquay, we discovered that our hotel lay directly across from a train station. 

While we relaxed in our comfortable room, and the sumptuous bar (or, if you prefer, pub), we would often hear the whistle of a train arriving or departing, and the bellowing of its mighty steam engine. At the time, I regarded the sounds as something of a distraction, as we were usually exhausted from a day's worth of sightseeing and travel when we returned to our night's lodging. So I never thought to photograph these magnificent old trains that help transport visitors to Agatha Christie's stately vacation home of Greenway. 

If I return to Torquay, I'd love to take one of those magnificent steam trains. Should I ever visit Deauville, taking a train is a transportation option I would definitely consider. Who knows? My wife and I might find ourselves sitting across the aisle from some interesting and convivial people, such as Captain Arthur Hastings, and his indomitable friend Hercule Poirot.

Dragon Dave

Curious About John Cavendish's Car

For me, trains have always been relegated to America's past. Perhaps things would be different if I lived on the East Coast. As it is, I grew up taking buses when a car wasn't available. The only times I took a train anywhere were at amusement parks like Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm, where I got to see train robbers and dinosaurs. That was cool.

Trains such as the one above, that transports Captain Hastings to the station near Styles Court, aren't just a part of England's heritage. Every time we visit England, we take a train, whether it transports us from Heathrow Airport to London, across a big city like London above or below-ground, or across the beautiful English countryside from one city to another. England even has high-speed trains, like the one featured in the movie "Mission Impossible," in which secret agent Ethan Hunt hangs onto the rear carriage pursued by a helicopter firing volleys of gunfire his way. The helicopter even follows the train into an underground tunnel, where the pilot eventually discovers that underground train tunnels weren't designed with helicopters in mind. Someday I'd love to take a high-speed train across England. I wonder if there's anyway to ensure that a secret agent like Ethan Hunt isn't riding on it before I purchase my ticket?

I'm not a car-guy. I don't attend auto shows. I don't subscribe to car magazines. I don't lust over the horsepower numbers of Detroit's latest muscle cars. But somehow, when I watch a period show like "Agatha Christie's Poirot", the cars really draw my eye. I wonder about them, such as the one that John Cavendish drives when he picks up his friend Captain Hastings at the train station. This one looks real basic. It doesn't even have a trunk, so John Cavendish has to tie Hasting's suitcase down on the back. I don't know if it has a foot-pedal for a brake, but it has a lever that John yanks to stop the car. It's located outside the car, so he has to reach out over the door, grab the lever, and pull it toward him to come to a complete stop. I don't know about you, but that sounds like his hand and arm (not to mention his suit) would get soaked if he had to drive it in the rain.

Agatha Christie's no help in identifying what type of car John Cavendish likes, or why he bought that make and model. She simply calls it "a motor," and mentions that, as his step-mother uses the car to help out the community, the government gives the family authorization to buy a limited amount of petrol. (This is a big deal, as all resources are rationed during World War I). Still, I really like the looks of these old cars, and I wish the TV producers would include a list of what automobiles they used in their period productions. Maybe they would be forced to, if these old cars had a better union.

I don't know about you, but it'd be a way of making the credits more interesting to the viewer, instead of seeing a list of the person who supplied the vanilla shot for the tea latte of the third production assistant's secretary. Oh, and don't forget the person who supplied the pencils for the purchasing agent who authorized the hire company to supply three exact copies of the dress the actress below is wearing. That's essential information!

If there's any vintage car buffs out there, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what make and model of car you think John Cavendish drives. I'm not sure what I'd do with the knowledge, but I am curious.