1918 Armistice coach

Main article: Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)

The 1918 Armistice with Germany was signed in CIWL #2419 ("Le Wagon de l'Armistice"). Returned to CIWL service afterwards, it was retired later to join the French presidential train before being withdrawn in 1921 and placed on display in the Cour des Invalides, Paris until 1927, when it was moved to Compiègne for display. It remained on display in its own building, the Clairiere de l'Armistice until 1940, when it was removed by the German army and used to receive the 1940 Armistice with France between France and Nazi Germany. Following this, the carriage itself was taken to Berlin as a trophy of war, along with pieces of a large stone tablet which bore the inscription (in French):

Here on the Eleventh of November 1918 Succumbed the Criminal Pride of the German Reich. Vanquished by the Free Peoples Which it Tried to Enslave..

Following this period of display in Berlin, CIWL #2419 was moved to Ohrdruf in Thuringia for storage in 1945. Following the Allied advance into Germany in early 1945, the detachment of SS troops protecting the carriage set it ablaze before burying the remains to prevent them from falling into Allied hands. Some remnants were later exhumed and moved back to the restored Compiègne site for display, while CIWL later donated another carriage from the same construction order, 1913-built CIWL #2439, in 1950 as a replacement. This carriage had also been at Compiègne on 11 November 1918, and it was renumbered as #2419D for display at Compiègne where it was installed on Armistice Day 1950.

Simplon-Orient-Express / Taurus-Express poster

CIWL phototheque and historical archives

CIWL archives are rich of more than 100 years of posters, historical photos, plans and communication material that represent a tremendous interest for cultural, academic or commercial projects. The greatest creators and artists have been hired by CIWL since 1883 in order to create luxury conditions and confort in travel, as well as a particular graphic style that is now recognized worldwide by its quality. Great effort are made to digitalize images (photos, plans and posters), where as vast paper archives are preserved, waiting to be sorted and classified in a near future. As of today, available digital archives consist of more than 250 CIWL posters, 800 Paris–Lyon–Méditerranée (PLM) posters and more than 6,000 archives photos. Probably one of the most extensive poster collection in the world from the end of nineteenth century to the late 1950s. These archives are regularly used for all types of publishing and media projects, all over the world, as well as Cultural Events.[citation needed]

Plan of a Wagons-Lits teapot

In popular culture

Agatha Christie set two of her Hercule Poirot mysteries on or around CIWL trains:

• Murder on the Orient Express, set on the Orient Express.

• The Mystery of the Blue Train, set on the Calais-Mediterranée Express.

Sidney Gilliat and Clifford Grey wrote the script for the 1932 British film directed by Walter Forde:

• Rome Express, set on the Rome Express.

In 1991, David Copperfield performed a televised illusion which caused a recently restored "Orient Express dining car" (in fact an American dining car decorated in Wagon-Lits colours) to seemingly vanish into thin air.

CIWL model railway cars have been manufactured by many companies including Märklin, Fleischmann, Trix, Jouef, Bachmann, France Trains, LS Models and Tri-ang. Rivarossi also produced very detailed models, discontinued in the late nineties, production restarted lately with the new society affiliated to Hornby.

CIWL in different languages

• Czech: Mezinárodní Společnost Lůžkových Vozů (a Velkých Evropských Expresních Vlaků)

• German: Internationale (Eisenbahn-)Schlafwagen-Gesellschaft

• Danish: Det Internationale Sovevogns- (og de Store Europæiske Eksprestogs-)Selskab

• English: International Sleeping-Car (and Great European Expresses) Company

• Finnish: Kansainvälinen Makuuvaunu- (ja Euroopan Pikajuna)yhtiö

• French: Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (et des Grands Express Européens)

• Greek: Διεθνής Εταιρεία Κλιναμαξών (και Ταχειών Ευρωπαϊκών Αμαξοστοιχιών)

• Hungarian: Nemzetközi Vasúti Hálókocsi Társaság

• Italian: Compagnia Internazionale delle Carrozze (con) Letti (e dei Grandi Treni Espressi Europei)

• Lithuanian: Tarptautinė miegamųjų vagonų bendrovė

• Dutch: Internationale Maatschappij voor Slaapwagens en Europa's Groote Sneltreinen

• Polish: Międzynarodowe Towarzystwo Wagonów Sypialnych (i Expresów Europejskich)

• Portuguese: Companhia Internacional das Carruagens-Camas (e dos Grandes Expressos Europeus)

• Romanian: Compania internaţională a vagoanelor de dormit (şi a marilor exprese europene)

• Russian: Международное Общество Спальныхъ Вагоновъ (и Скорыхъ Европейскихъ поъздовъ)

• Serbian: Međunarodno Društvo Kola za Spavanje / Међународно Друштво Кола за Спавање

• Spanish: Compañía Internacional de Coches-Camas (y de los Grandes Expresos Europeos)

• Turkish: Avrupa Hızlı Trenleri ve Uluslararası Yataklı Vagonlar Şirketi