Originally Posted by
mre5765
In passenger rail, did direct trains ever entail pax changing to a different physical train? Or leaving their passenger car to reboard the same passenger car?
I suspect not. The passenger car might have been coupled to another or additional locomotive.
It has been decades since on a direct flight I was able to stay on board during a scheduled stop. It has been years since on a direct flight I reboarded the same plane after a scheduled stop.
I don't know if the Orient Express was marketed as "direct", but with a single name, it seems like they were marketing it as a single product. It currently (and throughout most of it's history) is made up of numerous lines and equipment. I was on a leg from Bucharest to Istanbul, and they had to change locomotives in Bulgaria (same passenger cars though) and that was still considered the same line (as opposed to where you actually switch trains along the way at other points.)