Midnight Express

Train Status

Under way. Please remain seated.

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The Route

✦ Storm ahead on the line.

This Evening's Service

Times are local and may shift with the repairs. The conductor will keep you informed.

Refreshments

Dinner and refreshments this evening are served by our hosts at the house.

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Onboard Services

Dress

Come as you are. On this line, one is never overdressed.

Readings

Palmistry and tarot this evening, offered by your conductor and our guest of honor.

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Passenger Manifest

Fellow travelers who chose to be listed.

Case File

Nothing to investigate. Yet.

Your Journey

You have been invited aboard a very special journey. On Halloween night the Midnight Express runs its once-a-year night service over the old Baltimore and Ohio line, the same route it has kept since the gaslight years: out of Camden Station, Baltimore, after dark, north through Wilmington and Philadelphia, and on to New York by morning.

Most people believe Edgar Allan Poe invented C. Auguste Dupin, the gentleman who solved the murders in the Rue Morgue. He did not. He wrote about a real man, a Baltimore neighbor of his, and took a few liberties, Paris among them. On this journey his great-grand-nephew, Mr. Vincent Dupin, joins us as guest of honor, added at the last minute thanks to a fortunate rescheduling. An accomplished detective in his own right, he is delighted to honor his great-grand-uncle, and has promised to do nothing more strenuous than enjoy the scenery.

Among your fellow passengers is Mr. Rufus Griswold, a gentleman with a remarkable talent for making enemies.

Alas, a fallen tree has blocked the line, and a storm has closed the roads behind it. While the crew clears the tracks, passengers will shelter at a grand private house nearby, where your conductor will see to your every comfort.

Rest assured, this journey will be nothing like the one in the famous story. Probably.

From the Archives

• 1827The first railroadBaltimore merchants charter the Baltimore and Ohio, the first common-carrier railroad in America. The city gets a station before it gets a sewer.
• 1841The first detectiveEdgar Allan Poe publishes the case of the Rue Morgue, and the world meets C. Auguste Dupin, the man every detective since has been copying. Poe moved him to Paris for the sake of the story. The family has never forgiven him.
• 1888The night serviceThe Midnight Express leaves Camden Station after dark for the first time, bound north through Philadelphia for New York. Sleeping cars, a dining car, and a reputation for passengers who would rather not be seen by daylight.
• 1929SnowboundA blizzard holds the train in the Alleghenies for days. Everyone aboard arrives home with a story, and not all of the stories agree.
• 2026This journeyA Dupin rides the night service again. On Halloween, no less, which the family insists is a coincidence.

Messages from the Conductor