Step aside Poirot -- How a train fan solved a real life Orient Express mystery
Mettetal wasn't just a railway fan, he was working on a PhD on the history of the Orient Express. His research involved trying to ascertain how many original Orient Express train carriages still exist today, where they were located, who owned them and what condition they were in.
Mettetal spent most of 2015 hunting these abandoned carriages, scrolling through archives, talking to railway fans on message boards and combing through online videos. Every so often, he'd spot a clue that looked promising, like the blue carriages in the YouTube video. Through Google, Mettetal discovered there were several places in Poland named Małaszewicze. He looked each spot up on Google Maps, switching to 3D view and zooming in, searching for the distinctive blue carriages with their white roofs.
"After driving for hours to reach the place where we thought we would find the train, we arrived at night on an active border zone," says Mettetal.