Hunting the Ghost Train

by G. Benedetti e E. Solito
Translated by Bill Barnes

The history of this article begins many years ago, when, independently from each other, we two Holmesians began to reflect on the arrival of Holmes in Florence. How did he get there? We knew that a week after he remained alone in the darkness of the Swiss mountains he found himself in Florence. We arrived at the same conclusion – he must have travelled by train. It surely took him several days to get to the border between Italy and Switzerland, and one must remember that everyone was searching for him, or for his body. Later, having crossed the border and arrived in Milan, a train was the only way that Holmes could have reached Florence in that time frame, during a period when the weather was so horrible that travel by road was interrupted everywhere in the north of Italy. During our research we also discovered another good reason to think he came by train. Italy was in a deep political crisis after the rebellion which took place on 1st May 1891 (the first time this date was used universally in Italy and the whole of Europe by workers proclaiming their rights) and there was a serious man-hunt by the police in search of socialist and anarchist leaders on the run. It would have been a real problem for a foreigner to travel by coach and carriage without being noted, but a gentleman who was travelling to a typical destination on the European "grand tour" – an indispensable stage in the education of a gentleman – would surely have used a train.

So, a train. But which train? This was the question. We begin by saying there are no official timetables for that period. The Pozzo timetable started later, and there was no Bradshaw for Italian railways. There were then three private railway companies in existence, later nationalized at the turn of the century. The one which managed the Milan-Bologna-Florence railway line was the Adriatic Ltd, whose head office was in Florence. Moreover we knew that the line was not the present route but the "Porrettana", a line from Bologna across the mountains to Pistoia, and then to Florence – an historical, romantic line, beloved by railway fans but now closed, with almost all of its stations neglected and no records remaining of any timetables. We knew also, that of all the trains from Milan, there was probably one that Holmes would prefer – the Fast Train No. 1, the "Lampo" (Lightning) or, as it was affectionately known by the old railwaymen, "Lampino" (Little Lightning). It was a really fast trip for its time, (only eight hours from Milan to Florence, a record that remained until the line was changed to the present route in the 1930’s, even though the old line was subsequently used by electric trains!), comfortable and equipped with all modern facilities. Holmes would have appreciated these facilities, because the journey was not really very relaxing. There was no heating, the interior lighting was by smelly gas lamps, the tunnels were full of smog – and all this for hour after hour. A newspaper commented that Italian railways couldn’t establish a fourth class, for it was absolutely impossible to make the journey more uncomfortable than in the existing third class!

For many years we made enquiries about timetables among railway enthusiasts all over Italy, without any success. What made our task even harder was that the archives of the Florentine newspaper "La Nazione" were destroyed in the flood of 1966, as Mario Spezi had advised us in 1987. So we continued to grope in the dark. But by perseverance we made some progress. Our first assistance came from Mr Panconesi, a specialist of the Porrettana, who published an 1888 timetable he had discovered! During the winter of 1888, the timetable says, the Lampo left Bologna at 12.50 p.m. and arrived in Florence (the Santa Maria Novella station, but quite different from the present; having been rebuilt in 1930) at 4.32 p.m.

We now felt we were getting close to the answer! But a doubt gnawed at us – what if the timetable had changed between 1888 and 1891? All the experts said it would be impossible to find out. In the "resto del Carlino", the Bologna newspaper, the first mention of a change to the railway timetable was in June 1891, when it was reported that, commencing that day, the train for Florence would leave Milan at 11.45 a.m. and arrive in Florence at 7.10 p.m. However, as this was after the date of Holmes’s travel it didn’t really interest us.

But then, a stroke of good luck...we found out there was another archive copy of "La Nazione", in the Marucelliana library in Florence – we went there immediately we heard this great news. We found a lot of material in the newspapers, about the city and its life, but this is not the place to expand on that, let us concentrate on the schedules of the trains.

We had a terrible surprise. In the "Nazione" of 15 May 1891, as in "Carlino" it was reported that the fast train would leave Milan at 11.45 a.m.; in the newspaper of 25 May it was specified which departure would change to this new schedule: "...the fast train that now leaves Milan at 6.00 p.m. and arrives in Florence at the uncomfortable hour that we all know, that is 1.30 a.m, will leave from Milan at 11.34 a.m, arriving in Florence at 6.45 p.m.…".

A dramatic moment in our research! So, in May 1891 the train left Milan late in the afternoon and arrived in Florence early next morning! Or were there two trains? But all the railway enthusiasts assured us there was only ONE daily Lampo service for Florence. Full of sacred Holmesian fire we began to systematically go through all the issues of the "Nazione". Between January and May 1891…nothing; we went back – January-June 1890…nothing, always nothing. We knew everything about the schedules of the tramways for Fiesole, Chianti, Impruneta, but no useful references about trains.

In the end, however, such patience was rewarded:

Suddenly everything became clear…our problem was solved! There were three trains, not one, and of course the change of schedule in Summer 1891 was about the evening train, not the real "Lampo" in the morning – that was unchanged...or was it? There were changes in the Winter schedule from 1888. We were determined to get to the bottom of this matter and continued to search. If the rules were the same as today the Winter schedule would commence operating in September – for that reason we went back to the archives and started scrutinizing the newspapers from August on. Nothing, of course, nothing…as you would expect.

It was as if the Winter schedule was never in force. The search went on – September, October, November...but then we found a clue. Looking carefully through the bobbins of the microfilm we read reports of the arrivals and departures of some important people. Well, all that trivial but for us useful news became many little pieces which fitted perfectly into the puzzle of the schedule of Winter 1890 previously recovered by us. We deduced there had been no changes. Some examples:

Finally, when we didn’t believe we’d find anything more but continued on only for completeness, we found what we were in search of. In the severe wooden-planked hall of the Marucelliana, a wild cry testified to our triumph:

Then it continues listing the changes of the schedules of the services Turin-Savona and Ventimiglia-Genoa. Here is the legendary Winter schedule of 1891 – the schedule followed by Sherlock Holmes! Its minimal changes to the schedule of train number 1, the Lampo, brings us back to where we commenced, the Winter schedule of 1888 discovered by Mr Panconesi.

So, when we state on which train Holmes travelled and at which hour, we now have the facts to support it. And now please, passengers, all aboard!