Background
By the second half of the 19th century, the once powerful and dominant Ottoman Empire was declining greatly. The empire's territory in Europe extended from Constantinople to the Danube River and the Carpathian Mountains. However, due to the rise of nationalism in the Balkans, mostly provoked by Russia, the Ottoman Empire was slowly losing its control over the area. The Crimean War had just ended and gave the aging Empire a slight break against Russian influence over the Balkans. The Sultanate in Istanbul looked to strengthen its sovereignty in the region and help its declining economy during the short peace. Trade by sea was dominated by the British naval monopoly, so the Sublime Porte had to look at other ways of transport. Railways showed their effectiveness in western Europe and the Ottomans sought to bring this technology into the empire. The Sultanate looked to build a railway from Constantinople to Vienna. A trunk line such as that would allow easier deployments of troops in the European part of the Empire and would open up many new trade opportunities with western Europe. However, the railway would also bring Austrian influence into the Balkans.
The decision for a railway was finalized and Abdülaziz awarded a concession to Van der Elst and Cie, a Belgian construction company, on 31 May 1868, with the help of André Langrand-Dumonceau.<r[2] Langrand-Dumonceau quickly took over the concession from Van der Elst and started the works himself. However. he ran into financial difficulties and could not continue construction of the line, so the Sultanate cancelled the concession on 12 April 1869. The concession was then given to Maurice de Hirsch, a German financier, to build the line. Hirsch had partnered with Dumonceau in the past on several railway works. The charter included a main line from Constantinople to the Austrian border at Dobrljin via Edirne, which would connect to the Austrian Southern Railway. This route was chosen over a more direct route through Belgrade in order to avoid building the line through Serbia, which was semi-independent. Austro-Hungary also was in favor of this route to increase their influence over Bosnia.<r[2] This charter also included the construction of branch lines to Burgaz, Selanik and Dedeağaç. Hirsch then founded the Imperial Turkish European Railway, headquartered in Paris, to build the line in 1869. The company hired Wilhelm von Pressel, from the Austrian Southern Railway, to be the chief engineer of the project. In January 1870, construction started simultaneously in Constantinople, Dedeağaç, Selanik and Dobrljin. Operation of the line was to be given to the Austrian Southern Railway; but since negotiations failed, Hirsch founded the Oriental Railway (Chemins de fer Orientaux), also headquartered in Paris, to operate the line.<r[2]
Construction
Construction of the line was well underway by 1871. Following a government change the same year, the new Grand Vizier Mahmud Nedim Pasha started to renegotiate the concession to reduce the budget of constructing the line because of the Empire's growing financial problems. The new concession no longer had completion to Vienna as a priority and was signed on 18 May 1872. Under the new agreement, Hirsch would continue to manage ongoing construction, but the Ottoman government would supervise in building new lines.<r[3] The CO had completed over 1300 km of railway, consisting of three main lines by 1874. These lines were not yet connected with each other, but the CO had started service on them. The longest and most important of these lines were Constantinople to Belovo via Edirne and Filibe, with branches to Dedeağaç and Yambol. The other two were from Thessaloniki to Mitrovica and Dobrljin to Banja Luka. The Dobrljin-Banja Luka line wasn't connected with the Austrian network yet so revenue on the line was low. The line later became a liability for the CO and was abandoned in 1876, until it was connected to the Austrian network.<r[3]
Further construction slowed down during the Ottoman financial crisis of 1875, where most of the Empire faced a large famine. This led to several uprisings in the Balkans, the most notable being the April Uprising, which triggered a large war in the region, which halted all railway works.
Opening and operation
The full Constantinople–Vienna main line was opened on 12 August 1888. The CO, along with the Hungarian State Railways and the Bulgarian State Railways - BDZ, inaugurated the first train from Istanbul to Vienna.<r[5] One of the most famous trains in history, the Orient Express, started her first run from Paris to Istanbul on 1 June 1889. This train was operated by CIWL, an international hotel and logistics company. A railway terminus on the European side of Istanbul, Sirkeci railway station, which was under construction since February 1888, was opened on 3 November 1890.
Locomotives
The Oriental Railway only had steam locomotives. Its main suppliers were Austrian, German, French and Belgian manufacturers.
Locomotives with tenders were numbered 0 to 300, tank locomotives with tender were numbered 301 to 500. Locomotives transferred from the Thessaloniki - Monastir received separate numbers in the 500 to 600 range. The reason is no longer known. The 3 Mallet locomotives were numbered 601 to 603.
Oriental Railway locomotives were taken over by the various national railways that also overtook the network. Some locomotives went to the CFFH before going to either SEK or TCDD.
Several locomotives of the Oriental Railway have been preserved. The former Locomotive 407 built in 1874 and taken over by the TCDD under the number 2251 in 1937, stands as a memorial locomotive in front of Istanbul-Sirkeci station. Until 1965 it was still used by the TCDD, most recently in Adana, she was thus over 90 years in use. A 1912 locomotive supplied by Maffei with the CO number 338 is now in the Çamlık Railway Museum with TCDD 3558 number. Another locomotive of this series is monument locomotive at Amasya station. The TCDD 33508 is a monument locomotive in Sivas.
