BRUXELLES. 5,5% Obligation de F500. Serie 1. pink. #40000. No 39788. Jugendstil/Art Nouveau border, and vignette of a sleeping-car train. The company was formed in 1876 by Georges Nagelmackers, as long-distance international rail travel became more popular. The first coaches were fairly primitive, but steadily improved to the luxury of the 1920s. The company operated its own trains, the first being the Orient Express, from 1883, and later included the St. Petersburg-Vienna-Nice Express and the Trans-Siberian Railway, which put Tokyo at only 14 days from London &Paris. It also operated a network of travel agencies, and was the first company in this field in Russia. By the mid-1920s, it owned nearly 1000 sleeping-cars and over 600 restaurant-cars. Most attractive and interesting piece, signed (facsimile) by Henri Nagelmackers.