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I鈥檝e always been intrigued by mysteries set on trains. There鈥檚 just something about the atmosphere 鈥� soot and cinder, pitch-black tunnels, a collection of strangers, whistles screaming in the night 鈥� that sets the proper mood for suspense.

Agatha Christie wrote a few. 鈥淭he Mystery of the Blue Train,鈥� 鈥�4:50 From Paddington鈥� and 鈥淢urder on the Orient Express鈥� come to mind.

And there鈥檚 the 1938 Alfred Hitchcock movie, 鈥淭he Lady Vanishes.鈥�

Today, I鈥檓 writing about a cold case that originated on a train from Birmingham to Wolverhampton in England 65 years ago.

There鈥檚 no crime involved, just the memories and curiosity of an 84-year-old Englishman named Rex Cornforth. And the mystery of a young woman from sa国际传媒官网网页入口 who came into and went out of his life in less than hour.

Sketchy case

Rex sent an email to the Journal telling how he and three friends, the four of them all 19 at the time, met a young woman from sa国际传媒官网网页入口 on the Birmingham-to-Wolverhampton train in the summer of 1958.

鈥�(We) were returning from a week-long break at a holiday camp on the Yorkshire coast,鈥� Rex wrote. 鈥淲e were at the Birmingham train station and a very attractive young lady got into our carriage.

鈥淪he was very shy and a bit nervous, but when the train pulled out we all got to talking. She said she was from sa国际传媒官网网页入口, New Mexico, and was heading to the north of England to meet with her husband, who was an American serviceman stationed over here.

鈥淲e were so impressed. We had never seen an American before, let alone speak to one. We had never heard of sa国际传媒官网网页入口 either.鈥�

He ended the email by writing, 鈥淚f any of your readers see this, perhaps they know someone who was in Birmingham, England, in the summer of 1958.鈥�

Talk about a sketchy case. More clues were needed, so I turned detective, like Christie鈥檚 Hercule Poirot, and emailed Rex a list of 14 questions.

Just the facts

Did you get her name? Did you take her picture? How about a description?

鈥淚 can鈥檛 remember if we asked her name,鈥� Rex responded. 鈥淚f we did, then I have forgotten it.鈥�

He said he had a camera with him, but believes he had used up all his film, so no photos.

鈥淚 can recall she was very pretty and well dressed. I think in a light blue jacket and skirt,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淪he was fair, petite and I think she was probably in her mid-20s.鈥�

He said he and his friends did not learn more about the lady because she wanted to know about them and England and asked most of the questions.

Rex and his buddies 鈥� Bob Farrell, John Farr and Bob Beech 鈥� were all engineering apprentices in 1958.

He said the train trip in question must have been in the last week of July or the first week in August because those were the weeks factories closed down for the summer holidays.

鈥淭hat day was warm and sunny,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淭he summer of 1958 was a good one, which is a bit of a rarity in the U.K.鈥�

He said the scenery along the tracks between Birmingham and Wolverhampton wasn鈥檛 anything to impress an American visitor in 1958 and still isn鈥檛.

鈥淥ld derelict buildings, rusty scrap yards, dirty factories and foundries, mounds of industrial waste, rows of terrace houses,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淓very few minutes the train kept stopping for no apparent reason. It still does. The lady said, 鈥楬ey, why do we keep stopping?鈥�

鈥淚 said, 鈥楾hey鈥檙e changing the horses.鈥�

鈥溾�橶hat! You have horse-drawn trains?鈥� the lady said.

鈥溾�橸eah. Don鈥檛 you?鈥� I said.

鈥溾�橤ee. Wait till I tell 鈥榚m back home I鈥檝e been on a horse train,鈥� she said.鈥�

Rex said the trip with the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 lady lasted only about 40 minutes. He and his friends got off in Wolverhampton, and she continued north on the train to meet her husband.

鈥淪he was a lovely lady, and we had a lot of laughs on that journey,鈥� Rex wrote.

He wonders if she ever found out they were pulling her leg about the horse train.

I suspect she knew at the time they were kidding her and just went along with the joke.

A million to one

Rex, who lives in Wolverhampton today, went on to a career as a freelance draftsman, working with numerous agencies in all fields of engineering.

He and his wife, Chrissy, have been married for 63 years and have three daughters and two grandchildren.

鈥淚 am just an average bloke, never been very ambitious or motivated by money,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淢y family is and always has been the most important thing to me.鈥�

Of his three mates on the train when they met the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 lady, Rex said he never saw Bob Beech after that day.

John Farr was at Rex and Chrissy鈥檚 wedding in 1960, but has died.

Bob Farrell had been Rex鈥檚 best friend since they met at a Wolverhampton technical school, and they spent their teen years together. But they drifted apart as each raised young families and their interests changed.

鈥淏ob (Farrell) left the area to live elsewhere, and I have not seen him since,鈥� Rex wrote.

During that 1958 holiday when the four friends were together, Buddy Holly鈥檚 music was at the top of the charts. When Rex got off the train in Wolverhampton, he bought Holly鈥檚 record 鈥淩ave On.鈥�

So now, when he hears that song, or watches the TV series 鈥淏reaking Bad鈥� and 鈥淏etter Call Saul,鈥� both set in sa国际传媒官网网页入口, he is reminded of the day he met the lady from that city.

鈥淭he sole purpose of writing to your paper in the first place was I thought it may be interesting to readers of a certain age to see a connection between an elderly Englishman and sa国际传媒官网网页入口,鈥� Rex wrote.

鈥淚 imagined a situation where there just might be a million to one chance that someone鈥檚 mother, grandmother, aunt or even friend was on a train in Birmingham, England, that day in the summer of 1958 and recalled chatting to some cheeky local teenagers.鈥�

Here鈥檚 hoping. Mysteries need solving.