Dictators love their personal trains. Hitler had ‘Amerika’, an armoured beast equipped with anti-aircraft guns, which he used as a mobile headquarters for much of World War II. Mussolini and Stalin both insisted on luxurious bespoke carriages when travelling long distances. Fitting, then, that one of the world’s last old‑fashioned despots should also travel in his own unique version of this tyrant’s status symbol: one that may provide a vital clue as to the whereabouts of this stricken — and possibly deceased — autocrat.