MORE than 400 miles from LNER’s headquarters in Yorkshire, a curious discovery has unearthed a slice of railway history.

And for one T&A reader it has brought back fond memories of working on ferries carrying railway wagons across the sea.

In March the Telegraph & Argus reported that part of an LNER train had been unearthed by archaeologists in Antwerp in Belgium.

The operator of trains on the East Coast Mainline got in touch with the team in Antwerp who had dug up the wagon to try and find out more about the discovery.

It appeared that the find was a wooden removals truck, used to carry people’s belongings when they moved house, and is thought to be almost 100-years-old.

It remains a mystery as to how the carriage came to be in Antwerp, and unfortunately there is very little left of the relic, which disintegrated while it was being excavated.

Stuart Thomas, Communications Director for York-based LNER, said: “We’re fascinated by the history of our brand - just last year we celebrated 100 years since the LNER came into being in 1923.

“In our 101st year it’s incredible to discover a little bit of LNER history has been buried in a field in Belgium for so many decades.”

T&A reader DEREK ESSEX got in touch after reading the article, which he said evoked fond memories of his time working on train ferries out of Harwich between 1973 and 1975.

Says Derek: “The T&A article instantly grabbed my attention as wonderful memories of my fledgling seafaring career came flooding back to me.

“I joined my first ship - the MV Cambridge Ferry - in May 1973 at the train ferry terminal at my home town of Harwich in Essex.

“I was green as grass as to what I was letting myself in for, but I was excited all the same and I was surprised but not unaware that these ships carried railway goods wagons from Harwich to Zeebrugge in Belgium and occasionally to Dunkirk in France.

“Due to the size of the ships they could only carry around a dozen wagons, so they certainly wouldn’t be financially viable today.

“My involvement with the train ferry service began a lot earlier than I first walked up the gangway.

“When I was a child, my bedroom window looked over the railway goods wagons shunting yards that took in wagons from all over the UK for onward loading onto the train ferries at the terminal, and to some extent the wagons we transported back to Harwich from our voyage across the North Sea from Zeebrugge.

“I’m very curious as to the history of the LNER wagon that has been discovered in Belgium.

“Wouldn’t it be great if it was linked with the historic train ferry service that I had the pleasure to be part of from 1973 to 1975?”