Researchers have found out more information about a 100-year-old London and North Eastern Railway wagon that was recently discovered in Belgium, 500 miles from the company’s UK headquarters

The wagon was unearthed by a team from the Urban Archaeology department of the City of Antwerp, who found it under a wall of a 19th-century old fortress known as the Northern Citadel in northern Antwerp.

The excavations were being carried out by the archaeologists in collaboration with organisations building a new ring road around Antwerp known as the ‘Oosterweel’ link, which aims to improve the city’s sustainable mobility.

Staff from London and North Eastern Railway’s successor, London North Eastern Railway, have since carried out research to find out more about the wagon’s history.

Information that they discovered suggest that the wagon was the first model of a London and North Eastern Railway removal wagon, which was briefly used about 1930 for house removals.

That model was soon superseded by a much more common model painted blue, which was more widely used across the company’s network. The discovery of the earlier model makes it all all the rarer and is probably unique.

With the current interest in historical artefacts, archaeologists are often used to investigate before major railway works take place. One such excavation that took place recently at Ravensthorpe near Dewsbury in West Yorkshire found a possible small settlement that could date back to Roman times.

The wooden removals truck is thought to be around one hundred years old. It’s a mystery as to how the carriage came to be in Antwerp, and unfortunately there’s very little left of the relic as it disintegrated while being excavated.

Upon closer examination, its only identifiable features were the inscriptions which included ‘FURNITURE REMOVAL TO HOUSE,’ ‘Enquire at any station,’ ‘BK769,’ (which identified the truck’s size – B – and its use, for furniture, – K) and crucially ‘LNER’

Femke Martens, Consultant Archaeologist

This curious find has certainly generated lots of interest and we are delighted the team from the Urban Archaeology department of the City of Antwerp have helped shed more light on the discovery.

We’re fascinated by LNER’s history, and we’d like to thank the team for their help in unearthing more information about LNER’s proud past

Stuart Thomas, LNER Communications Director