Archaeologists find a hundred-year-old freight wagon in Antwerp

An example of an old British LNER carriage. This is not the stroller discussed in the article. (Photo: Geoff Sheppard)

During ground investigations in Antwerp earlier this year, a team of archaeologists found a nearly hundred-year-old train car, according to the Belgian news site. VRT. Inscriptions on the wall revealed that the carriage came from the United Kingdom and dated back to 1930.

During excavations in Noordkasteelwal, archaeologists suddenly made a discovery: a metal structure appeared. “We saw lettering on a burgundy metal container,” says Liz Dirks, one of the archaeologists. After further excavation of the container, it turned out that it was an old freight carriage that came from the “LNER” (London North East Railway) company from Great Britain. It remains a mystery how the car ended up in Antwerp and why it was buried. This may have served as storage space when the North Castle became a recreational area.

Unfortunately, the freight wagon can no longer be maintained. When it was excavated, the car was so fragile, it collapsed. However, many photographs were taken so that the excavations could be stored in historical archives. These images can be found via the source of this article.

LNER

The first model LNER coaches were painted reddish brown around 1930. Only a few years later this color was replaced by the distinctive blue. The red version of the wagon was only used for a few years, making this an extremely rare find.

Bron: VRT.be