The LNER Encyclopedia

Several years ago I purchased the attached photo, unfortunately with no photographer, date or location details. So far I've been unable to find out much information about it. Also unfortunately, the 'white on black' lettering on the panel towards the rear of the van is only partially readable:

?? by LNER
??
Return(?) TO
??ICH (Harwich?) (LNER)
??

Would anyone on the 'Encyclopedia' be able to provide any details on it please? I presume it is of 'continental' origin, and therefore maybe 'leased to the LNER' rather than owned outright by the LNER. Also, if 'continental', it is possibly outside the UK loading gauge? In which case, would its movement be restricted to the internal network of the UK docks/ports, or may it have been allowed to travel a bit further 'in land' if special clearance had been given?

I'm not sure for what purpose the van was used for, perhaps 'fruit and veg' from the continent, rather than just general purpose? Not sure it would have had much use as a 'one-off', so would there have been a small fleet of them?

At this end of the van, on the 'planked panel' just below the vents, there is some very faded wording which might relate to 'Belgian Railways' and 'Boats'.

As always, many thanks in advance for any information offered.

Hello and welcome. I'm surprised a forum search didn't bring anything up as these are a bit of a speciality of mine and I'm fairly sure it's all still on here somewhere.

Anyway, no date or location for that photograph which I also posess a copy of. It's an ex-ROD 20T van, built in the latter half of WW1 at multiple builders in the Uk for use with the then brand new Train Ferry service to supply the armies of northern France.

After the War the wagons were mainly sold to the newly formed Societe Belgo-Anglaise des Ferry Boats, which is the text you see on the panel in the upper left hand side. They then worked backwards and forwards across the Channel via the Harwich -Zeebrugge service which opened in 1924. When the second war broke out in 1939 a number were in this country but the majority were captured, taken east after 1941 and never seen again. Some did survive in traffic until after 1947.

There are multiple drawings and phtographs of these in traffic and they crop up all over the place once you know to look for them. There were a few restrictions on movement but as a rule of thumb they could be seen anywhere. There were thousands of ferry vans in total and these numbered in the several hundred, possibly as many as a thousand at their peak.

This is one of a pair I scratchbuilt about 15 years ago:



To your specific points, the white on black lettering on the small square panel reads : "Hired by LNER. Not in Common User. Return to Harwich (LNER). LNER No. H=(vehicle running number)". I'm not sure it's visible but it will also feature an anchor within a square on the side indicating that it is buitl to UK loading gauge.

They were intially used on fruit and vegetable traffic, largely from Italy, but the FS built their own specialist vans for this traffic fairly smartly and so they could be used for anything which was to be transported.

jwealleans wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2024 5:46 am I'm surprised a forum search didn't bring anything up

To be fair to the OP, it's quite hard to search for something if you don't yet know what it is.

Pupil: How do you spell [...]?
Teacher: Look it up in the dictionary.
Pupil: But I don't know how to spell it!

I was trying not to sound snarky, but a search for 'ferry van' on the forum brought up 50 separate posts. A Google Image search on the picture in the OP brought up a link to a page called "Railway Wonders of the World" which more or less repeated the prototype information I posted.

I don't want at all to be unwelcoming and I'm delighted to have the chance to pontificate at length about ferry vans again, but even a small amount of research can go a very long way.

Your pontifications are always very much appreciated!

Many thanks for your replies Gents, very much appreciated, especially the details from jwealleans - just what I was looking for.

I did try a search, and whilst a few details emerged from the written replies to other queries, when I tried to access then links that had been provided (historically), all I got was a "Sorry, page cannot be found..." message.