By Tim Binnall
Archaeologists preparing for a forthcoming construction project in Belgium could not believe their eyes when their excavation unearthed a British train carriage from 1930. The astounding discovery reportedly occurred this past January and came to light last week when the city of Antwerp shared photos (seen below) of the wondrous find on social media. The find is particularly perplexing as the carriage once belonged to the London North Eastern Railway, though how the nearly century-old carriage wound up buried 200 miles away in a park known as Noordkasteel is a mystery to both the train company and local officials.
Alas, the answer to its odd origin story will likely have to be derived from whatever historical records might remain from the time period as the wood and metal carriage itself fell apart when the archaeologists attempted to remove it from the ground. That said, inscriptions observed on the side of the car as well as its general construction suggest that it was specifically used in a manner similar to a modern-day moving truck. Given where the carriage was found, Antwerp city officials theorized that perhaps it served as "storage space when the Noordkasteel became a recreation site," though they concede that this is merely their best guess.