Anzir
As a coincidence I grew up in Harwich, where my father was engineer for the
railway shipping company Sealink, which was one of the main train ferry
ports, he used to look after the train ferries and the terminal as part of
his job.
The service started from Harwich in about 1923, with the link span being
moved there from Richborough in Kent where the first train ferry was run for
the army at the time of the first war. The service ran until the mid 80s.
The link span is still in Harwich and is grade 2 listed for some strange
reason,
(although in a rather run down state), and every now and again there is talk
of restarting it. The terminal is in old Harwich not at "Harwich
international port" or Parkestone Quay as it should be known
At its height there were four train ferries sailing from Harwich with the
busiest period probably being from my gut feel in the late 1970s, although
it finished up with two ships, if my memory serves me they used to sail to
Dunkirk and zebrugge. Other services also ran from Dover, also run by the
railway. The Dover service continued I think until the tunnel opened. The
problem with the Harwich service was the comparative length of the crossings
compared to Dover.
There are various books written about ferry services from Harwich which will
include the history of the train ferry services.
regards
Matthew
Dr. Matthew Frost
Lecturer in Geotechnical Engineering
Department of Civil and Building Engineering
Loughborough University
----- End forwarded message -----
|