Published to mark the 75th anniversary of the launch of the Night Ferry in 1936, this 120 page illustrated softback offers a collection of essays and reminiscences about the legendary train that carried sleeping car passengers between Paris and London using train ferries to cross the English Channel.
Withdrawn in 1980, the Night Ferry was a convenient method of reaching the French capital for the staff of Railway Gazette International as it was possible to schedule early morning appointments with SNCF officials. A London - Brussels car was also conveyed, this being attached to a scheduled train at Lille; on one notable occasion this car missed its connection, causing a previous editor to arrive late for a high-level appointment in the Belgian capital.
The Night Ferry's demise is described in this book by several travellers who experienced the final run. Others whose memories are related include a locomotive driver, a customs officer from Dover, a sleeping car attendant and a ticket inspector who worked the Night Ferry and other named trains in France.
Compiled by Chris Elliot and Eric Duvoskeldt, the book features descriptions of the rolling stock and the vessels which conveyed the Wagons-Lits cars between Dover and Dunkerque. These tales are married up to various anecdotes which combine to paint a nostalgic picture of a train that once enjoyed considerable prestige. Sadly, the Night Ferry eventually became an unloved anachronism in the era when airlines dominated the London - Paris market.
ISBN 978-0-9570549-0-5
£17·99 (plus £3 postage and packing in UK) from International Railway Preservation Society, Nene Valley Railway, Wansford Station, Stibbington, Peterborough, PE8 6LR, UK.
