ROUND-the-clock opening is nothing new when it comes to keeping hungry people fed and watered.

During the First World War, teams of women worked tirelessly at York railway station to offer soldiers and sailors refreshment on the way to and from the fighting.

They worked from two converted carriages on what is now platform one, and represented just a tiny part of the role the railways played in the conflict.

And now that role is to come under the spotlight in a major new exhibition, with the National Railway Museum in York making a successful bid for £100,000 in Heritage Lottery funding to develop a series of shows, beginning in 2016, exploring the railway in the Great War.

The centrepiece will be a 1907 London and South Western Railway coach presented as an ambulance train carriage - the hospitals on wheels which were used to transport the wounded back from the front line.

As part of the research, the museum is searching for stories about the Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Canteen at York railway station throughout the war.

Its two carriages were donated by the North Eastern Railway Company and was run by the local branch of the Women’s British Temperance Association among others.

Staffed by volunteers, it was open round-the-clock from November 15, 1915 to May 23, 1919 - and served an average of 18,000 soldiers and sailors per week either going to or returning from war.

The museum’s interpretation developer Jane Sparkes said: “This canteen played a pivotal part in comforting and nourishing the troops during the war effort.

"We’d love to hear from anyone who may remember their relatives telling them about encountering, being served by or volunteering at the canteen, or who may have pictures of it or any other evidence.”

Contact yorkcanteen@nrm.org.uk or 01904 685 750.