Hook Continental

The tare weight was 430 tons with a gross of up to 455 and it constituted the 'top link'[clarification needed] at Parkeston shed where four engine crews were responsible for this duty.

Haulage of the train by this time had been taken over by the "Sandringham" or "B17" Gresley 4-6-0s although their performance was never considered greatly superior to the earlier G.E.R 1500s especially after the latter had been fitted with larger boilers.

[12] The train was restored as a daily service in the summer of 1947 with the arrival of the faster and more capacious vessel "Arnhem" from the John Brown Shipyard on Clydebank.

[13] The Thompson B1 class 4-6-0s took over the duties at that time from the B17s and continued as the principal locomotive on the train until the advent of the Britannia pacifics after which they were still used for relief services until the withdrawal of steam haulage in the Great Eastern area in 1962.

[17][18] During peak traffic periods in the summers of the mid-1950s, particularly on a Friday night, there would be an additional ferry sailing, requiring several relief trains, these usually being hauled by Thompson B1 class.

[17][18] From 1958 haulage of the Hook Continental was entrusted to Class 40 diesels after the first batch of 10 locomotives were allocated to Stratford for use on the premier services in East Anglia.

It was succeeded by a limited stop EMU service to and from Harwich International which was timed to connect with the night Hook of Holland sailings, and which was timetabled and marketed as the Admiral de Ruyter.

[citation needed] During that heyday period of steam, a Britannia class locomotive's whistle received an apparent response from the ship.

The sounding of the train whistle was a warning to the station staff that it was approaching, obscured from view by the extensive system of sidings, for what would be a busy few minutes as large amounts of mail and baggage were transferred to the ship.