The Hook Continental was a passenger train running between London's Liverpool Street Station and Harwich Parkeston Quay where it connected with the night ferry sailing to the Hook of Holland in the Netherlands. It was introduced as a named express by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1927, and was part of the marketing strategy pushing the concept of almost seamless travel from London overnight to numerous European destinations utilising the company's own ships and the excellent rail connections from the Hook of Holland.
Contents
Previous service
An express service had existed under Great Eastern Railway (GER) operation prior to the amalgamation of the railway companies, and the GER had in 1904 produced its first corridor train set of 13 coaches specifically for the service. This was also the first GER train to be steam heated throughout and Claud Hamilton 4-4-0 steam locomotives were equipped to supply it with steam.
Headboards
The train initially carried a fairly simple headboard carrying the wording "Hook of Holland" at the top of the smokebox, but this later evolved into a more elegant "The Hook Continental" which carried both the British and Dutch flags either side of the definite article. This was also carried at the top of the smokebox. An example of the similar "Day Continental" headboard can be seen at the National Railway Museum.
1925
In 1925 a new train set was placed in service composed of eleven bogie coaches and two Pullmans but it was considered a very difficult turn due to the weight of the train and the climbs to Bethnal Green and Brentwood, with speed restrictions through both Chelmsford and Colchester, followed by the severe restriction over the junction at Manningtree. The tare weight was 430 tons with a gross of up to 455 and it constituted the 'top link' at Parkeston shed where 4 engine crews were responsible for this duty and were considered masters of their work. The B12 / "1500" class 4-6-0's were used exclusively and the train was allowed 82 minutes for the 68.9 miles for the down journey.
1936
A further new and more luxurious train set was introduced in 1936 with the same composition as the 1925 set and weighing 443 tons tare. Occasionally this was increased by an additional bogie and duties by this time had been taken over by the "Sandringham" or "B17" Gresley 4-6-0's, although their performance was never considered greatly superior to the earlier G.E.R '1500's especially after the latter had been fitted with larger boilers.
World War II
The service ceased immediately at the outbreak of World War II, with the three ships on the Hook service being requisitioned for war service, and it only re-opened in November 1945 with three sailings per week. Of the three vessels, SS Amsterdam was lost and the SS Vienna was purchased by the Government as a troop carrier leaving the SS Prague to operate the service.
Post-war
The service was restored to daily in the summer of 1947 with the arrival of the faster and more capacious "Arnhem" from the John Brown Shipyard on Clydebank.
The Thompson B.1 class 4-6-0's took over the duties at that time from the B.17's and continued as the principal locomotive on the train until the "Britannia" 4-6-2 pacifics availability, after which they provided motive power for any relief services required until the withdrawal of steam locomotion in the Great Eastern area. However, the locomotive that gave the class its nickname, (6)1005 "Bongo", was not considered suitably named for "Hook Continental" duties according to one senior member of the management at Liverpool Street.
Relief trains
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. During the summer of 1957 there was a second train 10 minutes after the main train with three further reliefs available 'as required'. Only one of these reliefs would stop at an intermediate station Colchester and only the main train would be advertised.
Operational problems
From an operational perspective, the fact that the evening departures were after the main rush period at Liverpool Street was a huge bonus, but the up train(s) in the morning would arrive at the morning peak and any delays caused by the late arrival of the ferry would create an enormous problem finding the paths and capacity at Liverpool Street. Various alternative paths were laid down in the working timetable in case of need. One small bonus was that the ferries from the Netherlands enjoyed the cushion of an extra hour for their passage because of the time difference.
"Britannia" allocation
The main train in both directions in the mid-1950s was hauled by a Britannia 4-6-2 and Stratford adopted a policy of allocating 70000 Britannia whenever possible. The locomotive was allocated to and maintained by Stratford but was driven by a Parkeston crew. By then the train weight had grown to 485 tons tare and up to 520 tons gross, and the allowed time was actually increased to 90 minutes compared to the 82 of 1912.
Timings
The main train was timed to arrive about 30 to 35 minutes before the ferry sailed and its arrival very often coincided with the ferry's mandatory horn test which gave it a very romantic twist. 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 very hectic few minutes as large amounts of mail and baggage were transferred to the ship.
Tickets
Except in very exceptional circumstances passengers were required to hold tickets for the ferry to be allowed to travel on the service.
Withdrawal
As travel patterns changed, with the growth in car accompanied ferry travel and the greater availability of air services, the levels of foot passengers declined and in May 1987 'The Hook Continental' was discontinued. It was succeeded by a limited stop service to and from Harwich International which was timed to connect with the night Hook of Holland sailings, which was timetabled and marketed as the "Admiral de Ruyter".
Importance
An indication of the importance of the train within the LNER operations can be judged by the following : "even though ships were fewer and the service thinner than in pre-war times, it was a boost to LNER morale in those rather dreary days of post-war austerity, to see the 'Hook Continental' and the 'Scandy' once more pulling out of Liverpool Street." (NB: the 'Scandy' being reference to 'The Scandinavian' which was another Harwich boat train which resumed service at about the same time).