on Sunday in the up direction, and leaving Liverpool Street station at 19:40 in the down direction every day. The end As travel patterns changed, particularly 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 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. Timings The main train was timed to arrive about 30 to 35 minutes before the ferry sailed and its arrival often coincided with the ferry's mandatory horn test. 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. Operational problems From an operational perspective, the fact that the evening departures were after the main rush period at Liverpool Street was beneficial, but the up trains in the morning would arrive at the morning peak, and any delays caused by the late arrival of the ferry would create difficulties 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. Tickets Except in very exceptional circumstances, passengers were required to hold tickets for the ferry to be allowed to travel on the service. A note in the 1984 BR timetable stated that passengers without a ferry ticket may be barred from boarding. Headboards The train initially carried a simple headboard carrying the wording "Hook of Holland" at the top of the smokebox, but this was later changed to read "The Hook Continental", and 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. See also Dutchflyer List of named passenger