IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Parkeston Quay, HARWICH, CO12 4SP

Or Harwich International as it is now known. This photograph from 1984 pre-dates the electrification of the branch. Note the concrete posted LNER semaphore signals still in location but out of use. Services to the station at this time were a mixture of loco hauled boat trains from London and Manchester and 2 car dmu services from Manningtree that terminated at Harwich Town, at the end of the branch.

Looking towards the DFDS cargo shed from the station. A class 31 stands in the station with a london train. Above right is a walkway area for ferry passengers. The LNER concrete post semaphore signals were no longer in use having been replaced by multi-aspect colour light signals like the one top-left.

It is an hour before the check in gate opens and 4 passengers are waiting to embark for an overnight sailing to the Hook of Holland. They will soon be joined by several coachloads of foreign exchange students and West Ham football club fans, who are travelling to watch their team play in a Europa Conference League semi-final match against AZ Alkmaarin in the Netherlands the next day. If time is not of the essence, then this is a pleasant and relatively stress free way of getting to Europe.

Seen in afternoon fog.

47311 runs out of the station towards the sidings which can be seen in the distance. Many of the wagons held here were international ferry vans. The bridge provides access to the ferry for queueing cars whilst the level crossing visible beyond allowed trucks to cross the railway and join their queue on the other side.

The west end of the station with the bridge that allows small vehicles to reach the ferries avoiding the level crossing, unlike freight vehicles like the one in the picture.

From a ship in the port

At Platform 1 is a Greater Anglia Class 755/4 bi-mode multiple unit train, set to work the 0748 departure to Cambridge. This is one of the very small number of passenger workings using the eastern side of the triangle at Manningtree Junctions. The impressive station buildings, opened in 1883 as Harwich Parkeston Quay, are a reminder of the importance of the continental passenger traffic that passed through the station before the advent of air services. It included hotel accommodation as well as normal station facilities.