Epping Ongar Railway 1981-2021


David Bosher

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<h4><a href='/locations/B/Blake_Hall'>Blake Hall</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>A rather grainy image of Blake Hall station, looking towards Epping, on the last day of services here but not on the line, Saturday, 31st October 1981, the official closure date being two days later. The line stayed open until 30th September 1994. Opened by the Great Eastern Railway on 24th April 1865 with the extension of the Loughton branch to Ongar. Even though London Underground Central Line trains had reached Epping over ex-GER (later LNER) tracks in 1949, a steam shuttle continued to run between Epping and Ongar until 1957. For 37 years, the tube trains on this very rural stretch of line always looked decidedly out of place as they bounced incongruously through Epping Forest and the fields of the Essex countryside. Much of the line is now the heritage Epping Ongar Railway although Blake Hall station, literally in the middle of nowhere and at one time the most remote and least-used on the London Underground network, has not been reopened. The building is now a private residence. 1/25</p><p>31/10/1981<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/N/North_Weald'>North Weald</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>LUL 1962 stock with a Central Line train on the Epping to Ongar section at North Weald station in April 1982. The train is actually departing and heading away from the camera towards Epping. This station was opened by the GER in 1865 and first served by London Underground tube trains in 1957. The passing loop, which had been laid in by BR Eastern Region in 1949 on behalf of London Transport, was removed by LT in 1976. The loop and its platform and the goods yard have now all been restored as part of the heritage Epping Ongar Railway. 2/25</p><p>/04/1982<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/N/North_Weald'>North Weald</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>GWR Hall Class 4-6-0 4953 'Pitchford Hall' arriving at North Weald on the Epping Ongar Railway on 2nd June 2012. Built at Swindon in August 1929, it was withdrawn in May 1963, finding its way to Woodham's scrapyard at Barry. It was purchased for preservation by a Dr. John Kennedy in 1984 and moved to Tyseley for restoration, eventually moving under its own steam again for the first time in just over 40 years in February 2004. It was sold to the Epping Ongar Railway in 2011, shortly before the line reopened. This station nowadays looks as if it might well be on a different planet to the days when LUL Central Line trains called here from 1957 to 1994. 3/25</p><p>02/06/2012<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/O/Ongar'>Ongar</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>Exterior of Ongar station, terminus of the Epping Ongar Railway but which was, for 37 years, the terminus of the Central Line, seen here on 2nd June 2012. It was opened by the GER with the extension of the line from Loughton on 24th April 1865. Under the London Transport 1935 'New Works' scheme, the whole line from Stratford was transferred to LT as part of the Central Line, linked by an extension from its 1912 terminus at Liverpool Street. Tube trains reached Epping on 25th September 1949 but a steam shuttle service continued to serve Ongar until 18th November 1957 when electrification was extended to the remote outer terminus. After several stays of execution, being latterly operated only at peak hours, LTE withdrew the service on 30th September 1994. 4/25</p><p>02/06/2012<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/N/North_Weald'>North Weald</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>Where London Underground Central Line tube trains once ran, between 1957 and 1994, D 6729 at the head of an Epping Ongar Railway train to Ongar, is now waiting to depart from North Weald station on 1st July 2012. 5/25</p><p>01/07/2012<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/O/Ongar'>Ongar</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>Ex-GWR Class 5101 2-6-2T 'Large Prairie' 4141, in former GER territory at Ongar, at the head of an Epping Ongar Railway train to North Weald on 1st June 2013. This station opened in 1865 with the extension of the line from Loughton with Central Line electrification reaching Epping in 1949. Steam trains continued to shuttle between Epping and Ongar until 1957 when electrification was extended to Ongar. Until 1994, when this section closed, tube trains meant for deep level tunnels under central London could be seen bouncing incongruously through woods and fields. This may have caused some wry smiles to residents of Crouch End (where I live) and Muswell Hill who were promised Northern Line tube trains on the Alexandra Palace branch but that scheme, on which more than £1 million was spent before 1939, was not proceeded with after 1945 and the line closed instead in 1954. 6/25</p><p>01/06/2013<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/N/North_Weald'>North Weald</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>GNR 1744 Class N2 0-6-2T at North Weald with an Epping Ongar Railway train to Ongar, on 23rd June 2013. 107 of these locomotives, designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, were built between 1920 and 1929 with 1744 coming off the production line in 1925. They were built specifically for London suburban services out of King's Cross and Moorgate (via the Widened Lines) but could also be seen on local services in and around Edinburgh and Glasgow. 7/25</p><p>23/06/2013<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/N/North_Weald'>North Weald</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>D7523 at North Weald on the Epping Ongar Railway, deep in rural Essex and part of the LU Central Line until September 1994 (which now seems hard to believe), on 23rd June 2013. 8/25</p><p>23/06/2013<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/N/North_Weald'>North Weald</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>Ex-GWR class 5101 'Large Prairie' 2-6-2T 4141, dating from 1946, at the restored loop platform at North Weald on 1st January 2014. The platform, track and signal box have been restored by the Epping Ongar Railway Company, having previously been decommissioned by London Transport in 1976, when still part of the Central Line. 9/25</p><p>01/01/2014<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/N/North_Weald'>North Weald</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>31438 with an Epping Ongar Railway service to Ongar waiting to depart from North Weald on a very wet 1st January 2014. When opened in 1865, this was the highest point on the Great Eastern Railway system until the opening of the Elsenham & Thaxted Light Railway in 1913 and which closed in 1952. (See my photo, image no. 78466, for details of the history of this locomotive.) 10/25</p><p>01/01/2014<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/O/Ongar'>Ongar</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>31438 at Ongar, Epping Ongar Railway, on a very wet New Year's Day 2014. 11/25</p><p>01/01/2014<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/O/Ongar'>Ongar</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>Where once Central Line tube trains waited, between November 1957 and September 1994, 205205 is seen here at Ongar station, Epping Ongar Railway, brought in by 31438, in pouring rain on New Year's Day, 1st January 2014. 12/25</p><p>01/01/2014<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/O/Ongar'>Ongar</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>Ex-GWR class 5101 'Large Prairie' 4141, dating from 1946, about to run round at Ongar, Epping Ongar Railway, in pouring rain on New Year's Day 2014. Hard to believe now that this was once a distant outpost of the London Underground Central Line although never built as such, originally opened in 1865 by the Great Eastern Railway. 13/25</p><p>01/01/2014<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/N/North_Weald'>North Weald</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>The splendidly-restored station building at North Weald, Epping Ongar Railway, now looks a treat compared to its rundown appearance in the last years of this Essex line's existence as part of the LUL Central Line, which ended in 1994. Seen here on Sunday, 23rd February 2020, its hard to believe now that tube trains ever came this way, even though I travelled on the line in them many times as a boy and young man, having grown up in nearby Loughton. The station was originally opened by the Great Eastern Railway on 24th April 1865 with the extension of the line from Loughton to Ongar. At 414 ft. above sea level, it was the highest station on the GER until the opening of the Elsenham & Thaxted Light Railway in 1913 and which closed in 1952. This never quite went all the way to the beautiful historic town of Thaxted but terminated in the middle of nowhere in a field a good mile or so outside the town which probably explains why it lasted less than 40 years. 14/25</p><p>23/02/2020<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/N/North_Weald'>North Weald</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>Class 117 diesel unit at North Weald station, Epping Ongar Railway, on 23rd February 2020. Built in 1960, it originally worked on BR Western Region Paddington to Reading services. Unfortunately, it is not going all the way back to Liverpool Street as the destination blind would have us believe and not even as far as Epping, but an out and back trip to Epping Forest a short distance from the LUL station there. 15/25</p><p>23/02/2020<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/N/North_Weald'>North Weald</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>GWR 4900 Class 4-6-0 no. 4953 'Pitchford Hall' arriving at North Weald station with an Epping Ongar Railway train from Ongar, on 23rd February 2020. This locomotive entered service from Swindon Works on 31st August 1929 and was withdrawn on 31st May 1963 and sent to Woodham's scrapyard at Barry in south Wales where it remained until 1984. After a comprehensive overhaul at Tyseley Locomotive Works, it moved under its own steam for the first time in preservation in February 2004, then touring a number of heritage lines until purchased by the EOR in 2012. 16/25</p><p>23/02/2020<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/N/North_Weald'>North Weald</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>North Weald station, Epping Ongar Railway, looking towards Ongar with the now fully-restored footbridge (that came from South Woodford station), on 20th February 2020. The last time I visited this railway, in 2016, the bridge was in two pieces and people had to cross the line by means of the level crossing. This has been retained for people with reduced mobility. In LUL Central Line days, which lasted from 1957 to 1994, this was the only level crossing on the London Underground, here well above ground(!) in the depths of the Essex countryside. 17/25</p><p>23/02/2020<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/N/North_Weald'>North Weald</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>The fully restored North Weald station, Epping Ongar Railway, looking towards Epping from the footbridge, on 23rd February 2020. The now relaid loop and reopened platform on the left were closed by London Transport in 1976 and the track lifted during LUL Central Line days, which lasted from 1957 to 1994. The station was originally opened by the Great Eastern Railway with the extension of the line from Loughton to Ongar in 1865. 18/25</p><p>23/02/2020<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/B/Blake_Hall'>Blake Hall</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>The immaculately restored Blake Hall station, complete with a short piece of platform, is now a private residence and Epping Ongar Railway trains do not call here. It is seen from an EOR train from North Weald to Ongar passing on 23rd February 2020. The station was opened by the Great Eastern Railway with the extension of the line from Loughton to Ongar on 24th April 1865 and was first served by LUL Central Line tube trains (which always looked odd as they rattled and bounced incongruously through woods and fields) from 18th November 1957. It closed on 2nd November 1981 (the last trains called two days earlier), 13 years before the line beyond Epping to Ongar was closed, on 30th September 1994, the same day as the Piccadilly Line branch from Holborn to Aldwych in central London was closed. Remotely situated, Blake Hall was the least-used station in LUL days, a distinction now held by Roding Valley also on the Central Line. After closure, it is alleged some trains still stopped here unofficially to let people board or alight but once London Transport learned of this they promptly demolished the platform (which has now been partially restored). I remember waiting here for a tube train to Epping in the long hot summer of 1976 and, apart from the ticket clerk, there was only myself and flocks of birds as they flew high and wide over the Essex countryside. 19/25</p><p>23/02/2020<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/E/Epping_Forest'>Epping Forest</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>View through rear of class 117 diesel unit returning from Epping Forest to North Weald on the Epping Ongar Railway, on 23rd February 2020. The train is passing beneath the bridge carrying the M11 motorway. When this was built in 1977, the line was still in use by LUL Central Line tube trains and the bridge only allowed enough headroom for their restricted height. When the line became a heritage line, the track beneath the bridge had to be lowered by a depth of 18 ft. to allow for the larger rolling stock that would thenceforth use the line. 20/25</p><p>23/02/2020<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/O/Ongar'>Ongar</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>GWR 4900 Class 4-6-0 4953 Pitchford Hall <a href='/img/75/726/index.html'>75726</a> running round at Ongar, Epping Ongar Railway, on the morning of Sunday, 5th September 2021. 21/25</p><p>05/09/2021<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/N/North_Weald'>North Weald</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>31438 on siding at North Weald, seen from passing DMU from Ongar to Epping Forest, on 5th September 2021. This locomotive, originally D5557, was built at Brush Works, Loughborough and entered service on 15th October 1959, initially working from Ipswich Loco Shed. As 31139, she was mothballed in 1981 before being selected to have Electric Train Heating fitted, which was completed on 23rd April 1984 and subsequently renumbered 31438 before moving to the EOR in October 2011. 22/25</p><p>05/09/2021<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/E/Epping_Forest'>Epping Forest</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>The current limit of Epping Ongar Railway working at Epping Forest, a few hundred yards from Epping Central Line station, seen through the cab of class 117 DMU with a train from Ongar, on the afternoon of Sunday, 5th September 2021. There are no boarding nor alighting facilities here but hopefully a platform for EOR trains will be constructed opposite the LU station to allow interchange in the future. 23/25</p><p>05/09/2021<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/N/North_Weald'>North Weald</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>Busy scene at North Weald, Epping Ongar Railway, from the footbridge looking towards Epping, on Sunday, 5th September 2021. On the left, a train behind 4953 'Pitchford Hall' from Ongar is terminating while, on the right, is class 117 diesel unit, dating from 1960, waiting to depart for Ongar with a service from Epping Forest. 24/25</p><p>05/09/2021<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p> <h4><a href='/locations/O/Ongar'>Ongar</a></h4><p><small><a href='/companies/O/Ongar_Extension_Great_Eastern_Railway'>Ongar Extension (Great Eastern Railway)</a></small></p><p>Class 117 diesel unit at Ongar, waiting to depart with an Epping Ongar Railway train to Epping Forest, on a gloriously warm and sunny Sunday, 5th September 2021. There are no boarding nor alighting facilities at Epping Forest which is about 200 yards short of the Central Line station, to which the EOR wants to extend nearer with a new platform to provide an interchange connection. 25/25</p><p>05/09/2021<br><small><a href='/contributors/David_Bosher'>David Bosher</a></small></p>
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