What's Happening at Epping-Ongar?

Quick update at the end of what's been a busy a momentus day... 30+ years after it was demolished, Ongar now has an original Great Eastern Type 7 signalbox again!!

Also, we lifted one of our Ruston's onto the display pad at the front of the station... quite an operation, and it called for the "hand from the sky"... details and lots of pics on our website: www.eorailway.co.uk/news

 

Passenger services to resume from May 25th - see Epping Ongar Railway – News

Congratulations to everyone at the EOR - I will definitely be visiting soon.

 

Wow, Really great news. Another few miles of Heritage railway comes back to life.

 

I know I posted something similar on the Gala page, but EOR are really to be congratulated on the standard of work that has been done to bring this line back to life. There are several videos on youtube now that really show the railway to great effect. There cannot be many heritage railways that have had such great facilities and rolling stock on their very first day of operations. It looks like they might be destined for success in the future with them being just off the end of the tube network. Well done all.

 

Spent all day riding trains and buses today..... what a fantastic railway, right on my doorstep too.
The gradients are enough to make the engines work hard and the footplate crew are enthusiastic.

Well done all, great job, great railway, great day..

Stan

 

Stan, Glad you had a good day, I must admit it was a tricky day from the footplate (I was one of the Firemen) with it being as greasy as it was, but we kept to time(ish).

Hope to see you again soon, (long day firing again tomorrow)

Jamie

 

What's running tomorrow ? Thinking to venture upto this new line almost on my doorstep

 

Tuesday 31 with 3CiG on the Epping shuttle, 37 and hall on the Ongar's. Bus wise we wait to see whats rolled out as they are different each day.

 

Country-area green RT on the 339 today!

 

Visited today. The Hall with 5 coaches and a deadweight 37 , nearly 300 tons, hammered out of Ongar and up the gradient, what a sound, worth the price of admission on its own. The Hall is coming to the end of its ticket so enjoy it will you can.

A red Routemaster from Epping made my day also.

 

How far outside Epping station do the trains actually stop? Is the track still in place beyond that point? I appreciate that there is no possibility of running into (LU) Epping station due to both platforms still being in use.

Thanks for the info!
Nigel

 

I visited the EOR yesterday with a friend; we were both thoroughly impressed with the place and wish the staff there all the best for the future, there is certainly a lot of potential. There were certainly many positive points, and sitting at Ongar station for a while was a little bit of a time warp (metal shed and concrete pad aside). Definitely a railway which I think will have a good future, especially if you can get the residents of Greater London aware of your existence.

The only negative points I thought were excusable simply because the line has not been open very long, i.e. lack of any proper catering facilities and a very small shop with limited supplies. I hope that you will be able to develop these secondary 'attractions' in the next few years, along with perhaps a decent museum and picnic/play area. Judging by the constant loadings yesterday I would hope that the railway can achieve similar passenger numbers on a normal weekend.

Good line, friendly staff, off to a good start, and definitely one that should be in everybody’s calendar to visit this year. Well done all!

 

Quick Tip - Keep an eye on our Facebook (where you can also become our friend, tag EOR in your pictures etc)... as I try and update our Facebook status with the loco roster (subject to the normal disclaimers re availability etc etc).... )

 

Jamie - thanks for your kind comments, and also your understanding as we work to get the railway up to the high standards that others have set. In the coming weeks the "Anglia" Buffet coach at North Weald will be ready for use and the catering will move across. We also hope to increase provision at Ongar as funds allow, which will include a proper GER style engine shed to replace the "tin shed". You may have seen the bricks stacked on the concrete foundation in preparation!!

We plan to tidy and finish the grassed area in front of Ongar Station, and make this into a viewing and picnic area. We hope to have this in place for the summer. As ever, these take volunteer time (and funds) and we are very grateful to all our volunteers who come down to help out and also those who have visited the line already, step by step helping us raise the funds to undertake these improvements.

As an aside - and in response to Nigelss - the tracks are still in place right down to Epping. We hope (in time) to work with other stakeholders to build a platform to the north of Epping station, to present a viable and attractive interchange for both visitors to the area and local people. To give you an idea of how close we can be, have a look at the picture on Epping Ongar Railway - Along the Branch - the bridge over the tracks is just off the end of Epping's two platforms! (LU still use and require both of these, so a Matlock style approach is not possible).

Thanks for your support, kind words and suggestions )
Simon, GM, EOR

 

So two stations, linear fashion? Are you planning for the platforms to be connected, no direct station to station connection or something else? Sorry to be going on about the longer terms plans, but the idea really fascinates me!

 

Thanks will do, I didn't make it last weekend (my family boss .. Aka mrs adb) gave me too much work to do... But it's very high on my must do list... One great advantage is mrs adb likes time to herself at the weekend and EOR is definitely do able with little miss adb.. Who is becoming a big fan of steam

 

Hi Simon,

Sounds like good news all around, I do hope that when you get further into Epping that the bus services will continue, I definitely think they are a good selling point for you and probably a a highlight of the day for me, as it can be possible for heritage railways to all go down the same path and provide a steam train chugging up and down all day with no viable alternative, but going one way by train, the other by bus, or using the bus to take passengers around local tourist attractions adds a nice aspect to the day. Keep up the good work, you should all be proud of what you have achieved so far, and you certainly have a lot of support from a number of people at the Great Central.

 

Thinking of popping round this Sunday via the Central Line. A bit too late to pre-book tickets, though. I presume the buses will be running? Also, if one hasn't pre-booked tickets, is it possible to pay for the bus as you board at Epping Underground station?

 

Its not too late to pre-book, the tickets are emailed to you and you print these at home before you leave. You can book up to midnight the night before. The buses run EVERY day we operate trains, leave every 30 mins (from 09:55 onwards) and go from the very front door of Epping station, you can also buy your ticket from the bus conductor. ) Hopefully getting to EOR by train couldn't be easier... well until we get a convenient platform to the north of the station....

We look forward to welcoming you down to EOR, Simon

 

Thanks for the info. I don't mind paying full whack on the day; railways need all the money they can get these days.