The Epping Ongar Railway is a heritage railway run by a team of volunteers in South-West Essex. It was the final section of the Great Eastern Railway and London Underground Central Line branch line between Loughton via Epping to Ongar, with intermediate stations at North Weald and Blake Hall. The line was closed by London Underground in 1994 but reopened in 2004 as a preserved railway offering a volunteer run Class 117 DMU service between Ongar and Coopersale. This heritage service ceased in 2007 when a change of ownership lead to the line being closed for large scale restoration to a heritage steam railway which opened on 25th May 2012.
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| - The Epping Ongar Railway is a heritage railway run by a team of volunteers in South-West Essex. It was the final section of the Great Eastern Railway and London Underground Central Line branch line between Loughton via Epping to Ongar, with intermediate stations at North Weald and Blake Hall. The line was closed by London Underground in 1994 but reopened in 2004 as a preserved railway offering a volunteer run Class 117 DMU service between Ongar and Coopersale. This heritage service ceased in 2007 when a change of ownership lead to the line being closed for large scale restoration to a heritage steam railway which opened on 25th May 2012.
- The connection to Ongar was made in 1865 by the Eastern Counties/Great Eastern Railway. The eastern section of the line, between Epping and Ongar, was always single track, with just one passing loop at North Weald station, and approximately 14 trains each day went as far as the rural station, with the rest terminating at Epping or Loughton.
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| - Single track throughout except a passing loop in North Weald
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| - Current services only extend as far as Coopersale Halt, although it is planned to eventually extend the line to a new station at Epping.
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| - The Epping to Ongar branch, which travelled though the Essex countryside, was one of the London Underground's more rural routes.
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| - Epping Ongar Railway Ltd.
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| - The Epping Ongar Railway is a heritage railway run by a team of volunteers in South-West Essex. It was the final section of the Great Eastern Railway and London Underground Central Line branch line between Loughton via Epping to Ongar, with intermediate stations at North Weald and Blake Hall. The line was closed by London Underground in 1994 but reopened in 2004 as a preserved railway offering a volunteer run Class 117 DMU service between Ongar and Coopersale. This heritage service ceased in 2007 when a change of ownership lead to the line being closed for large scale restoration to a heritage steam railway which opened on 25th May 2012. The Website is [1] and the Wikipedia page is [2]
- The connection to Ongar was made in 1865 by the Eastern Counties/Great Eastern Railway. The eastern section of the line, between Epping and Ongar, was always single track, with just one passing loop at North Weald station, and approximately 14 trains each day went as far as the rural station, with the rest terminating at Epping or Loughton. This remained the case until 1949, when the London Transport Passenger Board's New Works scheme extended the Central Line to Epping using electric trains (taking over the railway from British Rail). The Epping-Ongar branch lost its through trains to London, and a shuttle service between Epping (to connect with trains to London) and Ongar was implemented; for a short time, one could see the unusual sight of steam trains and London Underground electric multiple units side-by-side at Epping. The steam shuttle was hired by the London Transport Executive from British Rail, as it was felt there wasn't justification for electrification as far as Ongar unless patronage of the branch rose. The 1950s saw attempts to improve the service on the branch, and eventually the line was given light electrification in 1957. The low-cost nature of the electrification meant that the branch could only support special two- or three-car trains—the power supply was simply not strong enough to support full-size trains, nor would the short platforms on the branch line have been long enough to support eight-car trains. Hence, the Epping to Ongar branch was normally operated as an isolated branch of the Central Line. However, for two days every year, through trains were run from London, terminating at North Weald. These trains served the North Weald airshow on the Saturday and Sunday of its opening at the aerodrome almost adjacent to the station. The normal Epping to Ongar shuttle dovetailed with this service passing the terminating train on the adjacent line during its southbound journey. The through train was operated as an extra train on the normal Central Line timetable, but was only 4 cars long.
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