The Day

Ongar Station still retains some of its Victorian charm.
However, today, it's "All aboard for North Weald!"
with technology unknown to the Victorians - a DMU!
Passengers and staff mingle on the platform prior to departure.
Across the road, straight ahead towards the east,
the trees preside over the reason why Ongar has for ever remained a terminus.

However, it was the second full year of operation by the Epping-Ongar Railway (EOR), although still only open on Sundays. The shuttle on the 4½ mile stretch between North Weald and Ongar was provided by a two-car diesel multiple unit (DMU) with an on-board bar! It was all nice and leisurely for appreciating the undulating summer countryside from the train. While in Ongar, I also managed to visit the historic St Andrews log church at Greensted, just a short walk from down-down Ongar. (See also link2).

North Weald

Epping Station was the starting point of my visit. From here I got a Routemaster of the Imperial Bus Company to the EOR. North Weald Station still had the lamp posts and the concrete footbridge from its LUL (London Underground Limited) days. Eventually a Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) emerged from the greenery which surrounded the line to Ongar.

Normal length RM 1641 was part of the fleet of the Imperial Bus Company. From this link we learn that Roger Wright, who has now become the owner of the EOR, used to be a director of Imperial Bus. Collaboration between rail and road for the benefit of the visitor - the customer!




At North Weald station, the single track leading off to Epping, and the post war lighting, indicated that a lot of restoration work would be needed to make the EOR an attractive heritage line, not just for the ferro-equinologist but also for the general public including families with children. However, on the platform, flowers and a bench were already positive signs of things to come.




On the platform, old trunks and suitcases as well as a plant vase start to give a feel of the beginnings of the restoration era. The concrete foot bridge, what look like concrete conveniences on the opposite platform and the removed second track, all were inheritances from London Transport days. But look what's coming from Ongar. Is that the two-car diesel multiple unit (DMU)?




Stalwart volunteers have come out of the station offices to welcome the DMU, which sports the EOR logo and has been painted in EOR colours - blue with white whiskers. I think some of the volunteers, including the train drivers, on the EOR originally worked for British Rail; volunteering is a nice retirement activity for many of them - more than your usual "busmens' holiday"! New volunteers, not just retirees, are of course always welcome, whatever their background!

To Ongar

The journey to Ongar was rural to the utmost! I managed to get some views from the driver's cab, views which emphasized the sylvan surroundings. Then there was the track itself - wooden sleepers and traces of the supports for the conductor rails. Blake Hall Station - minus its platform - was hiding behind the profuse summer vegetation.

On the way to Ongar, the track was shiny, indicating that it was quite well used. The wooden sleepers showed traces of the conductor rail supports, at the centre and at the side. Lush summer growth to each side.




There was a slight "wiggle" in the track. The track ballast looked clean and devoid of weed incursion. What appeared to be wiring for signalling and points, adorned one side.




And here is Blake Hall Station, hiding behind dense summer vegetation. Blake Hall is over a mile to the NE near Bobbingworth. Actually, Greensted Green is closer to the station than the aforesaid Hall. However, since the line to Ongar passed through some of the extensive grounds of Blake Hall, the then (1865) owners of Blake Hall wanted a station as close as possible to the said Hall, and of course, the station should be named after the Hall. The remoteness of the station might well have been a rural idyll for the erstwhile station master. The station never attracted many passengers, so it was closed in 1981 by the LTE. Sometime later, the platform was removed, because apparently trains still used to stop there despite closure!




The over-bridge just beyond the station is often used for
taking pictures of the station and the railway.
The juxta-position of bridge and track gives the impression that
the bridge may originally have been built, way back in 1865, to accommodate two tracks in preparation for a possible extension of the line beyond Ongar.




Here is the Whistle Sign for the foot crossing ahead.
The crossing is for the footpath from Greensted hamlet or from Greensted log church.

Greensted

The proximity of Greensted's St Andrews log church (link and link2) to Ongar Station gave me an excuse to stretch my legs in the quest for some cultural enlightenment. The old market town of Ongar itself also seems to ooze history "at every pore".

The path across the fields to the Log Church.




The history of Saint Andrews log church can be traced back to Saxon times.
The church is regarded as the oldest wooden church in the world.




Here's another view of the church.
The "Crusader's Grave" is to the right of the porch.




The logs form the wall to the right of the porch and behind the "Crusader's Grave".




This stained-glass window appears, according to the "diagonal cross",
to depict Saint Andrew is whose honour the church is named.




This stained-glass window appears to depict Jesus as the Good Shepherd.




Back in Ongar, the houses just off Ongar's High Street appear to be nodding to each other,
as they have done over the centuries.

Ongar Station

It was back to Ongar Station for my return trip to North Weald. Ongar Station is a Grade II listed building and so possibly resisted attempts at demolition. It would become what is believed to be the only original Great Eastern Railway station to be preserved in its entirety. On the platform there was no replacement signal box as yet. (See link - 1st bullet). From the platform, the Finnish rolling stock standing on short lengths of 5ft gauge track completed the scene. (See link - 2nd bullet).

Ongar Station - forever to be a terminus!
Entrance to the goods yard on the left. Finnish 5ft gauge coach on the right.
Unidentified dark object in the middle foreground!




Ongar Station Entrance.
Signs of habitation. First floor curtains. Ground floor window blinds.
Gentleman using mobile phone with red phone box from another age.
"EOR" logo looking to the future.




These two DMU cars seem to have been around a bit!
Type 117, built in 1959 by Pressed Steel Co. Ltd. Both "Driving Motor Second".
Midland Numbers: 51342 and 51384.
Western Destination: Paddington.
Present Scene of Action: former Great Eastern Metals.
Livery: Early EOR.




At end of Ongar Platform. No signal box yet.
4ft 8½in track going off to North Weald.
Just to the right it's Finnish 5ft gauge.




All aboard for North Weald!
Passengers and staff mingle on the platform.
Across the road, straight ahead towards the east, the trees preside over
the reason why Ongar has for ever remained a terminus.
The trees are of course not the reasom per se!




This is the complete version of the previous picture.
We are surrounded by the Finns!
Three Finnish locos to the left and one hiding in the shed to the left.
Utilitarian lamp standards from "London Transport" days
still watch over the proceedings.

Return to North Weald

It was a "leafy" return to North Weald. The cabling with its supports was now on the right-hand side of the track - confirming, in case of doubt, that indeed we were travelling in the appropriate direction! At North Weald, with its suitable space for turning buses, I would pick up the Epping bus.

"Leafiness" all around. Cables to the right.
Black "T" on yellow. "Termination" of speed restriction - possibly out of Ongar.




Still more "leafiness" - it was after all the last Sunday in August!




And here, at North Weald, is the "Imperial" Routemaster back to Epping.
The same one that brought me here in the morning.

Epping

Back to "London Transport" territory at Epping. Same style and vintage of station as at Ongar and North Weald, but different operator. From the platform one could see, beyond the end-of-line lights, the line disappearing under the Bower Hill Bridge towards Ongar.

Beyond the Bower Hill Bridge,
the line goes off to a siding on the left
and rises on the right to connect with EOR metals.
The limit of TfL operation is marked by the red lights - two per track.
Officially, the connecting line was last used for passengers in 1994. (See Timeline.)




Tube trains: the Central Line 1992 stock was built in Derby.

The present arrangement at Epping, with the station car park, means that there is some additional access to London from Chelmsford and Bishop's Stortford. However, Chelmsford and Bishop's Stortford are already well served by "National Rail", and in the post Pandemic climate there is an increased emphasis on working from home. In addition, it should be noted that the tube trains, with their small cross-section, can get densely packed during peak (i.e. rush) hours.

Finale

So ended an interesting day on the EOR in the early days of preservation. My next visits, in 2012, 2016 and 2017, would see some great changes - more track, more rolling stock and steam! More visitors. Stay tuned! Of course, the prospects for rail access (and thus commuter traffic) for communities such as Ongar and North Weald also look positive!

The Great Eastern lives on!