On a Sunday morning in September 2023, four members of the group (Fran, Elliot, Diane and Sherry) met with Kim, Martin and Dave of Romford and Barking groups at Epping station to visit the nearby preserved Epping and Ongar Railway (EOR) line.
The group caught one of the railway’s vintage Route Master buses, which operate a shuttle service between Epping Station and the EOR’s main operating hub at North Weald station. The railway runs along much of what was the old Central Line tracks between Epping and Ongar stations, although it does not go all the way to Epping station, instead terminating in the
countryside between North Weald and Epping stations.
After exploring the renovated North Weald station, the group then travelled on a steam train to the end of the line at Ongar, where they looked around the station and its facilities, before returning to North Weald. Here they boarded one of the vintage buses for a trip through the surrounding countryside to Brentwood and Shenfield, returning to Ongar for refreshments. .
They then caught the train back, continuing to the western end of the line between North Weald and Epping and then back to North Weald, to have a closer look at some of the locomotives and rolling stock used on the railway. They then took a final journey on the train to Ongar and back, before catching the vintage bus back to the underground at Epping station.
The day had been very enjoyable and gave an interesting insight into how the railway might have looked and operated in the past, and who doesn’t love the nostalgia and sound of a working steam engine.
Trev Eley
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