Epping Ongar Railway

Epping Ongar Railway
British Railways 2-6-4T Class Standard Four No. 80072 at Ongar
Locale	Essex
Services extend only as far as Stonards Hill, although it is planned to extend the line to a new station at Epping.
Commercial operations
Original gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Preserved operations
Owned by	Epping Ongar Railway Ltd.
Stations	2
Length	6 1⁄2 miles (10.5 km) Single track throughout except a passing loop at North Weald
Preserved gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Commercial history
Opened	1865
Closed	1994
Preservation history
2004	Re-opened and taken over for Preservation
2007	Closed
2012	Re-opened

The Epping Ongar Railway is a heritage railway run by a small number of paid staff and team of volunteers in south-west Essex, England. It was the final section of the Great Eastern Railway branch line, later the London Underground's Central line from Loughton via Epping to Ongar, with intermediate stations at North Weald and Blake Hall. The line was closed by London Underground in 1994 and sold in 1998. It reopened between 2004 and 2007 as a preserved railway offering a volunteer-run Class 117 DMU service between Ongar and Coopersale. A change of ownership in 2007 led to the line being closed for restoration to a heritage steam railway, which reopened on 25 May 2012.

The line to Ongar was opened in 1865 by the Great Eastern Railway, as an extension to its line from Stratford to Loughton opened in 1856 by its predecessor, the Eastern Counties Railway. The extension was single-track, but whereas the Loughton to Epping section was doubled in the 1890s, the section between Epping and Ongar was always single, apart from a passing loop at North Weald on opening. The eastern end of the loop was severed in 1888, converting it into a siding. Approximately 14 trains each day went to Ongar, with the rest terminating at Loughton or Epping.

This remained the case until 1949, when the London Passenger Transport Board's New Works scheme extended the Central line to Epping using electric trains, taking over the railway from British Railways. 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 eight years, there was the unusual sight of steam trains and London Underground electric multiple units side-by-side at Epping. The steam shuttle was hired by London Transport from British Railways, as it was felt there was no justification for electrification to Ongar unless patronage of the branch rose. Upon taking over the branch in 1949, London Transport re-converted the siding at North Weald into a passing loop and built a second platform to serve a new westbound track.

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