I decided to pay another visit to the Epping-Ongar Railway today and
noted with surprise that services have been extended to Coopersale
Bridge, approx. 1/2 mile from the boundary with Metronet BCV. The
railway has also secured a second heritage bus, RM1641, for linking
services between North Weald and Epping LU.

When the DMU reversed just before the bridge I spoke to the guard about
this extension of services, and he commented that the railway's long
term plan was to open a halt in the area. Services to Epping are still
vapourware, though; one of the senior volunteers I spoke to near the
end of the day said that TfL (who, along with the LT Museum, are
actually friendly with the group) wanted half a million pounds to
modify the trackwork east of Epping to provide enough space for the EOR
to build a station. Considering the existing financial constraints of
both the volunteers and the EORL, I suppose this is still in the
future.

Loadings also appear to be increasing; the train had at least 20-30
people on it right up to the last journey, and Ongar carpark was
completely full. The only surprise was that an all-day Rover was now
5GBP instead of 4GBP.

completely full. The only surprise was that an all-day Rover was now
5GBP instead of 4GBP

Ongar - North weald. North weald - ongar. Well , thats its for the all
day roving.
Well worth a fiver. *cough*

B2003

Boltar wrote:
completely full. The only surprise was that an all-day Rover was now
5GBP instead of 4GBP

Ongar - North weald. North weald - ongar. Well , thats its for the
all day roving.
Well worth a fiver. *cough*


Ongar - North Weald - Coopersale - North Weald - Ongar.
North Weald - Coopersale - North Weald - Ongar - North Weald.
Rinse and repeat.

*shrug*

At least you get to see the M11, the nearby golf course and Coopersale
village.

B2003

TheOneKEA wrote:
At least you get to see the M11, the nearby golf course and
Coopersale
village.

I still don't see what they have to offer. If the trip itself was so
interesting LU would have never shut down the branch as it would be
full
of sightseers. But it isn't. Its fairly drab essex countryside. That
leaves the rolling stock. A single DMU. Hmm. Well if thats what floats
your boat fair enough, but personally only a few decent steam trains
would persuade me to visit and even then there are far more interesting
preserved lines not far outside the M25 such as the Bluebell, K&ES etc.

B2003

Boltar wrote:
TheOneKEA wrote:
At least you get to see the M11, the nearby golf course and
Coopersale
village.

I still don't see what they have to offer. If the trip itself was so
interesting LU would have never shut down the branch as it would be
full
of sightseers. But it isn't. Its fairly drab essex countryside. That
leaves the rolling stock. A single DMU. Hmm. Well if thats what
floats
your boat fair enough, but personally only a few decent steam trains
would persuade me to visit and even then there are far more
interesting
preserved lines not far outside the M25 such as the Bluebell, K&ES
etc.

B2003

The bit running through Epping Forest can be beautiful, especially in
the snow (not that we've had much lately!). And the
http://www.eorailway.co.uk/ website says they're planning to build a
new shed for servicing steam locos, so you may get your wish Boltar.

However, still no news of Essex County Council's progress on buying the
line or from the Peoples' Front of Judea ..... sorry, I mean the OTHER
railway preservation society (see http://www.ongar-railway.org.uk )
that wants to run the line. Now that the landowners appear to be
willing to sell to the Council isn't it time these two preservation
groups made peace and joined forces? Or has too much water (and too
few trains) gone under the M11 bridge?

umpston wrote:

The bit running through Epping Forest can be beautiful, especially in
the snow (not that we've had much lately!). And the
http://www.eorailway.co.uk/ website says they're planning to build a
new shed for servicing steam locos, so you may get your wish Boltar.

Indeed. The volunteer I spoke to stated that the EORL has already laid
down 10K GBP towards the purchase of a shed structure. However, unless
the DMU was to be push/pull worked by the loco, you're going to need
steam-compatible LHCS as well; this means that more money and volunteer
work is needed to build sidings to store said coaches. Thus, even if a
loco is had, it may not mean that steam workings can resume.

Either way, it will certainly increase the passenger numbers, which are
already increasing :-)


However, still no news of Essex County Council's progress on buying
the line or from the Peoples' Front of Judea ..... sorry, I mean the
OTHER railway preservation society
(see http://www.ongar-railway.org.uk)
that wants to run the line. Now that the landowners appear to be
willing to sell to the Council isn't it time these two preservation
groups made peace and joined forces? Or has too much water (and too
few trains) gone under the M11 bridge?

I get the impression that everything is a big muddle.

"TheOneKEA" wrote in message
oups.com...
umpston wrote:

The bit running through Epping Forest can be beautiful, especially in
the snow (not that we've had much lately!). And the
http://www.eorailway.co.uk/ website says they're planning to build a
new shed for servicing steam locos, so you may get your wish Boltar.

Indeed. The volunteer I spoke to stated that the EORL has already laid
down 10K GBP towards the purchase of a shed structure. However, unless
the DMU was to be push/pull worked by the loco, you're going to need
steam-compatible LHCS as well; this means that more money and volunteer
work is needed to build sidings to store said coaches. Thus, even if a
loco is had, it may not mean that steam workings can resume.

Either way, it will certainly increase the passenger numbers, which are
already increasing :-)


However, still no news of Essex County Council's progress on buying
the line or from the Peoples' Front of Judea ..... sorry, I mean the
OTHER railway preservation society
(see http://www.ongar-railway.org.uk)
that wants to run the line. Now that the landowners appear to be
willing to sell to the Council isn't it time these two preservation
groups made peace and joined forces? Or has too much water (and too
few trains) gone under the M11 bridge?

I get the impression that everything is a big muddle.


I agree - but if both of these groups could find a way to settle their
differences (which will surely be lessened once the land ownership is
resolved) I reckon they'd find both volunteers and funding easier to come
by. I'm sure at the moment many people are reluctant to get involved
because of this uncertainty. And a united approach to Essex County Council
might ease the process of obtaining their lease to run the line.

On 9 Feb 2005 09:58:23 -0800, "TheOneKEA" wrote:

umpston wrote:

The bit running through Epping Forest can be beautiful, especially in
the snow (not that we've had much lately!). And the
http://www.eorailway.co.uk/ website says they're planning to build a
new shed for servicing steam locos, so you may get your wish Boltar.

Indeed. The volunteer I spoke to stated that the EORL has already laid
down 10K GBP towards the purchase of a shed structure. However, unless
the DMU was to be push/pull worked by the loco, you're going to need
steam-compatible LHCS as well; this means that more money and volunteer
work is needed to build sidings to store said coaches. Thus, even if a
loco is had, it may not mean that steam workings can resume.


Aren't they going to relay the line so they can use all those Finnish
locos and rolling stock?

PRAR
--
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Please reply to the newsgroup. That is why it exists.
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PRAR wrote:
On 9 Feb 2005 09:58:23 -0800, "TheOneKEA"
wrote:

umpston wrote:

The bit running through Epping Forest can be beautiful, especially
in
the snow (not that we've had much lately!). And the
http://www.eorailway.co.uk/ website says they're planning to build
a
new shed for servicing steam locos, so you may get your wish
Boltar.

Indeed. The volunteer I spoke to stated that the EORL has already
laid
down 10K GBP towards the purchase of a shed structure. However,
unless
the DMU was to be push/pull worked by the loco, you're going to need
steam-compatible LHCS as well; this means that more money and
volunteer
work is needed to build sidings to store said coaches. Thus, even if
a
loco is had, it may not mean that steam workings can resume.


Aren't they going to relay the line so they can use all those Finnish
locos and rolling stock?

No. They're just to look at.

In article .com,
(TheOneKEA) wrote:

At least you get to see the M11

Can you see the line from the M11? I can't say I noticed it when driving
to and from London the other Sunday. I saw the Central Line overbridge
further South.

--
Colin Rosenstiel