Trackside Prints

The Epping Ongar Railway, Ongar to North Weald and the forest.

The Epping Ongar Railway runs steam and diesel trains from Ongar through North Weald towards Epping Forest, on a line that was once part of the London Underground. London Transport closed it in 1994, and volunteers ran their first train ten years later. This guide covers the branch, its story and getting there.

A branch that ends in the woods

From Ongar the line passes Blake Hall, closed and now a private house, then North Weald, and ends at what the railway calls its Epping terminus: a point in woodland near Epping Forest with no platform, where nobody can get on or off. The track stops at kilometre post 9.4 (along the branch, read 23 October 2026). The railway describes itself as the longest heritage railway in Essex.

North Weald is the working heart, with the workshops and engine depot. Coopersale, at 340 feet above sea level, is the summit of the line, and the railway says it was once the top point of the old Great Eastern system.

A flat mid-century travel illustration of a plain green tank engine at a country station, a brick house and white fence behind.

From steam branch to Central line

The Eastern Counties Railway opened a double track line from Stratford to Loughton in 1856, and a single track extension to Ongar followed in 1865 (EOR history). The Central line officially reached Epping in 1949, and the branch to Ongar was lightly electrified in 1957, with a twenty-minute service. Blake Hall closed for good on 31 October 1981. London Transport closed the loss-making section on 30 September 1994.

The railway says it is unique among heritage railways in running on a former part of the London Underground network (EOR home page). Ongar station, which opened in 1865, is Grade II listed (Historic England, list entry 1168416), and the railway says it is an original working Great Eastern station still in Great Eastern colours, unique on the old system.

A watercolour of a country station on a frosty winter evening, gas lamps glowing along a snowy platform and a steam engine waiting beside it
A winter evening at a country station, painted in our watercolour style, not a scene from Ongar.

Volunteers, twice

After the closure a company called Pilot Developments bought the line, but the passenger services it promised did not run. On 10 October 2004 the volunteer society’s first train left Ongar at 11am, and Sunday trains ran until December 2007. A change of owner then stopped services while the track and structures were improved (history). The campaign group Railfuture records the reopening to the public on 25 May 2012, and pictures Pitchford Hall at Ongar on the day (Railfuture). In December 2012 the volunteers won the Volunteers Award at the National Railway Heritage Awards.

Planning the day

Take the Central line to Epping, then the vintage London bus, which the railway includes in the fare (getting to us). Station parking is limited and kept for Blue Badge holders first, so use the public car parks at Ongar or Epping station. The railway takes cards only, no cash, and welcomes well controlled dogs free, except on dining trains, where only assistance dogs travel (visiting information). Its calendar showed running days through to 31 December 2026 when we read it (timetables).

Photographing the line

You may take personal photographs on the platforms and at designated foot crossings. Ongar station is the obvious subject, and the railway points photographers to the bridleway bridge near Ongar and the five-arch Cripsey Brook viaduct just out of the station (along the branch). A Great Eastern station in its own colours makes a fine poster print, as taken or restyled. For heritage lines further from London, start at railway journeys.

Sources: Epping Ongar Railway history; along the branch (both read 23 October 2026).

Written by Craig Fearn, Trackside Prints. Last updated .

Questions, answered

Was the Epping Ongar line part of the Underground?
Yes. London Transport ran it as part of the Central line until it closed the section on 30 September 1994.
Can you get off at Epping on the heritage train?
No. The line ends in woodland near Epping Forest with no platform. A vintage bus links the railway with Epping Underground station.
Is there parking at the Epping Ongar Railway?
Only a little, kept for Blue Badge holders first. The railway suggests the public car parks at Ongar or Epping station.
Can you take dogs on the Epping Ongar Railway?
Yes, well controlled dogs travel free, though only assistance dogs are allowed on dining trains.
A maroon pannier tank engine lettered London Transport and numbered L.92 beside a water tower at Buckfastleigh, with cream and brown carriages and green hills behind.Read nextBuckfastleigh to TotnesPhoto: The Basingstoker, CC BY-SA 2.0