EOR Steam Gala 2018: In Detail

EPPING ONGAR RAILWAY STEAM GALA 2018

On the 2nd weekend in June (Friday 8th - Sunday 10th), the Epping - Ongar Railway hosted their annual steam gala. This year, for the first time, there were 5 locomotives in steam - but what were they?

The Railway

To begin, here's a little bit about the railway itself. It's a preserved line - the longest in Essex - and is based at North Weald Station, with a 6-mile stretch of track reaching from their other station at Ongar to the site of Coopersale Halt, where there is currently no station.

The station building and platform at Ongar, albeit with something a little less steamy on the rails!

This means that they run heritage buses through from North Weald to Epping Stations on every operating day, with 339 services also reaching Ongar and Shenfield in the East during the high season (April - October). However, they do hope to reinstate the line through to Epping soon.

For now, this is as far as the branch goes - seen from the EOR's DMU

So now it's time for a quick bit of history. The GER (Great Eastern Railway) opened the single-track line from Epping through to Ongar in 1865 as an extension of the line from London, now part of the Underground's Central Line. The line stayed in this format with around 14 trains per day for a while. 1948 saw the Central Line officially operating as far as Loughton, so a steam train shuttle still ran between Loughton and Ongar. The next year saw a passing loop being installed at North Weald so that more trains could run and the London Transport Executive (LTE) took over the line through to Ongar, but this section wasn't electrified yet, so they had to hire in steam locos and carriages from BR's Eastern Region to run the shuttle service along the branch line.

North Weald Station in the present day, with functioning passing loop and signal box. This was taken at the Autumn Diesel Gala (my first visit for ages), so also without steam at the helm!

Then, in 1957, the decision was made to lightly electrify the line, allowing two 4-car trains to run at twenty minute intervals. About a decade later, the branch began to fall into decline. Late 1966 saw Blake Hall receive a reduced service, then North Weald lost its signal box and passing loop 10 years after that. In 1981, Blake Hall was closed completely (it is now a private residence) and trains beyond Epping ceased on 30th September 1994.

Blake Hall's now private residence viewed from a passing train

It was over a decade before passenger trains would run on the line again, when a DMU painted in EOR Blue would make 5 trips up and down between Ongar and North Weald every Sunday for around 3 years. Then, in 2007, the branch closed for a few years to enable extensive restoration work throughout - the stations were refurbished, the tracks were relaid and lots more work was undertaken to make the line what it is today.

The Gala

So, on to the gala itself. The passing loop at North Weald allowed a service to run at 50-minute intervals with two sets of coaches, as well as all services continuing into the Forest. Saturday Evening also saw one set of coaches running, mainly between North Weald and Ongar only, for the 'Real Ale Trains'. A brake van was also offering rides from North Weald to Coopersale every 50 minutes, in between the passenger service.

Coaches used were:
VAC 1: 3-coach set formed of 2 BR Maroon Mk1s and a BR 'Blood & Custard' Mk2

The 'VAC 1' set standing at Ongar, awaiting arrival of 813 to pick up the first service of the day.

VAC 2: 5-coach set formed of 3 BR Blue/Grey Mk2s, 1 BR Blue/Grey Mk1 and a BR Green vehicle from the Epping Ongar's DMU set.

The Locomotives

5 locomotives were in action at the event, as mention before, the largest amount in steam at the EOR so far. There were 2 visitors specifically for the gala (although one is still there currently), 2 long-term visitors and the EOR's only operational steam locomotive in action over the 3 days.

The short-term visitors

5197
The real star of the gala was 5197, the American S160 loco from the Churnet Valley Railway. This locomotive was built in the USA in 1945, then exported almost straight away to China. Now, I have no knowledge of Chinese railways so - even though I may be able to find information - I won't detail precise info here, but most of its life was spent working in the Chinese coal industry, before being saved for preservation and shipped back to the UK in 1995. Since then, this amazing loco has been based at both the Llangollen and Churnet Valley Railways, but has visited many more - this was its first trip to the Epping Ongar. 5197 operated on the front of 21 services throughout the gala, while also helping out by banking on 13 services into the Forest.

5197 stands at North Weald at the head of a service to Ongar, around lunchtime

813
Another guest that was announced only a few weeks before the gala (although that didn't stop it hauling 20 services over the three days and banking on another 17) was GW Saddle Tank number 813, which is usually based at the Severn Valley Railway. This is another loco that was predominantly used on coal trains; the Port Talbot Railway & Docks Company (PTR) introduced her to coal trains and colliery shunting in 1901, almost a year after Hudswell Clarke built 9 of the type for the PTR. GWR then took over the PTR in 1922, having had an affiliation with them for many years. 1933 saw the loco put up for sale by GWR, then bought by Backworth Collieries in Northumberland for shunting. Skip ahead 34 years and the loco was sold into preservation at the Severn Valley. After many years of stop-start steaming, 813 finally had a sustained period of operation from 2000 to 2009, but was taken out of service for 7 years, before re-entering service in late 2016. This was also this loco's first run on the EOR.

813 couples up to the VAC 1 set on a late afternoon service at Ongar.

The long-term visitors

Met 1
Obviously, Metropolitan E Class No.1 'Met 1' was in operation at the event. This locomotive has been visiting the EOR for a while now and hauls most of the regular steam services on the line, although this task is now shared with the other long-term visitor. Met 1 was built in around 1900 to a rather strange 0-4-4 wheel configuration. This particular locomotive was a replacement for an A Class that had an accident, so was numbered out of series - the other 6 were numbers 77 to 82. The locos ran on the primary Metropolitan Railway services, before being displaced to the Chesham branch and goods trains in around 1920. Under London Transport, Met 1 became L44 and became the last steam locomotive to haul a passenger service on the LT network. The mid-60s saw the loco move to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, where it is still based today. Met 1 is a very popular locomotive, being the main focus of many 'Steam on the Met' events and the 150th anniversary celebrations of the London Underground in 2013. 15 services across the gala were hauled by Met 1, with this magnificent loco banking on another 14.

Met 1 had to cover for Lord Phil in the morning, so retired earlier in the day than planned - this is at around 5:00pm, when the locomotive should've been operating a service into the Forest.

Lord Phil
The other (hoped to be) long-term visitor at the event was Hunslet Austerity 3883 'Lord Phil'. This locomotive only recently arrived at the railway and has been sharing passenger trains with Met 1 for the past month or so. This is not an uncommon type of loco - 485 of them were built for military/industrial use. Lord Phil was fitted with special equipment for Dynamometer Car trials, but this was obviously removed when the loco entered preservation. This locomotive proved to be popular at the gala, but failed on Saturday morning, returning to service at about 1:00pm. Amazingly, 3883 was supposed to haul the largest amount of services throughout the gala - Friday, Saturday and Sunday's Lord Phil-fronted trains amounted to 22, but only 12 needed its help with banking.

Lord Phil wasn't working for the whole morning, but eventually got enough 'oomph' to get going for services in the early afternoon.

The home loco

Isabel

Hawthorn Leslie Saddle Tank No.3437 is one of the lesser-known locos, but is the only working steam loco based at (and owned by) the Epping Ongar Railway! Built in 1919, this lovely little loco spent all of its working life at the dye plant in Blackley, Manchester, working for ICI foodstuffs. In preservation, 'Isabel' has changed hands a few times, its first home being the West Somerset Railway straight after withdrawal in 1969. Wales was the next port of call, with a few years at the Cambrian Railways site at Llynclys Junction before finally arriving at the EOR in 2012. A few peak services were hauled by 'Isabel' that year, but it was in a very poor state, so the decision was made to withdraw the locomotive from service before the boiler ticket expiry date. September 2017 saw its debut in a temporary black livery at last year's Steam Gala - having only been used once in that livery, maroon was the next colour for the loco and that's what it debuted at 2018's gala. 14 brake van rides operated over Saturday and Sunday, all with Isabel taking charge.

10:30 saw a gap in the services at North Weald, so Isabel had her 'time to shine' with a photoshoot!

The Buses

As always, the EOR had some of the London Bus Company's heritage buses out plying their trade, shuttling passengers back and forth between Ongar and North Weald, with sporadic extensions to Ongar and Shenfield Stations. You never know what's going to turn up, but there's usually a good mix of colours (2 green and 1 red or 2 red and 1 green) and types (RTs, RMs, RFs, RCLs). However, on this day, the line-up was entirely red and entirely RTs - albeit with a wider version too. They were:
RT3871

RT3871 in North Road, Brentwood while dead-running to Shenfield before taking up the 9:00 to Ongar

RT3933

RT3933 stands in North Weald Station Forecourt between North Weald - Epping shuttle runs

RTW75

RTW75 waits for departure time on a run from Ongar, Two Brewers to Epping Station.

The Reality

So, all the plans sounded great, but what actually happened? Well, it was one of the best galas I've been to, for sure. Apart from the odd mishap (one service didn't run into the Forest), everything worked well and connections to the buses were held. Something to be expected from heritage railways is late running and this event was no exception, with some trains reaching half an hour late (late running peaked around 3:00pm). As always, this got a few groans, but it was a great day on the whole. Below are some highlights from the day:

5197 stands at North Weald on the front of VAC 2, ready to work a service to Ongar

813 stands at North Weald on the front of VAC 1, ready to work a service to Ongar

Isabel stands at North Weald during the photoshoot, prior to working the first brake van service of the day

Met 1 stands at North Weald on the front of VAC1, ready to depart on a service to Ongar.

Thank you to the volunteers at the Epping Ongar for organising and executing a brilliant day out.

Happy travelling!

Delightful Doors!

This post has been weeks in the writing and, as such, the event happened around 2 months ago. I may have forgotten some details etc, but hopefully it should still be as informative as usual!

Getting there

I just took the normal, boring route. c2c to West Ham, Jubilee to Stratford, Central Line to Epping. From there, it was time to board the 339 to North Weald...

The Event

Upon arrival at Epping, I was greeted by 3 modern vehicles, a surprise for a Sunday! They were 2 Trustybus vehicles on the Sunday equivalent of the 420 (the 420A) and an Arriva Optare Solo operating the 418B, a route that they recently took over from Trustybus. However, after a few minutes, RCL2260 arrived on 339 shuttles to/from North Weald.

Change your blinds and go!

Our blinds got set to 'North Weald Station' and we were off! Sometimes, the 339 service operates beyond North Weald to Ongar and even stretching out as far as Shenfield. This is when the Railway itself  is running a high-season timetable, but it seems like the kind of thing that would be perfect for the bus event. The conductor came round and issued us all with a date-stamped Gibson ticket to signify that it was valid for the event and we met T1 coming the other way, with the well-known Trevor Wright driving. It was supposedly running a 339 shuttle, but I believe this was an extra - our bus was definitely busy enough to warrant one!

You're not supposed to be here!

As I arrived at North Weald, all the buses were fairly crammed in - I believe this was due to a waterlogged field being unusable. The 2 RFs, 180 and 401, MBA539 and M1014 were lined up. I assumed the M was one of the guests, but it was just a static exhibit for the day.

A squash and a squeeze!

I knew that it was going to be a little wait for the first bus to come (I arrived on the first 339 out of Epping and extra buses didn't start until about 1115), so had a quick look at some of the stands. The buses were arriving so quickly that the EOR's already tight turning circle could barely cope! MBA582, V3, RMA48 - they kept on coming!

First arrival in preservation!

After that, it wasn't long until MBA539 pulled up next to the departure stop (another bus, RMA48, was already there). In true O.P.O. fashion, someone stood at the door and checked everyone's tickets prior to boarding. The bus was the busiest I have been on in preservation! We were all crammed in - the true Red Arrow experience! After a short run of about 15 minutes towards Passingford Bridge on route 500, there was a quick photo stop, but it wasn't the best because of shadows caused by trees.

Red Arrow bus, Red Arrow experience, not a Red Arrow route!

Upon arrival at Passingford Bridge, we saw RMA48 parked at the 375 stand (to the right), but we turned left at the roundabout, left again into Epping Lane and reversed into a farm track before coming back out again and turning right towards the 'bus stop' (just a layby). Obviously, I thought that the reversal meant that we'd gone the wrong way and the RMA was correct, but the driver of the recently-restored Routemaster variant soon followed and it turned out that it was the other way round!

Whoops!

I boarded the RMA to head back to North Weald as a 175 - it was only its 2nd run in preservation, so I felt rather honoured! We passed DM1052 at Ongar Station and made our way back along the road almost parallel to the railway. When we arrived, one of the surprises (T1128 in 'Forest Ranger' livery) was sat there - I wasn't too interested in it, so decided not to alter my meticulous plan to get on it.

Nice bus, but I'll pass!

In came T1 again, still running back and forth on the 339. It would continue to do this all day, apart from one route 175 trip that was planned. After a rather short wait, V3 - the Ailsa - pulled out of its parking space and into the middle of the action. As it loaded up, I didn't get a chance to take a photograph and nor did I when it set down at Passingford Bridge! As we passed through Ongar, I was crammed up against the window as a Father and 2 children had taken the seat next to me. The adult even had the audacity to let one of the children urinate in a pot on the bus - it was not a pleasant experience and I shall be travelling on an Ailsa again as soon as possible. The Greenway National was already sitting opposite, as expected, when V3 arrived, so I headed on over to catch it! Although I was standing all the way, it wasn't as busy as the MBA first thing - the GLS is like the current Red Arrow buses, with room for around 24 seated passengers and the rest standing. Obligatory photographs were taken by some people as we made our way through Abridge and over the River Roding, but I wasn't one of them. A quick run through the countryside took us to St Margaret's Hospital, where the rear doors failed for the photo stop!

Clearly Winter!

After that, it was a short distance through Epping High Street to the terminus at North Weald Forecourt, where the rear doors failed again - everybody disembarked from the front instead. It turned out that the GLS was rather late and by the time we had arrived at North Weald, RF180 had already departed on her route 381A journey to Passingford Bridge via Tawney Common and the back streets. Therefore, when T1 pulled up to just before the stand (which was, again, occupied) operating a 339, I decided to deviate from my plan and not just wait about 2 hours for the next 381A. It was a pleasant run to North Weald Station and back, but the Titan was rather full on the way there; the way back was fairly empty, as nobody was going to the event at about 14:00!

An Extra Extra!

On this trip, I also saw the 2-hourly 501 for the second time that day. I would go on to see it twice again! NIBS Buses run the Sunday-only route and the allocation on 18th February was a Dart Pointer - namely SN55DVR. I've travelled on the 501 in the past from Harlow to Epping (but not all the way to Ongar) on an unliveried Wright Streetlite. It's a lovely, fast ride through the Essex countryside and is actually very useful - I recommend it!

Two-hourly, Twice!

After that short round trip of about 30 minutes, the bus stopped short of the forecourt and dropped us (by which I mean about 4/5 people) off there to avoid unnecessary further congestion. During the wait for the RF, MBA582 pulled round and I was surprised to see people on board, as it was only supposed to be a static exhibit. However, it was operating trips around the local area for which they could not charge - the bus wasn't Class 6 or something like that, so they couldn't advertise them.

An unexpected second MBA!

RF180 then pulled in, having completed a 'High Beach Tour' service. Instead of just turning the blind as usual, the crew had to all heave a picnic bench out from near the bus stop and three grown men climbed on top of it to remove the temporary 'insert' blind!

There's something you don't see every day!

Very gently, the driver set the blind to '381A Passingford Bridge', which surprised me. This particular RF had worked the 381A's first journey and wasn't scheduled to run either of the other two: the GLS and MBA were booked for those. However, this worked in my favour - I hadn't caught the RF and I planned to catch the second 381A anyway, so I hopped on board and off we went. After about 5 minutes, we were already on the country lanes and I was frankly surprised that they even decided to run a bus down there, let alone a more modern National or Merlin!

Even the RF struggled!

After a very pleasant 30 minute run through the countryside, we arrived at Passingford Bridge around 10 minutes late. Luckily, as expected, V3 was standing there ready to run a 175 back to North Weald and the bus I was getting back to the Station (RF401) looked almost ready for departure, so I quickly took the colour change and we set off back along the 500 route via Abridge. London Bus Company really have done a good job and it looked as if it had recently been reupholstered. When we pulled back in to North Weald, there was a choice to make... 718 to Harlow or High Beach Tour? On the basis that it would be the second 'surprise' guest vehicle, RP21, I chose Harlow. Annoyingly, when I went to check, the bus was full and there was no space for me - I wasn't complaining though, as RF401 - about to run the High Beach Tour - really was a lovely bus and I knew the conductor! It was probably for the best anyway, as the run to High beach was rather scenic - Harlow would've just been residential. Upon arrival at the lovely High Beach, two minutes were spent obtaining a quick photograph.

Get your blind sorted!

From there, we ran round a loop before returning the same way as far as Epping, where this particular final journey ran into the Underground Station, where I alighted to head home.

Goodbye for now!

Apart from standing around at Epping Station waiting for some more buses, I was about to go home... but wait! As T1 pulled in, I heard the words 'North Weald and Back'. The Titan had been running extras all day, so I wouldn't have been surprised if it continued - and it did! My suspicions were confirmed when I enquired to the crew (whom I also knew) and I boarded for a quiet little round trip to North Weald and back with around 3 other people on board - the 'icing on the cake', if you like.

Surprise trip!

Apart from getting stuck at North Weald Forecourt for almost quarter of an hour waiting for other buses to move out, it was a pleasant run and, on the way, I saw some other buses returning - they were T1128 running the last 175, which also served Epping Station on the way to North Weald:

Late Arrival!

and DM1052, also blinded for a 175 run from Passingford Bridge.

You're not where you're supposed to be!

However, the latter supposedly finished its duties about 2 hours beforehand. Thanks to a little eavesdropping, I found out that the RP on the 718 had broken down in the middle of nowhere (that High Beach trip really was a 'blessing in disguise') and I can only assume that DM1052 went to rescue the stranded passengers. After a run that was longer than expected due to the delay at North Weald, the bus arrived back in Epping Station and dropped me off for the trip back home.

Into the distance!

The return trip was just like the outward, except mainly in the dark - very uneventful. All in all, it was a great day. Very well organised and no major hiccups. Well done EOR.

Happy travelling!

A Hounslow Hello!

Yes, I'm back!

This post is about the Hounslow Road Run on 11th February 2018. Enjoy!

What was supposed to happen
The plan for the day was to recreate four routes in the Hounslow area with RF486. It would come from Chertsey Station in the morning as a 237, then run a return 211 trip to Hampton, before finishing the day by heading to Leatherhead Garage as a 202 as far as Richmond, Dee Road, then as a 71 to the Garage.

Getting there
Hounslow is easy to get to, just a long way away. I hopped on a c2c to Fenchurch Street, walked to Tower Hill and took the District line to South Kensington. After that, it was just a rather long way on the Piccadilly Line to Hounslow East, which happens to be closer to the Bus Station and the centre of Hounslow than Hounslow Central or Hounslow stations.

The Road Run

Upon arrival at the rather grand Hounslow East Station, I consulted my watch and discovered that I had 45 minutes to spare. With this spare time, I decided to have a look around, but RF486 was already arriving by the time I made my way back to the Bus Station

RF486 on the final leg of its route 237 trip from Chertsey.

By the time I arrived back at the aforementioned Bus Station, RF486 was already parked up, but another bus – RF406 – had decided to come along for the ride as well and had just finished unloading outside the Bus Station.

A little bit of a surprise!

They had arrived a little earlier than expected, so had around 25 minutes on stand instead of the expected 15. The blinds were changed to ‘211 Hampton Station’ and they performed a rather complex manoeuvre to pull into the Bus Stand.

Quite a nice stand at Hounslow!

I decided to board the grey-banded RF406, as I had heard it would return to Chertsey later in the day, instead of working to Leatherhead with RF486. It is immaculately preserved and the moquette must have been recently changed, as it was pristine! RF486 was just ahead of us for a while, but red lights and traffic meant we lost it after about 10 minutes! Luckily, the crew stopped in a layby and we were soon on our way again, in convoy, towards Hampton. With pretty much no clue as to where we were going, the driver just followed the leading RF through the housing estate’s twisting roads.

Not the most scenic route!

Soon after, we had arrived at Hampton Station, where cars and vans had to squeeze between the parked cars and the RFs. Nevertheless, our bus quickly reversed for a photo with the other.

Blocking up the road!

Everybody swapped onto RF486 here, so I assumed that RF406 would be heading home. As a result, I took 486 back to Hounslow too. We had a few minutes on the other side of the station, before departing for Hounslow. We meandered back through the estate with RF406 still in tow (although with barely any passengers!) Bang on time at 13:00, we arrived back at the stop outside the Bus Staiton.

RFs - always on time!

Again, both buses turned into the Bus Station, but this time ran into the Garage itself.

Time for lunch!

After an hour at Hounslow, RF486 turned back out of the garage and into the stand. Luckily, I got a seat with a friend I had made earlier that day (it was 2 ¼ hours down to Leatherhead). A short while out of Hounslow, in Nelson Road, we stopped for a quick photo.

Strange place for a photo!

After a speedy run through Twickenham and Richmond Town Centre, we arrived at Dee Road – just outside the centre of Richmond. There, the blinds were changed for Route 71 to Leatherhead, in a hailstorm that really hurt!

Ouch!

Then we were off again, back through Richmond (where we exchanged garage codes, now displaying Kingston) and to the Bus Station, where we paused for another quick photo.

Not that busy on a Sunday!

It was a pleasant run to Sandy Lane in Ham, where we were able to get more photos!

Not very Sandy, and with no Ham!

Only a relatively short hop to our next major location, Kingston’s Cromwell Road Bus Station, and our RF ride was almost over – only 4 hours after it had begun!

This, or an Omnicity?

However, there was still a little way to go yet! There was a rather large gap between photo stops here, as we sailed down the A243 past Chessington World of Adventures (formerly Chessington Zoo), through Malden Rushett and under the M25. Soon after exiting the A243, the conductor left the bus at Park Rise, leaving us to run O.M.O. to the Garage… or so I thought. Upon departure, he announced that we could continue all the way to Dorking Station if we wished! We paused briefly outside Lloyds Bank for a photo, where we met a Dorking-bound 465…

Wait for me!

…and the driver tried to set off without us! Luckily, we were able to stop him again, just in time! Either it was a genuine mistake, or he didn’t like us. Probably the latter. The 465 that we met in the Town Centre followed us for the short trip to the Garage (now a leisure centre) and the official terminus for the trip. Arrival there was a little early, allowing for most of the passengers to transfer to the Kingston-bound 465.

Not the end!

I decided – obviously – to continue all the way, along with 5 or 6 others. This section was really fast, as RF486 made the journey down the A24 from Leatherhead to Dorking in around 20 minutes – faster than the OVs do on the 465, the modern equivalent. Then, sadly, our time on the RF was up. We said our goodbyes and exited for the 465.

Bye for now!

It departed from the other side of the road after about 30 minutes’ wait in the snow. Oh well, I got to Surbiton! From there, a SWR train whisked to into London and I got home ok, if a little late at around 1930.

Happy travelling!