Never thought i'd see this. I was born in Ongar in 1954,and probably used this line thousands of times. Happy times....

What amazes me is that they managed to keep this odd extension going for so long. Can't believe it lasted til 1994!! Seems like it was a section 'lost in time'. It still looked like the 1950's when it closed in 1994. Incredible. Great piece of film.

I was regular Tain driver on this stretch, first on the 62 stock, then the driver only Cravens, right upto the last week of it's running in 1994. Often swopped shifts to do the "Epping/Ongars" much more pleasurable than spending 8 hours "down the pipe". I knew the Motorman & Guard,, sadly i fear they are not in the best of health, also recognise the station Foreman at Ongar, all featured in ths video.

Took this trip a couple of times in the 70's. My wife and I lived in central London and liked to get out into the countryside so easily. Both times, we were the only passengers on the train; so I see why they closed it. Great pity, though. If we get back to the UK, we'll be sure to check out the Ongar heritage line.

Fantastic. In the early 80’s a group of us would take our BMX’s from Barkingside up to Ongar and cycle around the lanes and across the footpaths crisscrossing the fields in this lovely part of Essex. I still go for walks around the line, often on the Essex Way which runs parallel with it at times. Thank you for this wonderful trip back to a carefree time :)

I find this film strangely peaceful and nostalgic. Living in Cockfosters until 1986, I had always intended to take the tube out to Ongar, deep in the Essex countryside, a real escape. It's too late now but at least this film brings it back to life for those of us who missed the journey.

@Richardsrailway

8 жыл бұрын

+Steve Hamilton Thanks, glad you enjoyed the trip down the branch, a time capsule as it were forever preserving not only a long gone railway line, but rural Essex .

@steved8193

2 жыл бұрын

You can still go, it's just not under TfL ownership anymore, it's under the Epping Ongar Railway.

Something very calming and peaceful just following this rural journey on an LT Tube Train!!

When I was in London in the 70th I took a trip on this line, at that time it was 2 trains that running there with a train meeting. Those where the days.

@Richardsrailway

11 ай бұрын

That was when they had the passing loop at North Weald that taken out of use in 1978.

Did this return journey Epping-Ongar a couple of times. Firstly in the mid 80’s and again during the last week of operation on a 1960 class Cravens

I used to love taking the train up to Ongar when I had a day off; it was the easiest way to really get out of the city. Good memories. Thank you for this.

@Richardsrailway

7 жыл бұрын

Rugose Texture no problem . Now you can always catch a train !

@jazzlover7434

6 жыл бұрын

"I took the train I knew exactly where to go, what made it all work out I doubt I'll ever know..." - "Favourite Days" recorded by the Action/Mighty Baby 1968. Reissued on "MIghty Baby" 1st album - Big Beat Records

Thanks for posting this. Between 1978-1985 I travelled to school from Theydon to Buckhurst Hill, and had a few trips to Ongar too. Became a (very young) Workshop Manager at Hainault depot in 1990. Although our Fleet Manager always wanted us to run one of Cravens/38TS units on the shuttle, we preferred to run 62s as they were more reliable. Great memories.

@Richardsrailway

5 жыл бұрын

Simon J . That’s awesome ! Yes to me the cravens units were in fact the imposter train , as they only crept in during the last few years of the lines final operation . 62’s were the better trains .

@alanward4506

3 жыл бұрын

With me it was from Ongar to Chigwell in 1960.Theydon Bois ask anyone from outside the area to pronounce that

What a wonderful find! Thank you for posting! During the 1970's I traveled this line several times in order to access the wonderful old wooden church near Blake Hall. Actually having a need to use Blake Hall was something in itself: It looked like a heritage country station then but had the great contradiction of L.T. roundel name signs and being served by tube trains! I believe that it had long been L.T.'s least-used station.

@Richardsrailway

5 жыл бұрын

Stuart Hall glad you enjoyed it . If you look on my channel you’ll find a video of Blake hall before closure

@leeosborne3793

Жыл бұрын

Apparently it was the least used station on any metro system in the world!

Thanks so much for putting up this video of the Epping-Ongar run. I was only over to London once, in August 1968 for three days coming back from a student summer trip to Paris. I rode a bit of the Central Line and Piccadilly, realizing I was never going to have to time to ride the whole system. Never have made it back to London (from the States) and regret not having been able to ride this outermost section of the Central Line before its closure (as well as the Bakerloo above Harrow & Wealdstone), so your sharing of this video is greatly appreciated! Cheers! :)

@Richardsrailway

6 жыл бұрын

Jazz Lover your welcome and glad you enjoyed the ride !

Went out to Ongar in mid 80s. So glad I did. Got some good photos!

Such foresight to do this, especially in that Blake Hall only had a year to live. The quality of the footage is superb for an amateur in 1980. Thank you for uploading!

@Richardsrailway

6 жыл бұрын

Bill Holland . In 1980 video equipment was expensive. Dennis being a driver at Loughton filmed this as is because he knew things one day would change and that management would not agree to filming

Keeping in mind this was 1980, the quality of the footage is excellent. This video recorder must have cost a fortune at that time

@Richardsrailway

9 ай бұрын

It did in 1980 .

I was an apprentice with LT between 1978 and 1982 left the organisation in July 1987 when I was an electronics technician at SOS (Signal Overhaul Shop) Lillie Bridge. Great post I really enjoyed it !!!

Only just discovered this! I travelled the line before North Seals loop was removed, together with the semaphore signalling (one remaining post for which is still in situ on the video.) What I hadn't appreciated was that telegraph pole route was still in existence - it's just visible to the right-hand side when going from Ongar westbound. Thanks for posting the video.

Denis who filmed this was my driver at Loughton

HI I lived in Loughton till 1972 and when I was in my teens used to go to Ongar on the train to visit friends there . Now live in Sydney Australia Do miss the English country side. great video thanks for your posting.

@Richardsrailway

8 жыл бұрын

+George Ackerman your very welcome George, have you seen my video on rural Essex by train 1979 ?

@Richardsrailway

8 жыл бұрын

+George Ackerman kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZqSN0qqTf7Syj5s.html

My favourite part of the Tube, even though it's a rural country line. Got to ride it 2 or 3 times in 1990 when I lived in England. Thank you again.

@Richardsrailway

4 жыл бұрын

Glen Atkinson . Glad you enjoyed the ride

So far, I have only watched the first 14 minutes to Ongar from Epping but what a joy to watch this, from the driver's seat. Lovely! A stop at Blake Hall. Ta very much Triplevalve 62.

@Richardsrailway

6 жыл бұрын

EmmaPeelman your welcome Emma ! ? Glad you enjoyed the trip!

I just found this ! Fantastic bit of filming. I lived in North London at the time but often travelled that stretch between Epping and Ongar with my brother purely for the enjoyment of being in open countryside on a London tube train ! Thank you.

@Richardsrailway

8 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed ! It is all history now . The trains. The motorman . The line . All filmed in June 1980

Just look at that service. Leaving Epping with the London train on Platform 2 and another waiting to enter Epping outside by the box. Those were the days (and th edays before the 4mph restriction was place on Epping Ongar). I remember the lights dimming as the train approached Ongar due to the power restrictions.

ONE THOUSAND VIEWS ! THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYBODY !, KEEP EM' COMING !

I never rode the line when Blake Hall was still open, it was on a few peak hour runs in the late 80's and early 90's that I first ventured up that way on the tube...I don't hold out much hope for Blake Hall ever reopening, but it would be good to see some access back into Epping agreed with LU, maybe the 1938 Stock coming back over from the Isle of Wight could perform this facility, if they don't want steam engines running round in the vicinity of Epping Station platforms.

Just the view I wanted to see, perfect time scale. I did go to Ongar to see how far it was one day but didn't get a cab ride. Great to view on January 20th 2021, a great day for America, especially now I live in Phoenix, Arizona (which is the largest conurbation in the world without a passenger service).

Excellent!! I last did this line in 1978 and prefer to remember it as it was under LT. Blake Hall FANTASTIC!! As is the '62 Stock. The '38 Sock trailer runs in between the maroon '60 Stock at the end (30/09/94) were equally as good. Sadly, Ongar line closed same day as Aldwych Branch.

@mrkipling2201

Жыл бұрын

I've always wondered if the 2 closed on the same day. Thanks for the info!!

I was lucky enough to ride that line a few times in 90-91. I remember it would would reverse after the first stop and head back to Epping before continuing on to Ongar. That line was obviously electrified in anticipation of development in the future that never came. In Toronto we have a small subway (70 odd stns) with a Docklands type line in the East End. We don't build here UNTIL it's been needed for 25 years! I miss London

@Richardsrailway

7 жыл бұрын

thats interesting , thanks Glen !

Absolutely fantastic film 😊, thanks for posting 👍👍

At least we have the Epping to Ongar preserved railway, but that doesn’t stop at Blake hall and it doesn’t go to Epping either. It doesn’t feel the same as it used to

Fascinating video, and very rural too! ....can't believe LU ran all the way out to Ongar! ....shame this section closed, but very few people ever got on or off at either Blake Hall or North Weald, plus the line goes beyond both the boundary of Greater London AND the M25. So so can see why LU closed it for good back in 1994. That it lasted until then is pretty remarkable. It's like imagining if LU had a line all the way out to Dorking, or Sevenoaks - only this line is/was even more rural.

@leeosborne3793

Жыл бұрын

It was a remarkable survivor. I can't help thinking that if BR had kept hold of it, it would have ended up on Beeching's hitlist, and probably would have closed in the sixties.

@leeosborne3793

Жыл бұрын

Also there's some speculation it lasted so long because it goes very close to the nuclear bunker at Kelvedon Hatch, and could have been used to transport government staff there in an emergency. Not sure there's much truth in that, though.

@EssexWolf1993

4 ай бұрын

From the early 1960s, up until 1994, Ongar was London Underground’s furthest outpost (Before that it was Aylesbury on the Metropolitan Line). That record is now held by Chesham on the Metropolitan Line again.

Blake Hall. I still have a platform ticket! 1959/62 stock, what a knack to lapping the brake handle.

@Richardsrailway

9 жыл бұрын

Edward Pearce indeed !

Happy memories of LT before all the souless plastic stock started coming in. Great stuff.

Wow, what a great find! Makes me think if I could have an alternative career...! I'd love to see how this is all done now, as well.

The section Loughton to epping is pretty country branch line style as is Barkingside and Fairlop with a long embankment overlooking fairlop waters..

I’ve seen this video enough times now to say that I’d quite confident to sign the route.

@Richardsrailway

Жыл бұрын

Sticks off carry on

Good old footage looking back on the class ll 1962 stock trains especially in that year.

four thousand, seven hundred and forty one views ! ! , C'mon folks lets get up to Five thousand !, Thank you very much for all those who have viewed thus so far

@steveshears3854

3 жыл бұрын

Still going up!

Wonderful video. I always meant to take the tube out to Ongar but never got round to it. Thanks for showing me what I missed 👍

@Richardsrailway

4 жыл бұрын

Andy MacFaul your welcome !

Brilliant upload. I've always loved trains and I find this so interesting.

@Richardsrailway

6 жыл бұрын

xXgangster glad you liked the cab ride

I did this journey once just because.. Still trains in the day. However,timed it badly as I seem to remember being stuck in Ongar for two hours before I could get back!

Nice old express of the old 1962 tube stock of the central, I wish I was born earlier

This is epic footage filmed in what I consider to be the golden age of the underground. All the trains are properly built and well taken care of. The 62 stock despite being nearly 20 years old looks in pristine condition compared to most of the stock nowadays which looks pretty grimy. Everything has gone downhill in the last 20 years since tfl took over where a lot of proper old trains have simply been CUT UP and THROWN IN THE TRASH without a second thought of preservation. A real loss of history. In the present day the underground has lost a lot of its unique character and is nowhere near as fun to ride on as it would have been back in the 70s/80s...

Fantastic footage!!

@Richardsrailway

8 жыл бұрын

Now you can take a train back in time anytime you want .

Nice video, went to go to North weald one Sunday when I lived in Hounslow only to find it did not operate on Sundays. It was for a fly in at the airfield. Ah well nice trip here in the comfort of my front room in Ireland😁

@Richardsrailway

6 жыл бұрын

George Norman glad you enjoyed the trip ! There is always plenty of trains to north Weald here at the depot!

Rare footage

Very good film and over 36 years ago!

@Richardsrailway

8 жыл бұрын

Thank you ! Glad you enjoyed it , please feel free too. Look at some of the other historic footage I have courtesy of my mate who film it

I can never understand how Blake Hall station was ever opened in the first place. It was in the middle of nowhere. North Weald and Ongar stations were just left to die on their own though. Nowadays, with many more people living in North Weald and Ongar, It'd make sense to re-connect the 2 stations to the tube network, but I really doubt that'll ever happen. It's great what the EOR are doing, but I really wish they'd be a proper commuter connection between Epping and Ongar, and not just a steam train once or twice a day (that doesn't even reach Epping). They've got the infrastructure, it'd just need some work.

@Richardsrailway

7 жыл бұрын

Liam Smith it's all about TFL and political red tape , Blake hall was original built by the great eastern railway back in the day when coal and freight was a vital link to the communities in that area .

@Stubrit

5 жыл бұрын

Blake Hall sounds like a local stately home. Stations were sometimes provided near such homes as a condition of the line being built across the land.

@paulskinner

4 жыл бұрын

Stubrit local is a strong word. It’s well over 2 miles from Blake Hall. Probably 3.

@chrismccartney8668

2 жыл бұрын

Blake Hall I believe had considerable milk transport requirement before we had lorry tankers I think it is Blake Hall that had a milk churn loading area...

Great to take a trip to ongar this afternoon

@Richardsrailway

7 жыл бұрын

Andrew Sutton cab pass included !

Priceless!thank you,being a North Londoner never got the chance to travel on this line,did LT think they had another potential "metroland"on their hands when they had this given to them,sadly if it had stayed in BR(eastern region) would have been a cert for Beeching.

@Richardsrailway

5 жыл бұрын

John Jackson yes correct on all points. Stratford shed loaned LT all the rolling stock And Locomotives up until 1957 , originally the USAF that had operations at North Weald , wanted to pay LT to double track the line , that fell through . When the Loughton bus company cashed in on the closure of Blake hall in 1981 , the writing was on the wall and then it came in September 1994 .

A very interesting video here, enjoyed watching it :) Like Greg Kiteos, I am also a volunteer at the EOR Railway :)

@Richardsrailway

9 жыл бұрын

Paul Williams glad you enjoyed watching,

I love this trip.

I've always wondered what it would be like to continue up the line from Epping through North Weald and into Ongar. I live in the area.

Shame they closed that line due to lack of foresight, could be a gold mine now. My sister-in-law lived in the old station house at Blake Hall. The high pitched electrical hummm reminds me of my journeys as a kid from Wanstead to Oxford St or somewhere else like Heathrow... All on my own aged 12.

Great video

@Richardsrailway

9 жыл бұрын

maz 90 glad you enjoyed it

Wow this is amazing. I have seen this trip before but never with Blake Hall! I counted three stops and thought I was going mad. No one had video cameras in 1980 so I assumed it was from much later.

@Richardsrailway

4 жыл бұрын

Nope , shot a Big video camera June 1980 . The price of a small car equaled the camera.

Ah yes that lovely EP brake, lap the handle for Westinghouse. Nice stop at Blake Hall btw

@Richardsrailway

6 жыл бұрын

Edward Pearce it was ! Right on the sixpence !

Brilliant video. 👏

@Richardsrailway

9 жыл бұрын

Greg Kiteos thank you Greg, not bad considering it was filmed back in 1980 when 100 lux video equipment was very expensive and heavy

@gregkiteos1936

9 жыл бұрын

Wow, how times have changed. My brother and I weren't even born then. I'm a volunteer at the Epping Ongar Railway. We've got the 150th Anniversary gala the weekend after next. Hope you can make it.

@Richardsrailway

9 жыл бұрын

Greg Kiteos , Yes , things sadly are no longer as they were, such as dear old Blake Hall when it was in use, the water tower soon went at Epping about 82/1983 . I would love to volunteer on the EOR , 19 years operational experience on the real railway, I love steam, however being a busy dad, and having few weekends off work wise puts the kybosh on that sadly, at some point this summer when the EOR have an open weekend, I want to try and bring Dennis along in person, I have shown him video and photo's of the line as it has been restored, and as a former driver of the line you have already seen his footage, he is well impressed by the restoration, however his mobility is limited and he is 63 now, be nice to get him down there though

@juansdf1

8 жыл бұрын

+triplevalve metrocammell Hey, wouldn't it be great to be able to see Dennis telling us some anecdotes and some tales and stories about his work in the Underground? I know he wouldn't want to be recorded, and I fully respect that, but still I think it would be awesome to see and listen to the man himself....

@Richardsrailway

8 жыл бұрын

+Juan Sánchez it would, I will ask him , in the meantime you can buy his incredible book '' motorman memoirs '' from ebay which comes with a FREE DVD of the Ongar branch and various jobs he has worked on train wise . message me for more info if you want ?

Thank you so much for such great footage and incredible quality given when it was filmed. I was wondering if there is any way at all I could get hold of a copy of this on DVD? Obviously happy to pay for it and postage etc. Many thanks

MissRiaElaine you can now catch the train to Ongar anytime !

Presumably the train waiting outside Epping is the morning service shuttle for Ongar, as it's only four coaches.

@Richardsrailway

6 жыл бұрын

Geoff Barry yep !

Also now so many houses being built in North Weald (airfield area) and Ongar itself the railway would have a lot more passengers and wouldn't all have to drive to Epping clogging up or drive to Harlow to get into London, sadly what became the central had been intended to extend to Chelmsford.. So many lines closed go to what is commuter belt for example Maldon (2 stations) Dunmow Melton constable and many others now isolated and now we are being ild not to use the car so what is alternative a horse and trap...

I visited Ongar on the tube back i the day. Apparently had scorpions in the toilets (seriously!).

Very therapeutic film this! but at the very end, didn't that driver step on the rails??

@Richardsrailway

6 жыл бұрын

hippynmagic nope . There were foot boards that he stepped down onto

North Seals in my comment just now should read North Weald! Auto-correct can be a pain...

How was this filmed? The quality is astonishing for 1980. Brilliant upload.

@Richardsrailway

7 жыл бұрын

Billy Hicks from the cab on the offside window from "K9" which was a homemade " gadget " that had a swivel plate on top that could be fixed in position . Attached to that was a heavy VHS camera that was state of the art in those days 1980 . The motorman left the camera rolling while he drove , nobody else was up front !

This must have been the most cushy job on the Tube! lol.

@Richardsrailway

22 күн бұрын

Doing the Ongar’s absolutely, you got a longer grub break at Epping instead of having to go to Loughton or Leytonstone for your grub officially, the Loughton crews who had that duty had their meal breaks at Epping . No management to bother you , no busy dusty tunnel sections of central London , it was fun .

@johnallen7807

22 күн бұрын

@@Richardsrailway Lucky you! I grew up in Loughton, remember my father taking the Tube to Liverpool Street every week day. He showed me the invoice for the house he had built after the war, quite a few fields around it, something like £1100 10s 6d lol, current Zoopla £2.7 million! I doubt if many young couples could afford that these days.

Today Blake hall station is completely closed and the central line never ran on this Line again because this section to ongar is now a heritage steam railway

Was the left track out of Epping just a siding ?

@Richardsrailway

7 жыл бұрын

mat2090 , Yes it was a siding , used to either shunt a train or store a tamper in

I take it that the line on the left leaving Epping goes to sidings?

@Richardsrailway

2 жыл бұрын

Yes it’s a long siding that was rarely used

Is this the only single-track Tube line?

@Richardsrailway

Жыл бұрын

Technically no , as the Chesham branch of the Metropolitan line is a single line .As also was the Aldwych shuttle on the Piccadilly line . Both Aldwych and The Ongar branch closed in 1994 .

i wonder if blake hall was the least used station on the underground instead of Roding Valley

@Richardsrailway

6 жыл бұрын

Miles Campbell it was

@MRSPIKE001

4 жыл бұрын

If what I was told was true, just before it was closed it only had six passengers a day.

I have the Video 125 driver's eye view filmed on the Central Line in 1992, just 2 years before the service to Ongar was withdrawn. Even then, 11 years (at the time) after Blake Hall Station closed, the platform and milk Dock was removed and the station building had become a private dwelling

Isnt that a hertitage line now?

@Richardsrailway

2 жыл бұрын

Yes EOR

31:16 No M25 built yet

@Richardsrailway

2 жыл бұрын

Correct .

Dam silly thing closing that line.

For those who gave this a thumbs down vote , what was wrong , and why ?

@FloydPink23

8 жыл бұрын

+triplevalve metrocammell Just as a heads up, this I think is to do with bots (computerised internet trowlers) and not real people downvoting

@davidgriffiths7215

7 жыл бұрын

Either that or random idiots

@johnjackson2044

5 жыл бұрын

@@davidgriffiths7215greed "any thumbs down" for what this person with foresight has achieved is a sad reflection of the times.

man, that branch is empty

nobody seems to have mentioned the double gauged track ? are two of those four tracks electrified, which would make one in the middle, like the early trams ? i couldnt see, any insulators, like on the underground for the third rail ? i never took much interest in electrified trains, their just something, to get you from a to b

@Richardsrailway

6 жыл бұрын

WOLFROY47 double track as far as Epping , there used to be a passing loop at north Weald , during WW2 the US army were going to pay LT to double track all the way to Ongar but it never materialized

@Richardsrailway

6 жыл бұрын

WOLFROY47 there is no double gauge . The outside is the positive conductor rail at 420 volts dc the middle conductor rail at 210 volts dc this 6.30 volts dc traction current which is standard on the whole underground system since 1933

Wonderful video, Blake Hall with Roundels and No M25! It's just after the bridge at 31.23 I believe. Said footbridge appears to be still there according to Google Street View: www.google.com/maps/@51.6834855,0.1084136,3a,45.5y,2.32h,82.79t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgr7Rg9UlCYWXeVh6Ac2-Pg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 It's a shame that they couldn't keep the train in service after Epping - even if it was non stop to Loughton.

Just out of pure interest, what was the single ''thumbs down '' for ? ,

Feel s like you are driving on branch line in the country.

@Richardsrailway

Ай бұрын

Very much so. That was the unique charm of the Ongar branch compared to the dusty dark tunnel sections of the central London sections ,

Did these trains have asbestos in them ?

@Richardsrailway

6 жыл бұрын

Tom Jardine nope !

@Richardsrailway

6 жыл бұрын

Tom Jardine none whatsoever. Built to last