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Heritage Railway Opinion - 19 January 2012

There was the now-defunct North Woolwich Old Station Museum, and we still have the stalwarts of the GWR Preservation Group persevering with Southall Railway Centre, and the excellent – though static – London Transport Museum at Covent Garden. Yet while the railway operational revivalist movement throughout the provinces has grown from strength to strength over the years – just look at the record receipts from many lines’ Santa specials this winter – the capital city is missing out on a piece of the action.

In 2012 that will all change.

It is hoped that during the summer the golden spike will be driven in Imberhorne Cutting linking the Bluebell Railway back to the national network for the first time in 49 years, making it easily daytrippable by public transport.

Secondly, on the north side of the metropolis but much closer to home, the Epping Ongar Railway, an outfit that has until now struggled somewhat to get off the ground because of complex reasons, is now set to relaunch itself big time.

Gone are the days of redundant Finnish locomotives and old tube stock lined up uselessly at Ongar station while a red DMU offers rides for a handful of visitors.

Owner Roger Wright and his crew have wiped the slate clean – and not only has he completely refurbished the line, track station buildings and signalling, but has now bought two Great Western locomotives to run over it, in no less than Pitchford Hall and prairie No. 4141.

In doing so he has opened up an exciting new vista packed with an endless amount of possibilities – an operational steam railway with connecting bus link that can be accessed via London Underground.

I visited the line in early January and the standard of work that has been – and is being – carried out, is simply breathtaking. Classic station buildings restored to their original Great Eastern glory, both inside and out. Platforms being rebuilt.

Sidings and passing loops reinstated. Signalboxes brought back on line with original equipment.

This is no longer a budget revivalist scheme making the best of a line that just happened to be there, but a full-blown top-flight steam railway all set to start running in a few months’ time. Forget the false hopes under previous regimes – there really is every reason why it should be London’s own answer to the Keighley & Worth Valley and South Devon railways, even though it has come nearly half a century after both.

Roger has backed the revival with a serious amount of money, business acumen and heritage transport experience. Now it is up to the rest of the movement to back him to the hilt.

After the first phase of the line is ready by midsummer, there are endless possibilities for add-on attractions and special events, in some beautiful countryside that could be a million miles away from suburbia but is right on its doorstep.

And before anyone starts whinging about GWR engines running on a GER line, there is an excellent well-established new-build project to construct an F5 2-4-2T, a type synonymous with the Ongar branch before it was electrified – so cheques there please, and no complaints here.

We will be closely following the progress of the ‘new’ Epping Ongar Railway during the months ahead, and rest assured, there will be more momentous announcements in due course.

Elsewhere, I am, like many others, also delighted to see Duchess of Sutherland, a locomotive that has always been close to my heart, emerge in BR green, if only for a comparatively short spell.

We acknowledge the right of a locomotive owner to paint it in any colour that they wish. If, however, I am asked by the selfsame owner for my opinion, it is that unless original paintwork is lost in the process, it is that we should strive to be the broadest church possible, and ring in regular livery changes to suit all eras and tastes in accordance with market demands.

The Tornado builders have got it right, with four changes in its first 10 years: in doing so, they will, I believe, continue to be market leaders, generating a fresh round of publicity with every relivery.

Robin Jones
Editor