MEMORIES of railways in and around the district are being sought by a group that is restoring an historic line.

The volunteers who are restoring the Epping Ongar Railway are setting up a museum at one of the line’s stations, in Ongar.

They are looking for people who remember working or travelling on the old line, which was part of the Tube network until 1994 and was once served by steam trains.

Simon Hanney, the group’s secretary, said it was also looking for the memories of former workers at the depot in Stratford, on the site of the Olympic stadium that served the line and other routes, including the mainline route to Chelmsford.

He said: “Stratford had a large locomotive works where they used to service all the steam engines and where many of the crews would have been based.

“The special milk trains used to come up through Epping and down the line to Stratford where it would be broken up and sent to London.”

The district was originally connected to London by rail in 1856, when Eastern Counties Railway opened a line between Stratford and Loughton.

A single-track extension between Loughton and Ongar was opened in 1865, when about 50 trains would run between London and Loughton every day, with 22 going as far as Epping and 14 carrying on to Ongar.

The Central Line of the Underground reached Loughton in 1948 and a shuttle service, operated by steam trains continued between Loughton and Ongar, with another loop installed in North Weald in 1949, when the Central line was extended to Epping.

The line was converted so trains could run on electric in the 1950s, but passenger numbers started declining from the 1970s and the line was closed in 1994.

Volunteers working for the Epping Ongar Railway have restored most of the stations and track along the railway’s route and hope to be able to run some steam and diesel services in the near future.

Mr Hanney said the group was looking for anyone with memories of the railway, or people with memories from their parents or grandparents.

“So far, we’ve had a former signalman who allowed us to record a conversation with him about what it was like to work at Ongar signal box,” he said.

“Somebody has also emailed us and told us the story of when they got the steam engine from Ongar to Epping during snow.

“The Tube line had stopped because of the weather, but the steam trains were still going backwards and forwards.”

When the station is complete, he hopes enthusiasts and school groups will be able to ride on one of the restored trains and learn about the history of the railway in the museum.

Anyone who would like to share their memories of the railways should call Mr Hanney on 01277 365 200.

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