The Penny Salon in the former Ladies Waiting Room at Ongar station on the Epping Ongar is, we believe the only photo gallery operating on a heritage railway. Run by EOR volunteers Malcolm Batten and Geoff Silcock. we produce 3-4 exhibitions a year plus smaller ‘pop-up’ displays to tie in with main events on the railway, using both our own photographs and archive material.
We plan to mount an exhibition ‘200 years of British railway locomotives’ as part of the Railway 200 celebrations, featuring photographs of classic designs from the Locomotion replica to the latest Hitachi Azuma trains. One part of this will be a section on ‘The quest for speed’ with significant milestone locomotives such as Rocket, City of Truro, Flying Scotsman, and Mallard.
The Epping Ongar Railway is also celebrating its 160 years anniversary in 2025, having opened in 1865. We will also be mounting an exhibition on the railway’s history from its opening by the Great Eastern Railway to its closure as part of the London Underground Central Line in 1994, and subsequent history to reopening in its present form in 2012.
The dates of these exhibitions are yet to be finalised, as the railway’s operating dates and programme for 2025 has not yet been decided.
The Penny Salon is open whenever the railway is open, with free admission and usually staffed by one or both of the curators.