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Volunteering Page
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As with most privately owned, Preserved/Heritage railways the backbone of the workforce is invariably its volunteers. The Epping Ongar Railway is no exception, with a small but dedicated volunteer core working on Sundays (running days) and also Saturdays and mid-week. We are a friendly group of both men and women enjoying our time spent on the railway and are eager to expand not only our numbers, but also the skills amongst our volunteers. We are always looking to meet and welcome new volunteers in many different areas of railway work: At the moment we have a major signalling project in the pipeline as well as some much needed maintenance on the track. Additionally volunteers with experience of driving (both Steam and Diesel) are in demand and with a works train to look after and carriages to maintain the Carriage and Wagon Department will always be a busy place. Other station maintenance jobs include cleaning, retail assistance, catering, gardening and many more. Perhaps you are a jack of all trades, if so there are plenty of jobs to be done; Bricking, Plastering, Plumbing, Carpentry, Painting, or would you prefer a more administrative job; Porter, Guard, Station Master, general platform staff or perhaps some fund raising or marketing. Why not join us?If your volunteering instincts and love of railways have been stirred by anything you have read here and would like either some more information or a volunteer form, then please contact Malcolm Hills on 07879 401148 or by email malcolmhills@talk21.com. Alternatively come along to the railway on any given Sunday and join in.
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Bob Sell
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Volunteer Coordinator As volunteer coordinator it's my job to make sure that volunteers are doing the jobs that they want to do. At the railway we are keen to let volunteers see all the department heads to discuss what jobs would be best for each individual. I also need to make sure that the relevant track safety certificates are up to date and that volunteers are aware of health and safety matters. Bob |
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Permanent Way A well-maintained and engineered Permanent Way is essential to the smooth running of the railway. We are at present looking to increase our Permanent Way staff to cope with the ever-increasing work in this field. P. Way can be hard work but very rewarding, working within a team on items such as track replacement and alignment, sleeper replacement, fishplate greasing, ballasting, fencing, bridge repair, foliage and weed control, litter patrols and many more ongoing tasks. Bill |
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Mechanical Engineering Responsible for the restoration and maintenance of the train fleet. |
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Train Crew Manager Without a driver and a guard - there would be no trains! And without a Loco and Guards Manager we wouldn't know who was guarding and who was driving. The manager also has to ensure that the trains crews training and certificates are up to date. Steve |
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Signalling This small but enthusiastic and friendly department is looking for new members, both skilled and unskilled, and offers interesting and challenging work both indoors and outdoors. We restoring and installing railway signalling along the branch, including work on the original 1888 GER signalbox at North Weald (complete with 21 lever fame), and working on “ground frames” to control the layout at Ongar. The work is very varied and ranges from basic DIY (priming, painting, woodwork), to mechanical systems (working on lever frames, interlocking, point operation rodding, semaphore signals) to electrical (track circuits, colour lights, route locking) and of course electromechanical. Although anyone with relevant skills is especially welcome, you only need to share our enthusiasm, a moderate ability at DIY and enjoy a good cuppa to become involved! Full training is given and we are a very welcoming and motivated team. Age is not important, although for safety reasons there are some jobs unsuitable for younger members and as many of the jobs are safety critical we are careful to work to a good standard of workmanship. There is NO minimum commitment, and some items are small enough to be taken home to be worked on in your garage / shed if you prefer to work ad-hoc. I look forward to welcoming you to the team. Simon |
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Electrics Maintenance of the exiting electrical components in the station buildings, signal box and on board the train. This department will also be involved in future projects where electrical installations are required. Brian |
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Carriage and Wagon Responsible for restoring and running repairs of our vintage carriage and goods rolling stock, including carpentry and metalwork, upholstery, painting and sign-writing to ensure our passengers have both inviting coaches and comfortable seats but also our departments have usable support vehicles as we work towards achieving the railway's goals. We have a covered workshop facility at Ongar which is being improved during 2008 - all help gratefully received. |
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Gardens and Lineside The Gardens and Lineside Team are responsible for all the planting and maintainance of flower beds, baskets and pots at the stations. They are also responsible for trackside foliage clearance which is a huge but essential task to enable the safe running of trains. The team meet regularly to maintain the upkeep of the station and track environment and always welcome new volunteers. Eddie |
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Contact:07956 814787 |
Retail There is one shop premises at North Weald called 'The Goods Shed'. We stock a slection of EOR mechanise as well as books, DVDs/videos and railway souvenirs. There is also a good selection of Thomas gifts. Sales are also made at Ongar station where long term plans include building a purpuse built shop. Volunteers are always welcome - no previous experience necessary -as well as donations of transport related books.
Aidan |
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Contact:07875 568676 |
Catering We have two tea rooms - the main one being 'The Buffer Stop' at Ongar, and the other 'The Passing Loop' at North Weald. We serve hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, cakes and a variety of snacks. In the summer months we stock ice cream. On gala days there is a barbeque fired-up offering passengers sausages, burgers and a vegetarian option. On board the train real ale (including the railway's very own 'Cripsey Brook Ale'), wine and soft drinks are on sale. It is our plan to have a purpose built bar area established in the Guard's Van in the near future. If you are interested in volunteering in catering why not come along to Ongar, or drop me a line or email. You don't need previous experience in the catering trade and we'd love to meet new people. If we can get more volunteers on board then we can develop the catering services further to offer more variety to the visiting public. Looking forward to hearing from you. Penny |
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Safety Note:
We at the Epping Ongar Railway are very aware of the environment in which we operate and will endeavour to maintain our Eco system and its balance with nature. It is with this in mind we try our hardest whenever possible, not to disturb the wildlife that resides along our railway, which maintains a balance of co-existence for all of us to enjoy.
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