Blake Hall tube station
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Epping-ongar_branch.png
Blake Hall tube station is a closed London Underground station in Essex, between North Weald and Ongar.
It was first opened by the Eastern Counties Railway on 1 April 1865, serving principally as a goods station taking agricultural produce from the nearby farms into central London. Steam locomotives operated by British Rail for the Underground ran a shuttle service from Epping to Ongar (stopping at Blake Hall) from 1949 to 1957, when the line was electrified and taken over by the Underground's Central Line.
The station subsequently attracted a reputation as the least used on the entire Underground (not surprisingly, as it was located a considerable distance from any settlements). By the time of its closure on 31 October 1981, the station was reported to have only six passengers a day. The entire Epping to Ongar branch was closed 13 years later, on 30 September 1994. Blake Hall station still exists (converted into a private home), as does the now very rusty line passing it, but its platforms were demolished some years ago.
External links
- Epping-Ongar Line (part 2) (http://www.pendar.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Tube/OngarBranch2.html)