Chingford railway station
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Chingford Station stands on the edge of Epping Forest, serving the town and the daytrip destinations in the forest it was intended to conquer. With the first station in Chingford built in 1873, the Eastern Counties Railway had begun its venture into a main line railway that would head north to compete with the Great Northern. Limited funds and incessantly squabbling had slowed its progress to the point where it barely managed to complete a single line to Chingford.
Renewed interest as part of the Great Eastern Railway pushed the compnay to forge ahead and in 1878 the little station that had served the village so well and had been perfecly placed near to the village green, was replaced by a much more grandiose station on the very edge of town, overlooking the forest. The extension of the railway by only 500 metres to a place far less useful to the local population was nothing more than an assault on the environs of the forest to assure the railway its position as a main line to the North. The rail line had been doubled and the new station built as a through station, with its platforms and tracks leading out onto an embankment ready to leap across the newly named 'Station Road' and enter the forest.
Alas, delayed action on the part of the railway left this truncated main line hanging in mid air for too long. The railway itself by means of its positioning had fostered new interest in the forest as a trip destination and the popularity of this crown land and its impending loss to development was not unnoticed. In 1882 none other than Queen Victoria herself came by train to Chingford to declare the forest open to the public forever. The railway that had encouraged so much interest and carried the royal party to the very edge of town was now stumped as any new development on the forest lands would be strictly controlled.
Chingford station became a commuter terminal and was eventually truncated to make way for a bus station. The line no longer towers over the forest, but hides quietly behind the bustle of Station Road, its electric trains now tranporting workers into the city, rather than helping the masses to escape it.
The station building is relatively unchanged since its 1878 construction, and still carries a shadow of the grandeur that accompanied the railway schemes of the late 19th century. At least it has been saved and performs a useful service to the community. And perhaps it is better to be the grand terminus of a short commuter trip than a wayside station on a line to nowhere.
The next station on the line towards Liverpool Street is Highams Park.
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