Eastern Counties Railway

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The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was an English railway company which began operating on 20 June 1839 with a train service running from a temporary terminus at Mile End to Romford. The line was extended the following year to a new London terminus at Shoreditch (later renamed Bishopsgate) and the line was subsequently extended to cover the 51 miles between London and Colchester.

The ECR tracks were originally set to a gauge of five feet but between September and October 1844 the gauge was converted to standard gauge (4′8½″). At the same time the associated Northern & Eastern Railway was also converted.

In 1846, the ECR was linked to the Eastern Union Railway at Colchester and in 1862 the two companies amalgamated along with a number of other East Anglian railways to form the Great Eastern Railway.

The ECR is notable as the first company to utilise a two-wheel pony truck in 1859, using the design of American inventor Levi Bissell.

[edit] References

• The Railway Year Book, 1912