So I braved the depths of Essex and Regal Busways to ride the EOR
service from Ongar to North Weald and back.

My verdict: worth at least one return ride (4GBP for adult all-day
return), if for no other reason than the novelty.

The class 117 DMU they were running (formed from two vehicles, a DMS
and a DMBS) was in relatively good condition, considering its age; it
seemed to have no trouble running at the current linespeed of 16mph,
and its horn worked perfectly fine. It was the first time I ever rode
a Mk1 slammer railcar.

Ongar and North Weald are in a rather worn state; the platforms at
both stations are serviceable, but beyond that the lack of
maintenance, undoubtedly inherited from TfL and the line's enforced
limbo, is apparent. Interestingly, the old two-aspect station starter
and single-aspect inner home at Ongar are still extant, though
stripped of most of the interesting bits - the line is currently
worked using the token-based 'one train in steam' principle, with the
token being the brake controller handle.....

The P-Way was OK, albeit restricted in two places to 10mph running due
to poor rail alignment, and festooned with broken and discarded power
rail insulators, some still upright and empty. I spoke to one of the
volunteers on the return trip from North Weald, who stated that the
EOR, with the assistance of a Network Rail P-Way engineer, had plans
to improve the P-Way to permit 25mph running. Fortunately the bridges
and embankments are in excellent condition; one can see that the ECR
wanted to leave no major obstacles if the line were to be doubled ;-)

I was talking to someone else who stated that a platform at Epping was
still vapourware; to make up for this, the group has a rather nice
RTL-class Routemaster, painted British racing green and bearing the
code RTL1256, which they intend to run between Epping LU and North
Weald for onward connections.

In my honest opinion, the EOR is worth a look.