As usual I decided to make a weekend of it by visiting somewhere of railway interest on my was to this year's Zedex 2017 convention. My original plan was to film the Cotswold Express steam railtour with a GWR Castle 4-6-0 in charge but convoluted engineering works on the great Western main line led to it being cancelled. So I decided to revisit the scenic Dean Forest line in Gloucestershire instead. A preserved railway I last called in at in 1988 so i expected it to had moved on a bit since then! The line runs from the Great Western line at Lydney Junction up into the historic forest passing through the lines HQ at Norchard and terminating at Parkend. Power for the days train was Great Western Railway 45XX 2-6-2T no 5541. With its typical GWR styling including the brass top feed and taper boiler this is one of quite a few survivors of the class. After a lot of shunting delayed the first trains departure we finally left Norchard heading to Parkend from Norchard high level station there is a view over the yard At Parkend there is a panoramic view from the footbridge The return trip to Lydney junction is bunker first as there are no turning facilities at either end more soon Kev
There are interesting locos lurking everywhere. Class 25 D7633 looks like a major restoration project In much better nick is a classic 08 shunter painted in the classic BR Brunswick green livery. 08 769 has been named 'Gladys' The line is home to a few of the classic 'Austerity' 0-6-0STs. The sturdy Hunslet designed tank engines were built in huge numbers for the war department during WW2 and are a firm favourite with the operation departments on preserved railways due to their relative simplicity and big haulage power 'Swiftsure' was built in 1943 as WD 75008 and is preserved in Army livery
Many other U.K loco builders were roped into churning out Austerities. The famous firm of Robert Stephenson and Hawthorn built 'Rennes' in 1944 and it is finished in the colour scheme of the Longmoor Military railway Production carried on long after the war and Wilbert, a Hunslet built project of 1953 is currently undergoing boiler work I took a particular interest in this small Hunslet 0-4-0DH, a sister engine to one we have at work. There is a growing renaissance in the fortunes of the first generation DMUs that swamped British railways as part of the Modernisation programme. Widely held to be one of the main culprits for the end of steam on BR they were not well liked by rail enthusiasts but a growing number are being restored and operated on heritage lines. The Dean Forest has a nice set Derby works built this in example in 1958 and has been finished with the classic 'Cats Whiskers' scheme Kev
The video concentrates on 5541 in action along the line with a few scenic shots of the historic forest on the way. The distinctive bark of these little prairie tanks is evident as if fights its way uphill I'm at Hartlepool model railway exhibition this weekend with republic Steel so I'll try and find somewhere interesting on the way Kev
