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The Editors, DFR Magazine
Dean Forest Railway Society
Norchard Forest Road, Lydney, GL15 4ET
This issue has been edited and produced by a team of volunteers and Trustees of the Society.
Laid out in Adobe InDesign & printed by Solopress.com.
Copy Deadline
Please send your reports, letters, comments, photographs and any other content for Issue 72 by, at the absolute latest: 1st August 2025
Front Cover: Charlie Kyte was able to capture this scene on-shed at Norchard – Uskmouth 1 and Pannier 9681 sit over the illuminated inspection pit whilst Prairie 5541 waits its turn for overhaul behind.
Rear Cover: Martyn Normanton was on hand for the arrival of two of the eight ex-MOD "VANWIDE" box vans before being restored at Lydney Junction. A full write-up will be in the next issue!
All DFR Society post (donations, membership renewals and general correspondence) should be sent to: DFRS Honorary Secretary (Mrs. S. Williams) 109 Victoria Street Cinderford Gloucestershire GL14 2HU
From the Editors
Dear Society Members,
Here we are again, and first of all we would like to take the opportunity to re-iterate that we are on the lookout for willing volunteers for vacant roles within the Charity:
• Publicity Officer
• Social Media Lead
• Fundraising Lead
These are roles that are currently filled on a part-time basis by the Trustees. We would be interested in hearing from anyone that would be willing to assist, and perhaps even lead a team on a more regular basis. You do not necessarily need to become a Trustee in order to get involved! Our thanks must go to Doug Johnson who has stepped forward to help keep our website ticking over!
As always, the magazine (and the website) rely on content being submitted. We cannot publish what we aren't given, and we have refused to publish one or two on the basis that were provided with just a series of bullet points...
We try to prioritise time-bound articles (relating to current events or anniversaries), leaving as little as possible on the cutting-room floor. However, we do hope to publish a few timeless articles soon, as some have been dropped multiple times at the detriment to those contributors.
The fact that we have to hold articles over would make you think that we have a large supply of content ready to go. In actual fact, it is the opposite and we are not guaranteed to what we will have until the deadline day!
We’ve chalked up the copy dates for the coming year, the plan is that the magazine is published during the following month (please do allow for major events and holidays)!
The remaining deadlines for 2025 are as follows:
• Issue 72, copy date: 1st August
• Issue 73, copy date: 31st October
To maintain the standard that you have grown to know and love – we use the same fonts, sizes, and styles throughout:
• Title: Clarendon Blk BT, size 36pt
(Please note – the page title is limited to nineteen characters)
• Body: Gill Sans MT, size 11pt
(Or the default font in your software, size 11pt)
Images need to be of a high quality, with enough area around the edges to allow them to be safely cropped. Please, if you're unsure or any need advice, do get in touch!
Letters to the Editors should be sent either by email to magazine@deanforestrailway.co.uk or by post to the DFRS Honorary Secretary. As always, we value your support, and we remain dedicated to keeping you informed and connected within railway family.
With best wishes
Adam W, Ian & Tim
Your editorial team
Left to Right: Adam Williams, Tim McLennan, Alastair Clarke, Alex Davies, Adam Dickinson, Ian Pope
Society News
Vice Chair of the Dean Forest Railway Society, Adam Williams gives a brief update from the Society.
Firstly, one piece of news I was unable to shoehorn into Issue 70 was that Hilary Mary "Britt" Allcroft sadly passed away on 25th December 2024, eleven days after her 81st birthday. Even though she was an established writer and voice actor in her own right, she is probably best known as the creator of the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends television series, which first aired in October 1984.
Almost ten years after that first airing, in August 1994, Christopher Awdry published Wilbert the Forest Engine as Book No. 38 of The Railway Series. Only four more books would be produced as part of the series after that, with the final one published in July 2011.
That television series, the books on which it was based, and those that followed have inspired a generation of children. This, in turn, led many parents to feel compelled to visit yet another heritage railway just for the ride – even if it wasn’t a full Day Out With Thomas-style event!
It’s amazing what memories we hold. I can still vividly recall listening to episodes of The Railway Series on a 1986-built Toshiba stereo radio cassette recorder while sitting at the breakfast bar in my grandparents’ kitchen. The stories, which had been aired on the radio (in memory of Willie Rushton, who passed away in December 1996), had been recorded onto cassette for me. At the time, blank tapes were given away with packets of Solvite wallpaper paste!
Anyway, I digress. During 2024, not only did the story of Wilbert the Forest Engine turn thirty years old, but Accurascale approached the Awdry family to seek their blessing to produce a 1:76.2 scale (OO gauge) model of the locomotive bearing Wilbert's name. It was suggested at that time that the funds raised from the sales of the model could then be donated towards the real locomotive.
The Awdry family were enthusiastic about the idea, so Accurascale began "commercial-in-confidence" discussions with us. We obtained quotations for a nonoperational, cosmetic overhaul, and with those confirmed it was agreed that, after this restoration, Wilbert would be placed in a suitable, prominent position at Norchard. Interpretation boards would also be produced to tell the story of Wilbert – both the man and the locomotive – and to welcome (and inspire) our future guests and visitors.
After having purchased other models from Accurascale, and seeing the pre-production models of Wilbert, it is fair to say that they have done a sterling job! Right down to the vacuum brake pipe running along the saddle tank.
• Hunslet Engine Company No. 3806 "Wilbert"
Product ID Retail Price Model Variant
ACC3105
ACC3115
£149.95 DC Only (DCC Ready)
£249.95 DCC Sound Fitted
So where can I buy one, you might ask?
Accurascale released the exclusive model on 12th May, it was no coincidence that this also marked the eightieth anniversary of the publication of The Three Railway Engines, the first book in The Railway Series. However, both variants of the model (which were available for pre-order) had completely sold out after only one week!
Above: The complete range of Hunslet Austerity saddle tanks.
Below Left: The detailed cab, with its fixtures and fittings.
Below: In profile, with etched works plates and nameplates! (Photos: F. Burke)
I know that I am not alone in being surprised when it comes to seeing the reception that these models have received. For those that missed out – in the standard release from Accurascale there is also a model of Warrior (complete with the locally-made Giesl ejector that it received at whilst at Bickershaw Colliery near Leigh, Lancashire).
For those wishing to pre-order, you can do so through www.accurascale.com or any reputable model retailer. It must be noted however that we will not be receiving any funds from the sale of the variants of the Warrior model. All of the Hunslet Austerity saddle tanks that are being produced by Accurascale are (at the time of writing) due to arrive during the summer of 2026.
• Hunslet Engine Company No. 3823 "Warrior"
Product ID Retail Price Model Variant
ACC3108
ACC3118
£149.95 DC Only (DCC Ready)
£249.95 DCC Sound Fitted
For anyone who pre-ordered an exclusive model (or one of standard range that are still available), they would make an excellent stable-mate for a Swindon-built pannier tank! In fact, rewind to November 2023, and in the week preceding the Warley NEC exhibition, Accurascale announced a range of GWR pannier tanks. Those models (which include 9681) are expected during autumn 2025.
Above: "Warrior" forms part of the standard release range of Hunslet Austerity saddle tanks from Accurascale.
Below: The model of 9681, this earlier range included three other preserved engines (7714, 7752 as L94, and 7754). (Photos: F. Burke)
Moving away from 1:76.2 scale and back to 1:1 scale, as detailed in Issue 69 Andrew Barclay works No.2221 is in the Blueline building. Since the last update, it has been stripped and is now undergoing a ground-up rebuild.
The wheel-sets are currently at the Flour Mill in Bream as the axle journals need to be turned, whilst our volunteers continue to work on the bottom-end of the locomotive.
Volunteers require materials to keep them going, but the biggest costs are likely to be the boiler with the need for specialist welding. We estimate that £30,000 is needed to complete the engine to the same standard as Uskmouth!
Below: The running plate now re-attached to the frames.
If you want to help the team in keeping this project moving forward, there are many ways that you can donate to us:
• Online (via Paypal and Zoho/Paypal)
You can make a general donation online via Paypal using bit.ly/DFRSociety-Donate alternatively if you wish to donate to a specific project online via Paypal, please use bit.ly/DFRSociety-FundMe
• Text to Donate
You can donate £10 by texting DFRS to 70191. Donations are processed and administered by the National Funding Scheme, operating as DONATE, a charity registered in England and Wales (1149800) and Scotland (SC045106). In addition to any donation, you will incur your standard message charge (based on your service provider rates). For Terms & Conditions, see: www.easydonate.org
• Cash, cheques and bank transfers
We are happy to receive donations directly. If you would like to donations to us by post, please address them to:
Alternatively, if you would like to transfer funds to us directly via BACS, our details are as follows:
Sort Code: 30-91-87, Account number: 01931161
DFLG Dialogue
John Metherall updates on the goings on of the DFLG following their Annual General Meeting.
Twenty-two members attended the AGM of the DFLG which took place at Norchard on Saturday 26th April, with further twelve sending their apologies for their absence
Matt Sexton expanded on his Chairman’s report which had been previously circulated to members, reporting that:
• GWR Prairie 5541
On December 31st 2024 the engine reached the end of its boiler ticket, after completing twenty-five thousand miles.
The final trip was celebrated by three generations of the Phelps family providing the whole locomotive crew.
• BR (GW) Pannier Tank 9681
The engine is working well in its third year of service after overhaul. However, it was damaged when it hit a rather large fallen tree during the winter storms, but swift repairs enabled it to stay in service with minimal down time.
• BR (GW) Pannier Tank 9682
The restoration of the locomotive is progressing well with most parts acquired, and the bunker is nearing completion.
The new cylinder block is expected to arrive in the summer but it will need at least six months outside to weather before any machining can commence.
• GWR Toad Brake Van 17448
The steelwork and cabin woodwork are now complete. Also a complete set of lamps have also now been sourced.
• Collett Third Coach 5863
The coach has been purchased from the Society for a nominal £1 but it is in a poor condition. Urgent work to stabilise it is needed, and it is currently being cleared out. The current plan is to use part of it as a woodworking space and the former sleeping compartments for additional storage for both the Sales coach and the Saloon.
• Hawksworth Saloon
The group is pleased to announce that it is now the proud owner of the Saloon having completed the acquisition of all the privately owned shares. Many thanks to all of the shareholders for their cooperation in achieving this event.
An operating agreement was reached with the Company, and it entered service in April following an external repaint. It will be present on many service trains throughout the year apart from the school holidays when we hope to renew the carpet and carry out other internal improvements.
Anne Hayes has also been busy recruiting and training stewards in anticipation of the many visitors who wish to experience this rare form of luxury travel.
• Sales Coach
This is a major source of income for the group with gross sales exceeding £26,000. Accounts show a net figure of over £16,000 as some Retail Gift Aid sales income is reallocated as a donation for 9682. Martin Hillier has asked for more volunteers to help man the coach.
• Nameplates
Bernard Baldwin could no longer continue his work to support the group as he is now housebound after a stroke. He has kindly sold us all his woodworking tools which are now in storage on site. The group sent him good wishes and grateful thanks, whilst some members visited him to keep him abreast of developments on the railway.
• Website
Tracy Garrad continues to update the website and assist Hilary Hill in keeping the list of items for sale updated. Grateful thanks were extended to Hilary and her team for their achievements.
• Examined Accounts
These were circulated prior to the meeting and showed that the principal sources of income are steaming fees and shop sales. The net profit for the year was £34,268 with most of the expenditure being on 9682.
Ian Beaton, who passed away earlier this year, had been the only DFLG treasurer. Sincere condolences had been sent to his family with gratitude for his capable handling of the funds. The accounts were approved unanimously.
The election of trustees followed with Christopher Hill as scrutineer. Hilary Hill, Tom Halford, and Ian Fawcett were re-elected, and Stephen Hawkins, Ian Hatton, and Tracy Garrad were elected for the first time. Stephen Hawkins is willing to take on the role as Treasurer during the year, whilst Ian Hatton will assist John Metherall with his duties.
Following the meeting the Chairman invited members to join him and Tom Halford in the workshop for a guided tour of the current projects.
Above: Some of the damage sustained to 9681 included bent guard irons, ATC battery box, and injector pipework... (E. Freeman)
Below: The repainted Inspection Saloon on the 27th March. (B. Thomas)
Opposite Page: The storm damaged tree that 9681 collided with and had to be cut free from during a Santa Special. (A. Williams)
DMU Group Update
• Railway 200
The DMU group are representing the DFR as part of the Railway 200 celebrations. The Tuesday DMU services that operate during the peak summer season will run under the title of “Forest Flyer 200”. A commemorative headboard has been produced for these operating days.
We are currently planning a display in the buffet area of M56492, which will provide information on Railway 200, the history of the DFR, our heritage railcars, and the role of railways today. There will be activities for children too, making it a good family day out!
• E50619
Work to repair the rear end of E50619 continued with lots of cutting, grinding and welding work needed to repair the steel frame. As well as the lower sections, some of the framework below the windows and at the top of the vehicle was badly corroded and needed replacement steelwork.
There was a bit of a setback when it was found that the new aluminium end did not fit as expected, however the team soon devised a plan to overcome this. It involved making a plywood template for the top, then using this to help shape the new metalwork. By the end of April most of the required adjustments had been made and the aluminium was close to fitting.
• M56492
Tony Soughton has been working inside the vehicles carrying out repairs to his usual high standards. With the vehicles outside in all weather conditions leaks and condensation cause damage to the ceiling and side panels so a lot of Tony’s work has been repairing or replacing these. His recent work has been in the buffet area of M56492 in preparation for the running season.
Servicing and inspection work has been done on M51914 and M56492 to ensure these vehicles are fit to run.
• Support Us
The group would like to buy a scissor lift to make working on the sides and roof of vehicles easier and safer. Suitable machines are expected to cost about £4,000 so we would very much appreciate any donations to assist with this.
If you would like to receive more information through our newsletters then annual membership of our group is available for £8.00 for Adults or £6.00 for Senior Citizens, we would welcome your support. If you would like to know more about our DMUs or perhaps even join our friendly team of volunteers, there is normally someone at Norchard on most Wednesdays – so come along for a look around and a chat. Otherwise please do not hesitate to get in touch via dmugroup@deanforestrailway.co.uk –we’d love to hear from you.
Alan Pace gives an update on Railway 200, the ongoing work on vehicle E50619 and route maintenance. You
• Donations
Any donations towards the scissor lift and our ongoing work would be gratefully received by Bank Transfer to:
Dean Forest DMU Fund
Sort code: 30 – 99 – 78
Account No.: 00724630
For details on other ways to support us, please get in touch!
Opposite Page: Tony Soughton undertakes some repairs to the buffet area of M56492 on 27th April.
(A. Pace)
Right The aluminium end fitted to E50619 on 16th April.
(C. Walker)
Below: Richard Thomasson, Rich Arthur and Chris Blakemore are quite rightfully looking pleased with their work!
(R. Thomasson)
Beneath Your Wheels
Alex Davies reflects on the winter work, and looks towards the remainder of the year.
Now where was I? Oh yes, Lydney Junction at the beginning of February. Well, it’s now the end of April and time for a further update on the team’s progress.
Work replacing the life expired timbers at Lydney Junction continued throughout February. The weather gods were, for the most part, kind to us and we were able to complete our work on schedule without needing to work extra days.
A total of sixty-five life expired sleepers and point timbers were replaced between the end of January and the end of February. Some of the timbers were so bad that they disintegrated and had to be shovelled out!
Some of the others, whilst they are beyond their useful life on the railway, are available for use in gardens and elsewhere in exchange for a suitable donation.
With the track back in place, ballast packed, track circuits reconnected and points working, the line was handed back to operations on March 3rd. A final day of work on the other side of the level crossing then saw us replacing some sleepers in 17B point, around the platform access path.
With the Lydney Junction work handed back we had a few days to inspect the line before the start of the running season. Flange greasers were filled up, keys knocked back in and fishplates tightened along the length of the line.
Our regular line walks resumed with the south end of the line being inspected on March 10th and the north end on March 20th. These line walks are a staple part of the Permanent Way activities and are relatively light work.
During the running season, two weeks per month are usually given over to these inspections, and a team of three or four, are often accompanied by Daisy, our team mascot.
Above: A rainbow followed one of the storms towards the end of February, as witnessed from the shelter of the tool van!
Opposite Page: Changing the last of the timbers in February. (Photos: A. Davies)
These groups take a walk over the course of a few hours with hammers and spanners over part of the line (either Norchard and Parkend or Norchard and Lydney Junction).
Even though the walks are not always downhill, a few hours might seem long but we check every fishplate bolt and chair key and we look for faults from dipped joints to missing signage and from stiff hand points to wet beds.
It was wet beds that drew our attention at Parkend when we arrived there around lunchtime on March 20th. Despite the unseasonally dry weather we found large amounts of water on the track bed on the southern approach to the station. Test digs revealed flowing water which, initially at least, suggested leaking pipes. But the water wasn’t coming from pipes, it was seeping out from under retaining walls.
The extensive drainage system at Parkend should have been coping with the ground water but it clearly wasn’t. We dug a few ‘grips’ to direct the water into the drains but a full month later it was still flowing in several places.
Parkend station has always historically suffered from ground water issues but the situation is getting worse and we have now commissioned a full camera survey of the drains, most of which are a century or more old. This preparatory work, which should be carried out in late May, will help us understand the condition of the current drainage system and will be the first step on a review and, ultimately, a long overdue upgrade of the drainage.
In early April the focus moved back to a long overdue job at the Lydney Junction, replacing ten life expired timber sleepers at the Gloucester end of Platform 1.This was part of work originally started in the autumn of 2019 but put on hold due to other priorities. The COVID lock-down then intervened and it somehow dropped off the radar. Now, with the aid of the new 8-tonne excavator and an enthusiastic, if small, group of volunteers, we were able to lift out the track, grade the bed, replace the old sleepers with concrete ones, re-ballast and pack the section in just over two working days. Even though the ballasting of this section (which included the creation of a ballast shoulder on the run round point) proved to be a lot more of a challenge than we originally had anticipated it would be! The ballast was originally loaded in October for use at Middle Forge (during the drainage and relay works) but was not used. Over the course of the winter, the dust set like concrete and when the hopper doors opened nothing came out... A ballast drop that, on a good day, would have taken fifteen minutes ended up taking two hours and a lot of work with bars and shovels to break it up.
In the run up to Easter work started on dismantling the up siding at Parkend. This siding has been out of use for some years and the point timbers on the point that leads into it are life expired. The plan is to remove the siding over the course of the summer, redeploying the rails and sleepers to other locations on the line, before removing the point itself during the shorter closed season in November. Removing the point will allow us to ease the curve from the run round point, which is extremely tight, reducing the flange wear on locos, particularly 9681 which has slightly longer wheel base compared to 5541 or an austerity.
Opposite Page, Top: In no time at all, the excavator had the old sleepers out, the bed graded and the new sleepers laid in.
Opposite Page, Bottom: The Ironmen were used to lift the original rails back in, packing and ballasting soon followed.
Below: The old rails whilst being lifted out with the Ironmen. (Photos: A. Rennie)
Above: Ready to start relaying the Platform 1 connection. (A. Davies)
This work will also pave the way for replacing the run round point with a passenger grade connection in readiness for expansion northwards towards Travellers Rest.
As I write, we are in the late spring quiet period. Trains are running, maintenance work is kept to a necessary minimum and many volunteers are away or on other projects. The serious work will begin again in June when we have several weeks when the operations only require one loop.
This gives us the opportunity to carry out sleeper replacement on the Platform 2 head shunt and the Network Rail reception line at Lydney Junction. As part of this work, we are looking to install a de-railer in order to provide a degree of protection against runaways escaping onto the main line and making a dash for Gloucester.
Meanwhile, as a background task, I am starting to plan the renewal of the Parkend level crossing track work. The current level crossing was lifted by BR in the late 1960s and it was reinstated by the DFR during 1997.
Our current plan is to replace the existing timber and tarmac crossing with the same Edilon)(Sedra slab track system that we installed at Lydney Town last year. The work is tentatively planned for February 2027 but it has an estimated cost of around £250,000. A considerable amount of fund raising is required in order to enable us to meet that target, and complete this necessary work.
We have had some success on the volunteer front. Bryan Harvey has joined our regular gang, and Joe Cowley has come on board specifically to help us maintain our enlarged arsenal of internal combustion engine powered tools. Joe can be found most Mondays at our container at Whitecroft. You may also find him managing the ticket office at Norchard or at various stations on running days.
We’re always on the lookout for new volunteers, and you don’t have to be out in all weathers or in the middle of the week to help! There are plenty of jobs that can be done at weekends and under cover in our dry containers.
We are still looking for mechanically minded people to help our ‘back office’ team repairing and refurbishing tools and materials. We urgently need to refurbish a number of point hand lever mechanisms so that we can replace failing ones in the yard an Norchard and elsewhere.
We are also looking for people to help sort and catalogue the Permanent Way ‘assets’ that the railway has. In the early days we (like most infant heritage railways) acquired anything we could from the various railways and engineering firms that were closing at the time. Most was 'stored' along the line in case they were ever needed.
Now, as a more mature railway, we have a much clearer idea of what we will and will not need going forward. The development team are progressively tidying up the railway (ultimately making it more attractive to our visitors) by recovering materials from various locations and moving them to Lydney Junction.The items are then inspected and either stored for re-use or disposed of responsibly. This is the sort of activity that could be done on sunny weekend days during the summer, between service trains.
If you think you could help us with any of these tasks, please do get in touch via volunteering@deanforestrailway.co.uk – we’d love to hear from you.
Below Left: A grip is dug from Platform 1 in to the six-foot, with hope that the surface water enters the drainage below!
Below: The ground water collecting in the Platform 1 grip. (Photos: A. Davies)
View From The Box
Adrian
Copley, DFR Operating Manager, recalls a fiery start to the 2025 season.
The annual timetable and notice installation took place in time for the start of the running season, which began the day after my 70th birthday. Needless to say, I missed the first running days due to ‘resting’ after a busy day!
Everything was well – except for a small lineside fire at Parkend on the first weekend, quickly extinguished by persons who happened to be in the vicinity. Then, on Wednesday 26th a much larger fire occurred at Norchard...
Upon departure of the 13:17 train from Norchard, the output from the chimney set alight to the dry bracken on the west side of the line, which spread northwards at a very fast rate! I was Duty Officer that day and was alerted by someone watching the train from outside of the Station Masters office, who also summoned the Fire Service.
Parkend signal box received the first call – Line Blocked, likewise Lydney Junction and both sets of crossing staff informed. Nine minutes later the Fire Service arrived as the fire was heading towards New Mills foot crossing.
Two fire tenders from Lydney were followed a few minutes later by two from Cinderford, hoses were run out and up onto the High Level line after I had given assurance that the lines were dead – all trains stopped.
People appeared from every corner to look and photograph the event (unfortunately I didn’t until the end!).
Our Commercial Department organised transport for our passengers stranded at Parkend and Lydney Junction and the train crew waited patiently at Parkend for ‘further instructions’. The staff at the south end of the line were sent home as the rest of the timetable was cancelled.
The fire was extinguished, and with the hoses rolled up the all-clear given to me at 16:00, so Line Clear given to Parkend at 16:01 and the empty stock ran back to Norchard just over fifteen minutes late from the final timetabled time (so not impeding on crew hours).
This goes to show how quickly things can get out of control, a steam ban was then imposed until further notice!
Thanks to our engineering teams a spark arrester (similar to those that are fitted to steam locomotives running on the mainline) was designed and manufactured in a few days.
A test took place on the following Saturday evening after the evening dining train – which was diesel hauled! All went well with the test – so the following week as it was a Murder Mystery event, the train was top and tailed with 9681 on the north end and 08769 on the south.
That was all fine except the train ‘bumped’ the crossing gate at Parkend! The following day another lineside fire, this time at Lydney Junction so the decision was made –steam ban until we had a decent amount of rain fall! So, 08769 was in for a busy time for the next couple of weeks.
The engineering department sprang in to action again and soon had a spark arrester made for the Pannier’s ash pan, so once fitted and trialled, steam traction on the service trains resumed on Easter Sunday 20th April.
Unfortunately, the long range weather forecast does not seem to contain much rain, so everyone be careful please!
As we reach the best time of the year with longer days and better weather, will there be some Bluebells this year?
The current show of primroses has been patchy and with all the recent tree felling carried out in the forest, I don’t foresee many as Bluebells tend to like a bit of shade!
There have been many works’ trains clearing the lineside from the diseased trees and other brash before the nesting season started on March 1st and that activity slows down to emergency only work.
Other Departmental trains have will be running as the S&T Department re-new Middle Forge Ground Frame and install new signals there throughout April and May.
The Permanent Way team have a busy schedule planned for the year at various sites around the railway including replacing the point at Middle Forge during January 2026. This will complete the renewal work at Middle Forge. All these works require some sort support train to move machines and materials, a very busy period on the horizon!
Below: The fire on the embankment below Norchard Wood. (P. Römer)
Carriage & Wagon
Dave Chappell and Ollie Young give an update on the latest activities undertaken by the team.
• 4862 – Mark 1 TSO
Having reached the stage where the design of the window frame woodwork is completed, the production and assembly of the struts and members can be duplicated for the remainder of the glazing. There was however one part of the assembly which still required designing – the aluminium strips that secure the glass to the metal frames. The frames have an array of 4BA threaded studs, so the aluminium strips have to be drilled to align with the studs.
Above: The timber and aluminium framing and templates.
Below Left: The perspex template for the top glazing bar.
Commencing with the four windows in the north section of the coach, card templates were used to determine the hole positions on the window frames, but with varying success. Something more substantial was required for the template and ideally the alignment could be more easily achieved if the material were transparent. It was decided to try 2mm thick Perspex. This was trialled on the corner pieces first.The template edges were aligned to the vertical and horizontal of the frame and it was clamped in place.
The centre of each hole was marked by eye and drilled with a 1mm pilot drill then progressively drilled out to 4.5mm for the 4BA stud. The template was then trial fitted to ensure everything lined up. Once the alignment was confirmed, the design was copied from the Perspex template to the aluminium corner piece. This was used to check all the other left hand window corners before proceeding. Encouragingly, it fitted all of them, supporting the hope that the frame stud positions had been jig drilled. This allowed the template to be used as a master to produce up to four corner pieces at a time for the four windows being worked on.This exercise was then repeated for the right hand corner, the bottom, and the side pieces.
A major step was still needed to be undertaken – all of the holes in the aluminium had to be countersunk!
If the holes are not countersunk then the mounting screws cannot be recessed flush with the surface. The pillar drill was setup with the depth-stop accurately set to create the correct size recess and hole after being countersunk to the required depth. Remember… this is still only the first four windows, so the end is not in sight – yet!
A corresponding template for the timber strut across the top of the main window was similarly created in Perspex. The length across the full window made it tighter to align with the mounting studs, but again it seemed the frame had been jig drilled, so once aligned, it fitted all windows.
The corresponding template for the timber strut across the top of the main window was similarly created in Perspex. The extended length across the full window made it tighter to align with all of the mounting studs, but again it seems the frame had been bored using a jig, so once aligned, it fitted all windows.
When we started working on 4862 the north end was full of stuff. Whilst clearing it out we found amongst this pile various shaped pieces of wood that had escaped the bonfire. These were safely put to one side, in the hope that some of them may have an important function which would only be revealed to us at a much later date.
This wisdom has borne fruit, even if it took a mammoth exercise to spread the assortment out on the floor for the 'Great Jigsaw Puzzle'. Eric and Peter did a sterling job determining where these bits fitted within the framing and in some cases joined together. Now we have a set of master templates that we can work with!
The next areas of difficulty will be the seats and tables. For the seats, the issue will be need to understand the intricate relationship between the seat frames and the panelling, and how these items fit together. A seat base was roughly assembled, and this revealed that with the base level on the floor there was a 10mm gap between the top of the seat and the position of the wall panelling.
Raising the corridor side of the base 10mm solved this but the seat was then not level, so more work is required here to get the two parts to fit correctly... It was shortly after that we realised that the headrest actually made up that missing 10mm – problem solved!
The tables were more of a puzzle as there seemed to be no way to attach them to the wall! Common sense implied that the table brackets would screw into a wooden batten, but there is no evidence of any fixings, mountings, screw holes or threaded bosses in the wall below the window to mount a wooden batten. What is more disquieting is that there is no trace of tables, brackets or legs either, so what happened to the them is currently anyone’s guess!
Peter paid a visit to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, and he was able to view TSO 4867. He learnt was that the framing was similar to what we had worked out. However, there was no framing in the large space under the window for a table. Their tables screw into the structural wood at the bottom of the window, covered by the decorative moulding. Alas, none of these were present! The windows were Bardic windows like ours, but the moulding round them is more standard, not like ours at all. They have a wooden frame screwed into the window frame to hold the glass in place, and very different mouldings in front of it. The steam heaters were very different too, they were twin pipes, which covered two windows, so there will be yet more design and adaptation.
In preparation for the rewiring of 4862 we have erected a 6-foot by 10-foot metal shed adjacent to one of our storage containers. This will be used as an electrical store for cable, lighting and electrical fittings. The plan being that everything should be available in one place, all we have to do is order reels of the requisite cable sizes and a set of LED lighting units ready for when the work gets underway. Below Left: A roughly assembled seat frame and walls struts.
Below: The new 6-foot by 10-foot metal shed.
Under a Luggage Rack
I do like to see restoration carried out to a high standard and as a trained engineer especially the details and finishes. Just look at 9681, the Engineers Saloon, our signalling and Parkend station environment. One thing on my mind that was missing was the pictures in the compartments of our passenger stock as I remember them well from travelling by train in the 1960s and early 1970s.
There was an attempt to provide these some years ago when our Mark 1 Brake Corridor Composite 21129 had some black and white photographs of the DFR installed.
I regularly follow the railwayana auctions which since COVID, have been online, so when some of the original pictures were offered, I bid and won them! This then opened a can of worms...
I did some research and found a book by Greg Norden titled "Landscapes under the luggage rack" which was printed in 2001. Copies are available in the usual secondhand sites for just a few pounds. As I found out after purchasing the said pictures and reading Greg’s book, there are different sizes of picture!
The pictures that I was able to purchase started appearing around the late 1930s when the publicity departments of the railway companies moved into colour printing. They commissioned some leading artists of the day to paint scenes from all around British Isles using watercolours.
The first picture panels were introduced in 1884 with the first photographic print in GWR carriages in 1895 – the trains became travelling art galleries. These panels were not contained to art, the railway companies realised the commercial value by producing advertising panels, system maps, and later health and safety advice to passengers. During the second world war, the sceneries were replaced by war related advice, but afterwards the colours returned.
At nationalisation, the new British Railways found standardisation in most things including the size of the picture panels. 20 inches by 10 inches, the size used by the ex-LNER became the norm. Although sizes used by other companies existed and continued to be used right up until the demise of the pictures in the late 1970s!
Greg Norden’s book gives an in-depth history for those who find an interest. So, as our Mark 1 coaches were built in the 1950s, only the 'new' standard size of frame will fit the blank spaces on the compartment walls.
I acquired enough pictures with frames for BSK 34742 and enough pictures for both BCK 21129 and CK 15984 –we just require approximately forty glazed frames! These are around £24 each – unless someone has the tools and appropriate carpentry skills, please? When the ex-GWR Collett coaches are restored, there will be a problem again as the GWR used three different sizes of pictures!
Adrian Copley, takes a brief look at some of the details that complete the picture.
FOPS Update
Stuart Bearne reports on the latest activities of the Friends of Parkend Station group.
Since the last magazine went to press the FOPS have continued their pleasurable endeavours seeking to keep Parkend Station looking its best.
The bridge work is largely concluded – for now at least! The steps, panels and railings have been dealt with, although there is always a section that needs further work on it.
The track bed has been weeded and the white lining of both platform edges was completed just before the commencement of the new season in March. Both jobs will be revisited during the season on an as required basis.
A considerable amount of time has been and will be dedicated to maintaining the crossing gates in a fit for purpose state. Several areas of wet rot have been identified and in a number of areas, time expired wood has been removed and replacement wooden inserts installed. These areas have been primed prior to a full coat of undercoat and gloss being applied to both gates.The blackwork of the hinges etc is also being repainted.
As usual, attention has been given to the station signage, benches, trolleys, and fencing.This is on an as required basis as well as touching up the perimeter fencing and gates.
The main station building, and the goods shed will receive attention in the Spring and early Summer. The interior walls and floors of the toilets, will also be attended to. The signal box windows, along with some other areas will be dealt with as time permits, as will the goods shed windows.
The loading gauge south of the station will be spruced up in the near future and the black gate on the main exit pathway to the road will be rubbed down and repainted.
Book donations have been much appreciated, and we hope that the good sales of 2024 will be replicated during 2025 thus allowing us to replenish our supplies without the need to go further afield (to Norchard)!
We meet on Tuesday mornings at Parkend station, and a warm welcome is guaranteed for anyone who would like to come and join our friendly group of FOPS.
Left: The door to the goods shed is shown whilst it is in the process of being filled, rubbed down, and repainted.
Below: New timber inserts have been inserted in to the level crossing gates to remove some areas of wet rot.
A Midland Lantern
The Midland and South Western Junction Railway (MSWJR) did exactly what it said on the tin! It connected the Midland Railway (MR) at Cheltenham Lansdown Station with the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) at Andover Junction, via Cirencester and Swindon. Southampton being reached via the LSWR line. By 1958, the line had come completely under the control of the Western Region of British Railways and in November of that year, the remaining passenger services were transferred from Lansdown Station to Cheltenham Spa St. James, thereby denying passengers the opportunity to change to trains travelling north. Perhaps not surprisingly, the line closed to passengers in 1961.
Despite the influence of the Western Region, Southern locomotives still operated some trains. When I moved to Gloucestershire in 1958, I recall being told by fellow train-spotters at Gloucester Eastgate Station that you could see Southern locomotives at Cheltenham, which I didn’t believe. They were of course, quite right! Maunsell U class 2-6-0s worked at least one through train a day from Andover Junction to Cheltenham Lansdown, taking a stately three hours for the journey. My railway interests were first fostered by numerous Merchant Navy and West Country Pacifics in Exeter, so I didn’t rush to Cheltenham to see the odd U Class 2-6-0!
At Cheltenham Lansdown, the MSWJR trains used a bay on the Downside of the station. Sadly it no longer exists and today it forms part of the Station Car Park.
Above Left: The first sighting of the column and lantern in David’s garden towards the end of last year.
Above Right: A new home. Looking fine in new paintwork, the Midland column with its LMS lantern, at Whitecroft Station.
At Lansdown (a Midland Railway Station), Down signified away from Derby. The move of services from Lansdown to St James Station inconvenienced passengers but simplified train movements, in that locomotives could be readily turned on the turntable for the return journey.
Having set the scene for some local railway history of sixty plus years ago, you could ask why this has a bearing on the Dean Forest Railway. Well, a while ago David Cross (a DFRS Member of many years), told me that he wanted to find a new home (on the Dean Forest Railway) for his Midland Railway station lantern, which graced part of his garden. I asked David if he knew where the lantern had been originally sited and his answer - it was originally on the MSWJR bay at Cheltenham Lansdown Station.
From a railway station in Cheltenham to a garden overlooking the River Severn seems like a straightforward journey, but this lantern enjoyed a more complicated one! I don't know how long the MSWJR bay remained after services moved to St. James, but the lantern was sold to the Railway Club of Cheltenham’s Dean Close School. There it remained, with other railway artefacts until the school needed the Railway Clubroom for other uses.
Chris Bladon recalls a recent project at Whitecroft undertaken by the Parkend Monday Gang!
Above: The first stages of dismantling are under way, whilst David supervises from a handy garden bench!
Above Right: The column arrives at Whitecroft, the sections of telegraph pole were a useful tool for moving it around.
Thus, in 1975, for the princely sum of £5, the lantern was sold to Malcolm Mitchell, who erected it in his garden in Leckhampton. Serious railway modellers will know Malcolm for his superb 00 Gauge GWR locomotive kits, whilst Dean Forest Railway Preservation Society members will remember Malcolm from early days at Parkend.
Despite the weight of the cast iron column, as Malcolm moved house over the years, the column went with him, first to Stroud, then to Evesham and finally to North Cornwall, where it remained as a kit of parts.
At this point, enter David Cross who, through a shared railway modelling friend, knew that Malcolm was ready to sell the column; a deal was done, and another trailer journey returned the column to Gloucestershire and David’s garden. Last year, David asked me if I could find a suitable new home for it and my immediate suggestion was the platform at Whitecroft Station.
You may well ask; why Whitecroft?
With the insolvency of the Severn and Wye Railway in the 1890s, the newly created Joint Company (Great Western Railway and Midland Railway) divided their responsibilities for the infrastructure. The Midland was responsible for the Berkeley Road to Coleford Junction section, which obviously included Whitecroft. A Board of Trade Inspection of the stations at Whitecroft and Parkend in 1897 was very critical of the lack of facilities and the station lighting almost certainly formed part of the improvements required by the Inspector. It fell to the Midland Railway to improve things, although it didn’t quite happen to the time-scale laid down by the Board of Trade! In 2011, the Dean Forest Railway rebuilt Whitecroft Station with a Rural Development Grant. The original
Severn and Wye buildings had remarkably survived until the late 1960s but, with the ending of domestic coal facilities, the buildings were demolished, almost overnight! In the rebuilding of the station, every effort was made to re-create the lost scene, and, with only very minor differences, the new buildings do just that. Towards the end of the building contract, I was contacted by a member who wanted to donate a lighting column for the rebuild.
Historic photographs of the station were important in the re-creation, and they show a Midland Railway style lighting column just inside the main gate. Although it was clear that the column being offered had no railway heritage, we used it, as a correct one was not available. Finished with an off the shelf lantern, the column was installed and wired in to the electrical installation of the new station building. It was taller than the column in the historic photographs, and the new lantern was too small; it all looked out of place. Thus, the offer of a genuine Midland Railway column was too good to resist and over recent months the wrong fitting has been removed and a correct one was installed! The much-travelled Midland Column had found a new home.
Experts in station lighting may recognise something odd, as whilst the cast iron column is marked Midland Railway, the lantern is later (marked LMS) although you won’t spot that from the ground The column is painted in standard Midland Railway colours, being Denby Pottery Cream to the main body, with Venetian Red (often called chocolate, but is a very dark red) decorative bands and base.
The same hexagonal columns were used for all fuels, being oil, gas or electricity. They are hollow and as ours is electric, getting the cable through was a challenge!
Thanks are due to David’s brother-in-law Ron, who transported the column from the garden to Whitecroft Station. It couldn’t have been much easier; as the column was tipped straight from the trailer into the hole vacated by the previous column! The work in David’s garden and at Whitecroft was carried out by Parkend Monday Gang, who drew down on their experience gained whilst installing the Midland style lighting at Parkend some years back.
Norchard in Bloom
Gill Christopher updates us on the start of a new year for gardeners everywhere.
Well, here we go again a new gardening year and spring well and truly sprung, what a lovely time of year! It is a bit tricky for gardeners, you want to plant and paint garden furniture but have to be careful of the sudden frosts!
Over the winter I tried to keep the troughs and pots up together and the weeds at bay. The really cold weather caused a few problems with trying to get everything weeded – the ground was as hard as iron. I think there’s a Christmas Carol about that, it was so very difficult to dig.
I did manage to get half of the Remembrance Garden shrubbery dug over, cleared, and manured at the end of January and Judy Williams helped me to complete the second half during the beginning of February.
January saw Peggy Römer, General Manager and I order the summer flowers for the pots and hanging baskets, which I think we both quite enjoyed. There was a special offer on a double scented white rose and we both decided it was worth trying it in the remembrance garden.
The rose came bare rooted, and I planted it after doing the manuring. Unfortunately, something trampled the poor rose and broke off a stem or two. I tried to keep it safe by placing garden ornaments (supplied by Rosie Bradley) around the base, so if they try again, they’ll stub their toes!
It’s a bit of a stop – start time, but, again with Peggy’s help, I did manage to get some cheap and cheerful flowering plants for the troughs and pots, to try and give a bit of colour and interest for our passengers (and food for the sheep and deer – well hopefully not).
The first time I tried to plant was on 6th March (before the running season), and although the sun was shining at home, and it was lovely and warm... So, I filled the car up with the plants. When I arrived at Norchard, it was foggy, cold and the soil was frozen, so I decided the plants should return home and get tucked up for another week or so!
I finally managed to get them planted on 19th March – a couple of weeks into the running season. I planted some extra pots in front of the shop steps, and the troughs and barrel had plants added to give a little colour whilst the perennials wake up. I've added a larger gravel topping this year in the hope that it will help weigh the plants down, so the sheep don’t find it quite so easy to pull the plants up and throw them all over the platform.
My problem is, as ever, the weather and wildlife. Even things the animals don’t usually touch were nibbled or completely demolished this winter – I guess that’s when you know it’s been a bit harder than usual. In the long term I’m trying to find things that don’t taste too good, prickles, or will survive being munched! Its trial and error, but I think we’re getting there. However, I’m very pleased to say some plants survived the weather and wildlife last year.
Some bulbs planted last year flowered and survived the sheep, but they do seem to like daffodils. I also planted primroses in the remembrance garden, but one survived... I ran out of flowers for the pots, so on Sunday 22nd March I went to Tesco and got some bellis. They are little green mounds of leaves with little pink balls on top of stalks, and are very cheerful, hardy, and supposed to return annually – fingers crossed. I went on from there to Lydney Junction and tidied the two troughs, planting some of these in them. There was a Branch Experience, and a lady came over for a chat, she commented that the troughs looked beautiful, that really makes you feel like all the hard work is worth it.
On Wednesday 26th March I finished planting the two pots in front of the Waiting Room with some bellis and added the stone topping. I filled my wheelbarrow with compost, stones, grape hyacinths and wheeled it, puffing and panting up to the platform. Nigel Benning met me, and very kindly transferred the conifer into a new bigger, black pot, which he did before I was even able to offer to help! Thank you very much Nigel, but did you have to make it look so easy?
Above: The trough and planter in the remembrance garden.
Below: The conifer replanted by Nigel Benning.
This left one more trough left to sort in front of the café garden, which I completed on 1st April. I also nearly finished de-brambling and weeding in the car park island garden. However, I unfortunately ran out of oomph after a couple of hours, which has left a little bit for me to finish.
In April, the spring lambs were bouncing around, but shame that they grow up and eat our flowers. Apparently, they really like red primroses, as some of them in the troughs had all their flowers nibbled away completely, maybe they taste like chocolate! On that note, I hope everyone had a peaceful Easter and maybe a little chocolate to celebrate. The shrubbery which we have incorporated into the remembrance garden has put on a beautiful show for us this year. The blossom lasted a while this year, but it always goes too quick. At the start of April, when I was having a quiet five minutes on the bench in the remembrance garden (as I often do after gardening and before going home) it was windy, and the petals were falling like snow.
I then took a few weeks off to visit family, which was very enjoyable. I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who kept an eye on the troughs, watering them, and putting plants back in after being tossed out by the sheep.
I was relieved to see that (with exception of the plants that were eaten) many survived and looked rather good.
Above: The work so far on the Norchard car park island.
Below: The replacement fencing in front of the café.
On Tuesday 22nd April, I tidied the troughs and pots and gave everything a good water. It always amazes me how long this takes! The following Friday, I tidied the gardening shed and planted some catmint (I think that’s what it is) which had run rampant in my pot at home.
So, I halved it, left half at home and the other half is now in various pots around the railway. I planted some spare perennial bush sunflower seeds in various places... Sorry ants I didn’t mean to disturb you! It’ll be interesting to see if any grow and, if they do, whether they get to bloom.
Thanks must go to Martin Hillier and Tony Soughton, who are doing a fantastic job of replacing rotten fencing between the café and the café garden, it’s looking really good. This means I really must get on with getting the garden weeded, manured, and tidied to show it off properly.
I would like to thank Richard Hooper, for kindly donating some gardening tools and a metal planter, these are very gratefully received and will all be put to good use, also thank you Peggy, for your assistance and unflagging enthusiastic support in my attempts to provide colourful and cheerful flowers for our passengers.
From Monday, 28th April, I hoped to sort the metal planter, Paul Lowrey found me some green Hammerite paint and a paintbrush, so I looked to sand and paint it, before putting pretty plants in pots on it. I also hoped to get some preservative on all of the troughs if it stayed dry.
My job list for the next two to three months will be to cut back, tidy and manure the café garden; finish debrambling and weeding the car park island; and get the hanging baskets and platform pots planted up (only when it is warmer and there are no signs of frost).
I am also considering planting some long troughs with wild flower seeds and putting them along the top of the bank along from Bowley’s box (out of the way of where the access gate and ramp leads). Of course, there are the ongoing jobs of keeping everything both tidy and watered.
As always, if anyone going past the troughs or pots and a plant happens to be on the floor – this is where the sheep pull them up and discard them on the platform. I would be grateful if you would please be kind enough to pick them up and push them down into the soil of the closest pot!
Also, if the pots or troughs look dry and you have time to spare in between trains, a quick water can help the plants survive. There are plenty of watering cans around, and I would be grateful for assistance with these jobs, please.
If anyone enjoys gardening and would like to spend an hour or so helping, whether weeding, planting, or even watering, please do get in touch, and it is true, gardening is very therapeutic, I can recommend it.
Also, if you would like to help but can’t get down for any reason you are welcome donate money or plants to the railway’s gardens. If you think you could assist in any way, please get in touch via gardening@deanforestrailway.co.uk – we’d love to hear from you.
Pannier Pictorial
The start of 2025 was not a good time for steam on the Dean Forest Railway. Unseasonably dry weather meant that services were subject to a steam ban due to the high fire risk, after only seven running days!
After another eleven operating days (eight of solely diesel haulage and three of diesel-assisted steam), and following some improvements to the locomotive spark arrestors – the extremely dry spell finally broke in spectacular fashion! We can now only hope that the weather will remain on our side for the remainder of the season, please?
Photo: 9681 passes Milepost 12½ at Whitecroft, approaching Oakenhill Wood No.2 crossing on Sunday 15th March.
(M. Tyack)
Above: Taking water and adding boiler treatment at Parkend.
Below: The crew couple-up in Platform 1 at Lydney Junction. (Photos: C. Saywood)
Above: Heading for Parkend at Oakenhill Wood No.2 crossing.
Below: The return working passes Whitemead Park crossing. (Photos: M. Tyack)
Valley Rail Update
During October 2024 there were two new arrivals in Diesel Depot. 09006 arrived on behalf of its new owner for rebuilding and reinstatement, whilst my own locomotive –09015 has joined it in order to try and progress the work a bit faster. Progress had stalled somewhat behind the myriad of other work being undertaken – which was not helped by a seventy-mile round trip to work on it each day.
09106 which arrived from Road and Rail Steam Services prior to the diesel gala had the under-slung air compressor serviced and repaired.This smaller compressor is required to allow the vacuum exhausters to be reinstated. A trip to Norchard to use the new inspection pit followed and allowed for the removal of the American buckeye coupler and the refitting of the vacuum exhauster pipework.
Railway Support Services hired 09106 over Christmas in order to cover a shortage of traction at Peterborough. The locomotive will be returning to Lydney Junction and it is planned to remain at the DFR until the end of 2026 at least. This will allow for both 08769 and 09106 to be taken out of service for their regular maintenance schedules without a loss of service to the DFR whilst that happens.
Further uses for 09106 are in the pipeline, so it will not be limited to just covering for the weekly shunting requirements, works trains, and being an emergency standby! Behind the scenes work is happening to improve operational resilience and develop the enthusiast events!
The basic difference from a Class 08 to a Class 09 is that the latter has a higher gearing providing more speed at the expense tractive effort (less pulling power at low speeds). An 09 will be more suited to short trip working than an 08, e.g. running the passenger service along the DFR.
Maximum: Speed Tractive Effort
Class 08 15.0 mph 35,000 lbf
Class 09 27.5 mph 28,000 lbf
Below: Don Corbett was moved to Lydney Junction at the beginning of the year and it was successfully resurrected with a view to it being used as the yard pilot for the Depot.
Martyn Normanton gives an update from the Lydney Junction Diesel Depot photo diary.
Right: By 8th April we were a third of the way around 112000 (well above the solebar anyway)! If only it was as simple as picking up the whole wagon and dipping it in to a bucket of "as good as new" T-Cut™ (other brands available)!
Below: Less than a month goes by and both the south end and the west side of 112000 are done. It might be just a wagon to some but finally looks like it has been given a new lease of life with the 1980s era Railfreight red colour scheme.
Below Right: It is amazing what can be achieved when you have even a small amount of mechanical assistance! The arrival of a forklift for the Depot saw the first sliding roof section being finished and refitted to the 09015 on 9th May.
Above Left: The 28th March was spent swinging around some engines at Barrow Hill. This heavy duty session included obtaining a replacement engine for 09006 which was duly sent back for unloading on to a clear work pad at the Depot.
Above: We shunted out my pet OCA at the start of April so that work could continue, 112000 was the first of the series. It did contain the engine for 09015 which was lifted out on 28th March when it was placed alongside the one for 09006.
Left: Trusty steed 08769 visited for a few days as part of the regular maintenance schedule. The locomotive operated three hundred miles over eleven running days, including two evening trains due a steam ban caused by exceptionally dry weather!
Signalling Summary
Steve Harris details the tasks the S&T team have been working on, and the plans for the coming year.
It has been a long while since there has been any news from the Department – the last separate piece being about the renewal of the rodding run through Harbour Road level crossing back in magazine Issue 64. That’s not to say that we haven’t been busy since then!
Since the completion of the signalling installation and commissioning at Parkend (detailed in magazine Issues 61 and 62) we have focussed on to more routine tasks such as cable renewals, installing cable troughing, repairing lineside cabinets and refurbishing of other equipment.
Along with these tasks, the team have assisted with disconnections for Permanent Way works – track circuits and a point motor were removed to allow for the point timbers to be replaced at Lydney Junction.
We have also kept up with faulting and maintenance activities and dealt with both storm damage and floods… In particular, Storm Bert put paid to one of the barrier skirts on Harbour Road level crossing, with the wind literally ripped it clean off! A replacement was ordered from the manufacturer and, as soon as it arrived, it was fitted. This is just one example of the many issues that can arise during adverse weather.
Working closely with the other departments, we are planning to install two new signals at Middle Forge which should improve the sighting for approaching trains. These signals will eventually eliminate the need for the whitelight Points Indicators (also colloquially known as the "dots" or "cat’s eyes") which tell crews when the junction is correctly set for the High Level route to Parkend.
The existing Ground Frame at Middle Forge (which was severely worn through use) has already been renewed.
Below: Andy Curtis replaces the Harbour Road barrier skirt. (S. Bolingbroke)
Below Right: The RRV recovers the worn-out ground frame. (R. Alpin)
The replacement was assembled at Norchard, specifically to suit the new signalling arrangements. Allowing for control of the signals on the High Level line, hence the white-light Points Indicators will become redundant.
For the centrepiece, we have assembled a bracket signal using parts from one that was recovered from Paignton South. The actual bracket itself was beyond economic repair, so a brand new one was fabricated and riveted together in the Restoration Shed at Norchard.
A second signal has also been prepared, to replace the fixed stop signal on the High Level – under the new arrangements this signal will be worked from the ground frame, so it will be presented on a taller, straight post. Both of these signals are planned to be installed during May. Once the signals have been planted, and the wire run altered and connected we will be ready for commissioning.
Once commissioned, we can look towards recovering the remainder of the redundant equipment. All of this work is being done in preparation for the ability to remotely control the junction sometime in the future.
Replacement crossing gates for Whitecroft level crossing are also in hand as the existing wooden gates are extremely rotten, for safety one has been removed. Steel replacements are being fabricated and should be on site by July. This project will be detailed in a future magazine.
We are always on the lookout for help, whether for heavy or light work, metalworking, woodworking, or electrical tasks – there will be something to take an interest in! If you think you could help us with any of these tasks, please do get in touch via volunteering@deanforestrailway.co.uk – we’d love to hear from you.
Above Left: The new replacement ground frame is carefully lifted into the final position and located on the fixing holes. (A. Williams)
Above: An early success! By lunchtime on the first day of a two day occupation the new ground frame was home. (A. Curtis)
Left: After lunch (and with little shade from the April sun) Mark Daunter drills new fixing holes in the steel plate to allow the rodding drive cranks to be reorientated and bolted down. (A. Williams)
Below: The second day was even warmer than the first. Along with having to work around a works train, the ground frame was reconnected and tested in to service. Job done! (R. Alpin)
Above: Almost as good as the real thing? A simulation of how the new bracket signal should look from the cab of 9681. (A. Williams)
Left: The assembled signal in the yard at Norchard, the post, dolls and fittings are original whilst the bracket is brand new! (R. Alpin)
Development In Brief
• North of Parkend
This was briefly touched on in the last issue, we can now describe the full Retaining Wall Project. Back in mid-2024, we were contacted by one of our neighbours on the currently unrestored railway formation which extends north of Parkend Station. Part of the retaining wall had collapsed in previous years, but the surrounding area was worsening, and the situation needed to be resolved. A small team set about doing just that.
Firstly, we needed to establish the engineering solution needed. Working with consulting engineers Tony Gee (who have supported us on a number of projects in the past) and CM Contracting (who supported the Lydney Town Level Crossing project), we arranged a site visit to establish the engineering requirements, access, and repair options. We quickly established that a repair back to a full height, extension ready retaining wall was the preferred option by all parties, so design work started, resulting in the design shown in the last issue.
The repair method sounds simple when its written down – remove the loose stonework, dig out behind where the wall should be, rebuild the first section of wall, fill the void with no fines concrete, repeat until the wall is complete. There was, however, one major issue – access.
Our neighbour’s property is accessed by a lightweight bridge over the Lyd, and not suitable for machinery or concrete deliveries. Fortunately, there was another way...
Access was literally straight down the track bed!
Between Christmas and New Year 2024, a small group of experienced volunteers began the heavier clearance needed.The formation had been left relatively undisturbed for at least 20 years, and a number of mature trees had grown along the formation.With these felled, the brambles and other vegetation cleared, the access was ready for works to start. While we were there, we carried out some other clearance to prepare for other future works, including a well-attended working party in mid-February. Everything was in place, with an planned start later in the anticipated good weather later in the year. Then came a phone call – not one we were expecting.
Our contractor, CM, had become available at short notice due to a change in commitments, and asked if they could make a start on repairs? As we were confident that we had everything in place to support, approval was quickly granted, and machinery was on site within days.
CM made excellent progress, helped along by the good weather, with regular site visits to check on progress (and to grab some decent photos for a magazine article!).
The repairs were completed in a timely manner and to an incredibly high standard, to the delight of the team and our neighbour, who took the time to email us afterwards: “Thank you again to all your team for all they have achieved. The wall is wonderful!”
We couldn’t agree more!
Adam Dickinson updates on some of the development activities happening around the railway...
Above: The mid-February working party in full swing.
Above Left: The collapse was carefully dug out.
Right: Rebuilding was in stages, and back-filled with concrete.
Below: The now repaired and strengthened retaining wall. (Photos: A. Dickinson)
• Lydney Junction
If you have been in the UK over the last few months you may have noticed that we have had an unseasonable dry period. The year so far has been the sunniest since 1910, with rainfall at just 56% of expectation across the country. A number of railways – including us – have suffered with lineside fires, resulting in either diesel supported steam services or diesel substitutions of hauled trains outright.
Following the disbanding of the Dean Forest Diesel Association (DFDA), and although the new owners of Class 08 769 (Valley Rail Preservation) have taken a lease of the site – the diesel fleet has decimated.
This is partly due to a lack of maintenance facilities (with everyone scrambling to access those at Norchard). This type of facility – with undercover maintenance space, and an inspection pit – have been enjoyed by the steam department (in various guises) for a number of years. Recent investment has seen the new inspection pit installed and in regular use. We now need to bring our diesel facilities to a similar standard.
Diesel locomotives within preservation have grown in popularity each year, in addition to the vital role as support for the steam locomotive fleet. Even if we exclude extending the railway, with the climate continuing to become more variable, a capable diesel fleet will be vital for our future. We are currently working on the plans for these facilities and will be looking for funds in due course.
Opposite Page: The completed wall repairs. (A. Williams)
Back to Middle Forge
An amended version of an extract of the revised 1898 survey; Severn and Wye and Severn Bridge Railway (Main Line), Sheet 7 (Mile Post 9 to Mile Post 11):
Line of Pipes A:10-inch Medium Pressure Gas Main
Line of Pipes B:12-inch New Drainage Outfall Pipe
Just to recap from the previous issue, the drainage project at Middle Forge was divided into three work packages:
1. The under-track crossing and cess drainage pipes
2. The pipe to the canal and the outlet headwall
3. The feeder ditch, settling pond and inlet headwall
Typically, work would begin at the outfall and proceed upstream to the inlet. However, the installation of the cess drainage and under-track crossing had to be carried out during the short closed season in November 2024.
In April, we took the opportunity to tackle the second work package – the pipe to the canal and outlet headwall. This coincided with an unseasonably dry spell, leaving the ground in the (usually sodden) field surprisingly firm.
The work required careful planning – both with our neighbour, as we had to dig through their field, and with Glatfelter, who own and operate the Paper Mill on Church Road in Lydney. Glatfelter not only abstract water from the canal but are also responsible for managing it.
The run of the pipes from the last catch-pit at our boundary to the canal appeared straightforward, and – compared to digging under and along the track with a reinstatement deadline looming – it was, by comparison.
The most complex aspect was the review and submission of the environmental risk assessment that was required.
Consideration had been given during the early 2024 planning stages to the need to work within a sensitive watercourse. This required minimising environmental impacts – both during the works and after commissioning, which led to several key design outcomes:
• The headwalls would use off-the-shelf pre-cast concrete units, rather than being cast in-situ or built using cement bags (a commonly used alternative).
• A settling pond would collect field run-off from uphill of the railway and provide an opportunity for silt and debris to be captured before entering the system.
• A number of catch-pits would allow silt entering the system to settle, enabling removal during maintenance using either a sludge pump or a vacuum excavator.
But why were these design choices important?
• The high alkalinity of fresh concrete and cement can be harmful or toxic to aquatic organisms and ecosystems.
• Increased volumes of silt can restrict water flow, potentially cause flooding, and negatively affect water quality, aquatic life, and the surrounding ecosystems.
With the green light given, we accessed the field and delivered this phase within a narrow two-day window.
Sincere thanks go to Adam Dickinson, Doug Johnson, and Dan Winter for their assistance in this stage of the project.
Adam Williams gives an update on the second instalment of drainage works at Middle Forge.
This project (like most) started with the logistical juggling act! The 8-tonne JCB was loaded onto a Loriot wagon, and the pre-cast concrete headwall and toe were loaded around it with the forklift before transiting out to Middle Forge.
The 8-tonne JCB, with a reach of approximately 6.7 metres (22 feet) is 1 metre (3 feet) more than the 6-tonne JCB which made lifting the 1-tonne concrete segments easier.
With the pre-cast concrete items and an 18-inch toothless bucket delivered to site, the 8-tonne JCB was transported into the field by road. The temporary pipe run would still need to be removed before installation work could begin!
After setting out with a laser level, a trench set back from the water was excavated. The concrete toe was lifted into it and levelled using sand. The material behind the toe was then removed and compacted to accommodate the headwall.
Once lifted into place, the headwall was positioned with its four fixing holes aligned over the pins protruding from the toe, this will help prevent the assembly from shifting.
With the position finalised, the four fixing holes were filled with a styrene-free polyester resin. Once that resin had set, effort turned to excavating the trench for the pipe through the field from the canal outfall headwall to our boundary.
The pipes were sealed and laid into the trench from our boundary catch-pit, down the slope, and through the headwall. The last pipe was trimmed, and the flat grill refitted. The water in the splay is field groundwater, rather than canal water.
The dam between the headwall and canal was removed, and the bank landscaped accordingly. By the evening, a family of ducks was seen enjoying the new surroundings!
The backfilled trench was compacted using the excavator, followed by a warm evening spent with hand tools, removing stones and larger lumps of clay that could damage a mowing machine. A fortnight later, the grass was already recovering.
Save a MR Signal Box?
Rob Needham, a former S&T volunteer, reflects on the challenges faced in the early days of the DFR.
With the proposed restoration of the ex-Midland Railway (MR) signal box at Whitecroft, some may be interested in learning more about its history – and that the DFR also recovered three other MR signal boxes during the 1970s and 80s. In 1986 I was involved in the recovery of this signal box from Pirton, Worcestershire, on the Gloucester to Birmingham mainline. I also led the restoration work undertaken during the 1990s, whilst it was located at Tufts.
MR signal boxes have proven popular with heritage railways thanks to their all-wooden construction, which uses standard prefabricated panels of ten and fifteenfoot lengths. The signal boxes are mainly ten-foot wide, although some of the larger signal boxes had a twelve-foot width. There were also some variations in height.
They can be readily relocated either by breaking them down into their prefabricated parts or moving them complete by crane and low loader lorry, as was the case with Pirton signal box. The prefabricated panels were manufactured by the MR at their Derby signal works. Reportedly, the new MR signal box at Souldrop, Bedfordshire, was erected from scratch – excluding roof slates, and on pre-prepared foundations – by a work gang in just eighty-five minutes!
MR signal boxes went through several stages of evolution, with the most obvious changes being the style of the windows. It’s not my intention to repeat a description of the different types here as this has been described in several railway books – I would rather concentrate on the specific ones with which the DFR has been involved.
MR signal boxes are appropriate to the DFR, they were a joint owner of the Severn and Wye Railway with the GWR. They were responsible for the signalling on the southern part of the route, with MR signal boxes originally provided at Lydney Engine Shed Junction, Otters Pool Junction and Severn Bridge Station amongst others.
The signal boxes from Lydney Town northwards were provided by the GWR, however a change in the boundary of responsibility for signalling, many of the actual signals as far as Coleford Junction were provided by the MR albeit worked from the GW style signal boxes, so the DFR has always had an eclectic mixture of GW and MR signalling.
•
Charfield Signal Box
The first MR signal box recovered by the DFR was from Charfield station on the former MR mainline between Gloucester and Bristol, recovered in the earliest days of the society – circa 1970. This signal box appears to have been a Type 3, a twenty-foot-long structure made up of two ten-foot sections and, being located on the station platform, had a reduced height in the lower portion.
It was unusual in being twelve-foot wide rather than the normal ten-foot width. An excellent colour photograph of this signal box in situ can be found in Volume 4B: Gloucester Midland Lines – Part 3: South (Stonehouse to Westerleigh and Branches) by Neil Parkhouse.
The signal box was evidently recovered by breaking the structure down into the prefabricated components.
Some of these panels can be seen stored outside in photos of the early days of the society at Parkend.The lever frame of approximately thirty levers was also recovered. This lever frame was, for many years stored outside. One of the bugbears of the early days of the DFR was the lack of covered storage for heritage artefacts, the parts were kept in the S&T store at Norchard during the late 1980s.
So, what happened to the signal box itself? Some parts, including the windows, were stored for many years in Parkend goods shed, but the larger parts seem to have ended up at Norchard where they deteriorated or became lost. Certainly, by the time I joined the DFR as a volunteer in 1986, it was unfortunately considered beyond restoration due to too many components having been lost.
• Barnwood Signal Box
This signal box was fifteen feet in length and had a reduced height lower section similar to that of Charfield. It was recovered from British Railways (BR) in Gloucester in one piece – albeit with the roof removed for transport.
The windows were the later type with larger glass panes making it a Type 4. However, no lever frame was recovered.
I’m not sure where it was originally located in Gloucester and due to the absence of the lever frame it may have been used latterly as a store or staff mess room. Other DFR members may be able to provide more information?
I’m not sure which year it was recovered, it pre-dated my involvement, but it seems to have been one of the first artefacts to be delivered to Norchard. This is evidenced by photos of the early days, so this was likely to have been around 1976. It appears to have been in a reasonable condition when it arrived. For many years it was at Norchard behind the current low-level platform.
A temporary roof (made of random pieces of wood) was reinstated during storage at Norchard, which helped to keep the rain out, but the roof slates were never replaced, and rain continued to enter and deteriorate the insides!
The building was used as a store for S&T parts (not an ideal location in due to the damp conditions, but it was better than nothing at all) and so was gradually filled up.
By the time I joined the DFR in 1986 the building was full of piles of bolts and other small S&T parts. We did make some attempt to commence renovation of this structure during the late 1980s.We removed the stored components and started to paint the outside of the structure.
However, our progress was very limited due to the restriction of time and resources, and also knowing that it would need to be moved at some point to allow construction of the current Norchard Low Level platform.
It was considered that this signal box would be ideal for location at Whitecroft, it would accommodate a lever frame of about eighteen levers and the low height meant it would be less intrusive visually for the local residents.
It was decided to relocate the signal box in one piece to Tufts Junction (as this was considered to be reasonably secure due to the notable lack of road access). The Cowans Sheldon forty-five-ton steam crane, along with a FLATROL wagon (a bogie wagon with a low bed) were used to undertake this move around 1987.
Many photographs were taken of the event, perhaps this is one of the weirder movements to occur along the DFR?
After relocation to Tufts, restoration work stopped and the windows were removed to storage in Parkend goods shed to prevent destruction by vandals, but allowed more rain to enter the structure. It remained there for many years before eventually being dismantled and lost after falling into a condition beyond reasonable chance of restoration.
Opposite Page: Barnwood Signal Box is captured mid-lift at Norchard, carefully hoisted by the forty-five-ton steam crane.
Below: Barnwood Signal Box, secured on the FLATROL wagon, heads toward Tufts Junction accompanied by the steam crane.
• Dunhampstead Signal Box
In about 1985, Bob Hawker had connections with the BR S&T department in Gloucester, and the DFR was offered the signal box. Dunhampstead level crossing is situated on the Birmingham to Gloucester mainline between Bromsgrove and Abbotswood Junction.
This was a MR Type 3 structure – a fifteen-foot signal box of normal height, which had been retained to control the level crossing after the multiple aspect signalling had been installed. Surprisingly, the crossing also retained its four mechanically operated gates controlled from a handwheel, and the lever frame was also intact with a handful of levers remaining operational!
The signal box became available as BR were upgrading the crossing with modern automatic barriers; thus, it would become redundant. The DFR was offered the entire setup including the signal box, the lever frame, the level crossing gates and all of the intricate mechanical components that made up the level crossing operating mechanism.
Bizarrely the level crossing gates, and control mechanism were all standard BR Western Region components even though it was situated on an ex-midland line! The route came under BR (WR) control during the 1960s, so the crossing equipment must have been renewed sometime after that date using these standard components!
The complete level crossing mechanism with the four gates, gate posts, gate stops, operating wheel and all the rodding were labelled and duly recovered. An extensive photographic record was taken of the operating mechanism by Brian Faulkner. These parts were placed into store at Whitecroft yard, unfortunately outside again.
Unfortunately, the parts were dispersed over the years to various locations around the railway as others sought to clear the Whitecroft site for restoration. The wooden gates, which were in quite good condition when recovered, were noted to be deteriorating rapidly in the early 1990s.
Some of the rodding and other parts were absorbed into the S&T general stores.At the time of recovery, it had been considered that the crossing might be utilised at Parkend. Manually controlled level crossings were once a common site across the UK, are now extremely rare. They are a fascinating example of Victorian mechanical engineering with the simultaneous movement of four gates controlled by one signalman turning a hand-wheel! It would have been interesting to recreate this, even as a demonstration like at Didcot Railway Centre. Obviously, new wooden gates would have been needed but the DFR possessed a large quantity of components, so it could have been feasible!
Unfortunately, BR needed to realign the track as part of the level crossing upgrade, and it was necessary to remove the signal box quickly. BR ended up part cutting up and part dismantling it. However, the DFR recovered most of the parts and many useful components including the windows, roof slates and some of the prefabricated panels.
The lever frame was recovered successfully – a standard MR frame of approximately sixteen levers, although some were missing and others had been cut down in height, as is standard practice where mechanical levers control colour light signals. At the time, the obvious solution was to use this lever frame at Whitecroft with Barnwood signal box, as both structures were fifteen-foot long. During my tenure as head of S&T the frame was roughly assembled in our storage area at Norchard high level and liberally coated with oil and grease to preserve it pending restoration. The recoveries from Dunhampstead were stored in Parkend goods shed with the remains of Charfield, and the Barnwood windows, where they were dry and secure. Unfortunately, it was later decided to rent the goods shed to a model railway club rather than preserve signal box parts, so the contents of the goods shed were unceremoniously removed and put in a ballast wagon. The parts were eventually stored on the lineside at Norchard under tarpaulins where many deteriorated or were lost.
• Pirton Signal Box
Due to the unexpected destruction of the promised signal box from Dunhampstead, BR offered the DFR the one at Pirton Crossing as a replacement. Again, this was located on the Gloucester to Birmingham mainline just south of Abbotswood Junction (near the village of Wadborough).
This larger MR Type 3 signal box was twenty-foot long (in two sections of ten-foot long). Originally the DFR had not considered recovering this signal box as it was considered too large for our needs, the fifteen-foot Dunhampstead signal box being considered more suitable. The signal box at Pirton had been retained by BR to control the adjacent barrier crossing. Unfortunately, the lever frame had long been removed. BR were making the crossing automatic and therefore the structure became available for recovery.
This time BR helpfully craned out the entire structure in one piece (complete with the roof), moved it some distance, and placed it in the former goods yard, at right angles to, and some distance from, the main running lines, pending recovery by DFR. This presented a somewhat extraordinary sight – unfortunately I have never seen a photo of this. I do recall at least one passing train driver doing a double take though at the peculiar sight!
The recovery of this signal box was one of the first projects I worked on as a fresh faced seventeen-yearold volunteer at the DFR in mid-1986. Along with other stalwart volunteers of the time including Bob Hawker, Mike Brimble, Andy Brimble, Fergie Scoon, we made several trips to Pirton, in cars laden with tools, to remove the roof and prepare it for removal by low loader lorry. I can remember that the weather was awful with pouring rain. I was the mug who ended up going on the roof to remove the slates and sarking boards, whilst others worked in the comparative dry of the interior removing the ceiling panels and other fittings. I permanently lost my fear of heights and ladders after undertaking this work and to this day I am happy to go up and down ladders!
In hindsight, working on a roof fifteen feet or so above the ground, in the rain, without scaffolding, was probably not the safest activity in the world but in those days, everyone was more relaxed about those things, and we were under pressure from BR to remove the signal box!
I recall there was a considerable quantity of dead flies and other dust in the roof which caused a nasty rash on my arms and hands for a few days. By the end of the day, we were soaking wet and covered in dust, with no running water on site and so we had to wait until we got back to Norchard in order to be able to clean ourselves up.
Anyway, the signal box (without roof and also with the bottom few feet cut away) was duly removed by low loader lorry and deposited at Whitecroft, which was the only location on the railway with available space and which could accept the low loader. This must have been an interesting sight travelling along the M5!
Unfortunately, there was little opportunity to work on the signal box whilst at Whitecroft, in those days the site was completely undeveloped with no power or water, nor could we easily access it from Norchard by rail. Lacking a roof, the structure deteriorated from the weather, and the local youths took a liking to using the roof timbers to keep themselves warm at night by lighting fires.
We were concerned that the entire thing might be burnt down or lost like the previous signal boxes that had been recovered. Our thoughts therefore turned to identifying a permanent location for the signal box where it could be restored. With a capacity for a lever frame of around thirty levers (quite a sizeable a heritage railway), it seemed important to make best use of it in a larger location where the DFR would need such a number of levers.
Opposite Page: Pirton Signal Box before being lifted by BR.
Below: Pirton Signal Box is seen here whilst being winched onto the FLATROL wagon in the yard at Whitecroft.
At this time the railway did not have a long-term development plan, however, works trains were operating regularly to Tufts Junction. This was approximately the halfway point on the line and was then the proposed site of the Permanent Way depot, a passing loop with sidings at Tufts would require a larger signal box. After discussion at a meeting of the Operations Committee, it was agreed that a signal box would be required at Tufts…
Arrangements were made to relocate it there, again using the ever-useful FLATROL wagon. Unfortunately, at that time the forty-five-ton crane was unable to travel over Tufts bridge due to the uncertain condition of the bridge.
So, we had to load the structure up onto the wagon by hand using a ‘runway’ of sleepers and rails under the main posts, some old boiler tubes as rollers and trusty a pull winch. This operation went surprisingly smoothly (suggesting that the structure did not weigh more than a few tonnes) and it was duly moved to Tufts where it was off-loaded by the crane. This took place in mid-1988.
We decided to locate the building on the site of the original Tufts Junction signal box. To do this it was necessary to dig out the area… as it transpired that when BR demolished the original signal box, they had simply left the debris on site. Over time this pile of bricks and rubble had become overgrown and indistinguishable from the rest of the adjacent slope. Using historic photographs, we were able to locate the exact spot then dig it out by hand.
During this effort we were able to recover a large quantity of intact blue engineering bricks. The work exposed the original foundation of the Tufts Junction signal box, as well as some remaining brickwork and the beautifully constructed stone built retaining wall behind. However, it was necessary to enlarge the original foundation slightly to accommodate the structure from Pirton and this was accomplished using a diesel-powered cement mixer that was craned into position. The aggregate, sand, cement and water were transported to site by the Wickham trolley.
The water was carried in a large barrel on the Wickham trolley trailer and was refilled from the locomotive water supply back at Norchard! Several trips between Norchard and Tufts Junction were required to complete the work...
Restoration work progressed at Tufts, as time allowed, for a couple of years – in between other tasks for the S&T such as installing ground frames. This work included the replacement of the rotten bottom sections of the corner posts (an Achilles’ heel of the MR design), replacement of the cladding on the lower section and re-instatement of the roof (to make the structure secure and weather tight). At this time the objective was never to fully restore the signal box, but just to secure its long-term future.
The DFR was very supportive of the project and funds were made available to buy new timber and paint. In particular the roof was made up of entirely new timber, as the originals had been largely lost to the vandals at Whitecroft or were rotten. I’m pleased to say that this time scaffolding was used to access the roof, albeit scratch built from whatever was available! Quite a few volunteers outside of the S&T gang took an interest in the restoration and provided help and support. I recall that John Aston volunteered to router out the rebates in the new cladding, but unfortunately destroyed his router in the process!
Restoration proved to be a drain on the S&T gang’s time and resources, progress was slow due to lack of electrical power, and motivation suffered when significant further rot was found in a structural beam. This was replaced with a piece recovered from the Dunhampstead structure, which illustrated the benefit of common components.
However, further rot was found in a corner post which would be difficult to resolve. So, by late 1991 we decided we had done enough work to preserve the structure, and it was secured as far as possible by placing plywood panels over the window holes. As far as I am aware it then stood at Tufts without any significant further attention, until it was relocated back to Whitecroft during 2015.
• Reflections
It may seem unfortunate that after saving three historic signal boxes and a pile of spare parts from a fourth (with the cost and effort involved) that only one is viable for restoration. A similar fate befell the ex-Taff Value Railway signal box recovered from Walnut Tree Junction... The reality is that there were a number of underlying and unavoidable challenges which prevented the DFR from restoring these signal boxes at the time:
1. The DFR lacked both the financial and labour resources to restore them.
2. The signal boxes were already around 80 years old at the time of recovery and all were suffering from wood rot in many places. The maintenance having been neglected by BR in the knowledge that they only had a short remaining life. It was unrealistic to think that they would be as good as new after a fresh new coat of paint, as significant structural repairs were needed.
3. The DFR lacked undercover storage for artefacts generally – during my years of involvement with the S&T gang we faced a continual battle to store and protect valuable artefacts and had to make hard choices about what was kept inside or stored outside.
4. Had the components of the signal boxes been kept dry, then they could have been stored until the DFR had the resources to renovate them. Sadly, most of the components were stored outside where they deteriorated, became lost or even used as firewood by some who didn’t understand the provenance.
5. There was a lack of facilities at any site other than Norchard. BR had denuded the railway such that when purchased by the DFR, the railway was little more than a long, overgrown siding... There was no power, lighting, water or covered accommodation anywhere, with the exception of Parkend goods shed. This made any restoration work very difficult to undertake.
Restoration of a MR signal box is a big project, not unlike renovating a small house. It requires good carpentry skills, so it may not be surprising that it was beyond our capability at the time. Certainly, there was no "buildings maintenance group" and the S&T gang did what it could to secure the future of these buildings with limited resources and skills.
Against the odds, Pirton signal box survived, and after being moved back to Whitecroft, it may finally be restored to use as a signal box? Thus, justifying the time, money, and effort that we spent to recover and preserve it almost forty years ago. I do look forward to when I may be able to pull a few levers in a restored Whitecroft signal box! Above: Pirton Signal Box being worked on at Tufts Junction.
Opposite Page: Pirton Signal Box is about to be lifted from the FLATROL wagon by the forty-five-ton steam crane.
Below: Pirton Signal Box being secured during 1991.
In Memoriam
Unfortunately, we have been saddened by the loss of some characters from our ranks since the last magazine was type-set and published, here is a photo-tribute to those that are no longer with us.
Above: Peter Jenkins became a member in 1997 and, for many years, regularly travelled from Pembrokeshire to volunteer on the footplate. Here he is seen taking a brief break from driving 9681 with then Fireman Keirran Copley (left) during 2010. (A. Copley)
Below: Bob Bramwell became a member in 1988 and undertook a number of roles, including Membership Secretary for a number of years. Here he is seen outside the Carriage and Wagon GUV with Trevor Nicholson (left) and Basil North (middle). (DFR Museum Collection)
Don’t miss out! A pictorial celebration of the DFR’s first five decades, containing many previously unseen photographs. £16 for members. Pick up your copy from the shop at Norchard or online (with discount code DFRSMEMBER20) from:
www.dfrsociety.org.uk/shop
Who’s Who at the DFR
Forest of Dean Railway Ltd
Overall strategic management of the railway
Chairman - Ian Pope
Vice-Chairman - Adam Dickinson
Finance Director - vacant
Commercial Director - vacant
Development Director - Adam Dickinson
Health & Safety Director - vacant
Society Appointed Directors - Adam Williams, Dave Churton
David Hurd Appointed Directors - Martin Hillier, Robert Morris
Company Secretary - vacant
Dean Forest Railway Company Ltd
The day to day running of the railway
Chairman - Adam Dickinson
Operations Director - vacant
Finance Director - Cecile Hunt
Director of Civil Engineering - vacant
Lineside Director - Chris Bull
Support Director - Adam Williams
Chief Mechanical Engineer - Adam
Dickinson
Signal & Telegraph - Steve Harris
Carriage & Wagon - John Clarke
Electrical - vacant
Permanent Way - Alex Davies
Telecoms - Rick Gillingham, Charles Bristow
Dean Forest Railway Society
Registered Charity 1183538 dedicated to the preservation and development of the DFR.
Chairman - James Graham
Vice-Chairman - Adam Williams
Treasurer - Tim McLennan
Secretary - Sue Williams
Membership Secretary - Adam Williams
Website Lead - Doug Johnson
Volunteer Liaison - vacant
Other Trustees - Dave Churton, Adrian Copley, Ed Dyer, Alan Grant, Martin Hillier, Richard Taylor, Lynne Wentworth
