Somewhere in the Forest of Dean

[brianusa]

For everyone who knows what a blue diesel looks like, but has forgotten or never seen one on the DFR, here is a brief express taster from today's Diesel Gala Day 1 of 3. There are plenty more photos but here is a starter for 4. Alas not a Class 22, 25, or 37 - but a Class 26 which spent much of it's life in Scotland before joining the Gloucester and Warwickshire Railway who have loaned the loco. Photos taken 2nd Sept 2016.

 

 

 

 

 

More in a day or so - but I wanted you to see something while it's still new. 

 

I wish they'd connect the siding on the Down side, where the gent is leaning on the gate.  Been bugging me for years!

 

Brian.

[F-UnitMad]

I wish they'd connect the siding on the Down side, where the gent is leaning on the gate.  Been bugging me for years!

 

Brian.

Yes, a real shame that they lost that connection. It may have been due to the fact it led straight to the (ungated) road - something for today's Health & Safety Brigade to really get into a tizz about!!

[ParkeNd]

I wish they'd connect the siding on the Down side, where the gent is leaning on the gate.  Been bugging me for years!

 

Brian.

 

 

Yes, a real shame that they lost that connection. It may have been due to the fact it led straight to the (ungated) road - something for today's Health & Safety Brigade to really get into a tizz about!!

 

 

Hi both,

 

Below is a bit of the 1920 track plan - the line coming in through the gate went to 2 places - a run around the back of the platform between the goods shed and the station building emerging back on the main line again - and off across the road to Marsh Sidings. I have been told that the plan is to connect the run in to the back of the goods shed so wagons can be displayed there - but obviously with the signal box in it's "heritage" location its not possible to run back to the main line.

 

[Derails Models]

Hi all, I'm typing here, very tired, from the end of the second gala of the year! Two down, two to go, next up is the railcar convention!

 

Today I did a little deviation from my rostered duty of ticket inspector, one of the other TTI's on the set B (Class 08 plus Saloon and TSO) had reported he was going to be late with a flat tyre, and as set B requires two members of staff as there is no corridor connection between the two coaches, I was swapped onto that set for the first trip! I then swapped back to A set and spent a happy few hours behind the 26 and later one of the 14's before swapping with the other TTI again for the last trip back on the B set. After my shift ended, I was going to go for a nice trip on the cushions on the last train of the day, but again, things change! D9555 was required for the evening shunting and an assistant shunter was asked for due to complexity of the post-gala shunt. Yours truly was the only one not working at the time so guess what - let's just say that the oil from screwlink couplings seems to get everywhere!

 

Onto the pictures, unfortunately these are all I have as the rain on Saturday evening rather ruined my session!

 

Saturday evening's pictures:

 

D5434 corssing Lydney High Street in the glorius rain, the crossing keepers were rather wet...the focus on this one was out quite badly unfortunately.

 

Crossing in the rain by Derails Models, on Flickr

 

D5434 leaves Parkend amongst the braken! On this photo the colours went a little off, I think the drizzle was making that effect!

 

Peeking out by Derails Models, on Flickr

 

D9555 and the demo freight gets the signal for entry into Norchard High Level. Unfortunately this one didn't come out as nice as I'd hoped, just if my camera had managed to focus a little better! Oh well.

 

Got the road ahead by Derails Models, on Flickr

 

Moving onto today, in a quiet spell, I captured these, taken on a Samsung cameraphone as opposed to my normal camera:

 

D5434 waits in the east loop for its next turn whilst D9555 waits for the road with its next service.

 

Waiting for the off by Derails Models, on Flickr

 

D9521 (left), arrives with an impressive demo freight of 10 dogfish wagons, D5434 (centre) waits for its next turn in the east loop whilst D9555 (right)  waits in the platform for the road to Parkend.

 

A loco gathering by Derails Models, on Flickr

 

All in all a good gala, hopefully next year we'll have an even better one (and hopefully we might get that Hymek too....)!

Edited September 4, 2016 by Derails Models

[Arthur]

 

I like D5434 'amongst the bracken', very striking.

[ParkeNd]

Thanks for posting the extra photos. I was going to add a few new ones myself but will save them for the Photography sub-forum now other than just two to give the Class 14s an airing.

 

 

[brianusa]

Thanks for the pictures.  The bracken looks like our garden under the trees!  On the diagram, there are three lines disappearing towards Lydney; one I assume was a siding or a loop but was this line ever doubled all the way early on?

 

Brian.

[F-UnitMad]

It suddenly clicked what looked wrong with the 26... the yellow doesn't wrap around the side windows & doors!!

The more I look at it, the weirder it looks..!! Did they run out of yellow paint??!!

[ParkeNd]

It suddenly clicked what looked wrong with the 26... the yellow doesn't wrap around the side windows & doors!!

The more I look at it, the weirder it looks..!! Did they run out of yellow paint??!!

I guess so. Most had the yellow wrap around at cab window height and back across the full width of the cab door even - leaving the bottom 2/3 of the door blue. Those with a SYP seemed to have this region white. Only the Dutch Engineers scheme had the front only coloured like this with no wrap. Looks more like a 24 or 25. Well spotted.

[Tim Hall]

Popped up yesterday PM.

 

A pleasant way to spend an afternoon. Had a chat to TTI Derails Dan at Parkend whilst waiting for a shoal of dogfishes to arrive behind the McRat.

I'm sure the 26 people have previously said that there is a prototype for one in this livery variation, though I think it was quite rare and short lived.

Edited September 5, 2016 by Tim Hall

[ParkeNd]

I'll research Brian's query about double track. In the meantime a couple of rear end shots.

Edited September 5, 2016 by ParkeNd

[Derails Models]

Great shots all!

 

Tim, it was good to see you and catch up

 

ParkeNd I like that rear end image of the freight approaching Whitecroft, just shows how impressive that freight really was - bear in mind last years diesel gala freight only consisted of 5 dogfish! And there's still one left to restore...

[shipbadger]

To come back to the plans for Parkend goods yard and sidings.  Priority at the moment centres around drainage and replacing rotten sleepers.  The S&T department are also steadily working their way around connecting everything up to the signal box.  The ex-Midland railway three plank wagon we have been working on in the yard at Norchard is scheduled to be taken to Parkend for display.  There are longer term plans for a seven plank wagon in Parkend colliery colours, but that needs the body reconstructing first.  The Shark is also supposed to be 'homed' at Parkend when not in use.  I understand that the PW dept. have identified the components neccesary to reconnect the sidings.

 

Nice to see the Queen Mary looking good in the photos, but it doesn't pay to look too closely, expecially at the roof.  As always more time money and labour is required.

 

Tony Comber

[ParkeNd]

Tony - thanks for the info. It's been a while since we heard from you. I had hoped that I would bump into you at Norchard or Parkend to put a face to a name. Same for Dan "Derail" and Tim.

[ParkeNd]

------------------------------------------------------- On the diagram, there are three lines disappearing towards Lydney; one I assume was a siding or a loop but was this line ever doubled all the way early on?

 

Brian.

 

From what I can make out the lines either side of Parkend were double track. Once they reach Norchard, which was a power station and a colliery rather than a train station, it seems to be single track for a while until just before Lydney Town - then double track again.

[Arthur]

This link will take you to the OS six inch 1888-1913 map showing Parkend. You can zoom and scroll to explore and if you use the overlay slider bottom left you can fade in Google Earth.

 

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=51.7692&lon=-2.5616&layers=171&b=1

Edited September 5, 2016 by Arthur

[Arthur]

 

 

Also of interest might be the Forest of Dean app, free and available for Apple certainly and maybe Android.

 

Just search Forest of Dean or Hidden Heritage of the Dean, in the store,

 

It's GPS linked and, when in the Forest, it opens up an images contrasting the current scene fading into a matched old photograph.

 

You can also explore these images, twenty or so, at will, you don't need the GPS trigger.

 

My favourite is one that appears on the home page showing the former line running from Parkend Wharf as it crosses the Coleford Road, muddy track then, by Parkend Gate. The gatehouse like building still stands though now a little enlarged. This was the line that served various quarries and Flour Mill Colliery near Bream. The closest the railway system got to where I live.

 

 

.

[Derails Models]

Tony - thanks for the info. It's been a while since we heard from you. I had hoped that I would bump into you at Norchard or Parkend to put a face to a name. Same for Dan "Derail" and Tim.

 

I know we have crossed paths at various points, for example last Wednesday you must have been stood only a few metres away when you took some of those photo's! I was doing Parkend gates as part of the train crew duties that day...

 

Thanks all also for those plans and information surrounding them, that's some new info I haven't heard before

[Pixie]

 

D9555 and the demo freight gets the signal for entry into Norchard High Level. Unfortunately this one didn't come out as nice as I'd hoped, just if my camera had managed to focus a little better! Oh well.

 

Got the road ahead by Derails Models, on Flickr

 

 

 

Oh nurse! That's a beautifully timeless photograph.

 

Steve

[corneliuslundie]

The place to look for information on track layouts over time is "Track layout diagrams of the G.W.R. and B.R. (W.R.) Section 87 Forest of Dean" by R A Cooke (self published though sections some are being reprinted by Lightmoor).

Whitefroft to Coleford Junction was doubled in 1887 but the section to just short of Parkend Goods Junction was singled on 30/11/1930.

There was a headshunt beside the down road south of Parkend but it shortened at some unstated date. This would have made three roads until the singling.

The was no three line section north of Parkend until the sidings at Travellers Rest.

And the north connection to Parkend back road is shown as having been taken out of use before closure but no date is given. It might be the same date as the removal of the northern crossover between the running lines - 12.63.

Jonathan

[5050]

The place to look for information on track layouts over time is "Track layout diagrams of the G.W.R. and B.R. (W.R.) Section 87 Forest of Dean" by R A Cooke (self published though sections some are being reprinted by Lightmoor).

This section is currently out of print (I think!).

 

I've got one

[F-UnitMad]

Oh nurse! That's a beautifully timeless photograph.

 

Steve

It's got a Ben Ashworth "feel" to it.

 

I still can't quite work out where it was taken from. Top of the water tower, maybe?

[Derails Models]

It was taken from the abutment, the tower thing on the right as you leave Norchard, it's out of sight from the platform. It was quite muddy as it was raining badly so it was difficult to climb, and it was also quite overgrown! It's probably the best picture of the lot as it was the most realistic, '55 was a forest engine and ballast wagons were something it pulled a lot of in the when working here!

 

Thanks for the kind comments

 

On another note, for those of you who missed the Class 26 at the gala, at the moment it is rostered for Saturday's diesel day running - things change last minute so don't take that as concrete, but that's as it stands!

[ParkeNd]

Went to The International N Gauge Show (TINGS) at Warwickshire Exhibition Centre today instead of going to photograph the Class 26 between Parkend and Whitecroft. Mistake. The exhibition centre was dark, many of the layouts had no lighting of their own, and standard of layouts IMHO was not a patch on last year. Should have gone to DFR - it never disappoints. Lesson learned.

[Talltim]

Something a little unusual for the DFR

 

http://m.imgur.com/gallery/TqEnJBi

 

It hit a cow at 70mph, has major damage to the front, the undergubbins (back as far as the centre car) and flats on all wheels. It was moved at 5mph onto the railway for onward movement by road.

Edited September 12, 2016 by Talltim