Somewhere in the Forest of Dean

[ParkeNd]

Often discussed on the forum board and now published in DFR Magazine Summer 2015 is a useful timeline for Dean Forest Railway Expansion.

 

Phase 1A. Parkend to Coleford Junction. 0.3 miles of extra running. Finished by 2017. New infrastructure "Travellers Rest Level Crossing.

 

Phase 1B. Coleford Junction to Bixslade Halt. 1.1 miles of extra running. Finished by 2020. New infrastructure "Nags Head Tunnel"

 

Phase 1C. Bixslade Halt to Speech House Road. 1.1 miles of extra running. Finished by 2025. New infrastructure "Speech House Road Station"

 

Phase 2A. Speech House Road to Serridge Halt. 1.6 miles of extra running. Finished 2032. New infrastructure "Speech House Road Bridge + Serridge Halt Station.

 

Phase 2B. Serridge Halt to Cinderford. 2.2 miles of extra running. Finished 2040. New infrastructure "Cinderford Station"

 

 

To save you adding this up it comes to 6.3 miles of additional running.  So railway is planned to be over 10 miles in length.

[ParkeNd]

This morning I plan to have another go at photographing steam trains at Lydney Town Station using the parking tips received. I don't really know what to expect in the way of results since it looked to be a very restricted space with contrasting character surroundings. But I shall take an 18-35 zoom on a full frame camera and give it my best shot. I hope it will be 5541 rather than Wilbert although I must confess that the 57xx pannier tank is my favourite - it's just genuine Forest hardware by virtue of the classes number of appearances in old photos.

Edited June 24, 2015 by ParkeNd

[ParkeNd]

The Lydney Town Station expedition came off well this morning. The car park beside the station was half empty and the platform was quiet - just a few people turned up a few minutes before the train arrived. I had already dropped in at Norchard to pick up a couple of the DFR Magazines to take down to Essex in a couple of weeks so I knew that there were not massive coach parties today.

 

I found the station quite enchanting to be honest and I got the photos I wanted which should add to the very small quantity of Lydney Town Station pictures on the internet.. There was a swarm of bees by the corner of the car park being rescued by a beekeeper, and some grandparents with their small grandchildren from the Channel Islands who had never seen a train before in the flesh. Parkend a bit later was busier but it looked like a good balance between revenue for DFR and a bit of space for me. I will post a selection of photos when I have processed the RAW files.

 

5541 was on roster - truly sparkling.

 

Still no sign of a man with a dog in Lydney!!

[brianusa]

Always look forward to more pictures.  One of my favourite sites both model and reality..

 

Brian

[ParkeNd]

That fifth photo of the prairie in the forest is a real winner. I might just print it out on A3 and frame it for the model railway room.

 

 

Jonathan

 

If you really want to do that then PM me an email address and I will mail you a full sized file. It was taken on a 36mp Nikon D810 so there are entry of pixels to play with.

 

Chris

[Captain Kernow]

Often discussed on the forum board and now published in DFR Magazine Summer 2015 is a useful timeline for Dean Forest Railway Expansion.

 

Phase 1A. Parkend to Coleford Junction. 0.3 miles of extra running. Finished by 2017. New infrastructure "Travellers Rest Level Crossing.

 

Phase 1B. Coleford Junction to Bixslade Halt. 1.1 miles of extra running. Finished by 2020. New infrastructure "Nags Head Tunnel"

 

Phase 1C. Bixslade Halt to Speech House Road. 1.1 miles of extra running. Finished by 2025. New infrastructure "Speech House Road Station"

 

Phase 2A. Speech House Road to Serridge Halt. 1.6 miles of extra running. Finished 2032. New infrastructure "Speech House Road Bridge + Serridge Halt Station.

 

Phase 2B. Serridge Halt to Cinderford. 2.2 miles of extra running. Finished 2040. New infrastructure "Cinderford Station"

 

 

To save you adding this up it comes to 6.3 miles of additional running.  So railway is planned to be over 10 miles in length.

Superb, many thanks for that.

 

It's interesting, isn't it, how one can get a completely false impression of distances. I know that I would only have had to have checked the scale on a map, but perusing books on the Severn & Wye, I always get the impression that Serridge Jct in particular was further from Parkend and Speech House Road, maybe because the photos show it as such an isolated place. I am amazed to see that it's only 6.3 miles from Parkend to Cinderford!

 

A similar parallel perhaps was when I used to travel to Minehead from Bath to volunteer on the WSR in the early days. Train  to Taunton and then the Western National bus to Minehead. The journey took around an hour, and the distance always seemed longer than it actually was. When I later lived in Norton Fitzwarren and started driving, the distances and time taken to traverse them shrank dramatically!

[F-UnitMad]

The proposals for extending the line are interesting, although I'm not sure I shall live long enough to see trains reach Cinderford...

[ParkeNd]

At last the a selection of Lydney Town Station photos. There are more of 5541 but I will post them seperately - the intention of this post is just to add more online pictures of this station.

 

I very much liked the station - sitting on a bench in the shade of a tree waiting for 5541 was a very pleasant experience - quiet and peaceful and could only be improved if some of the folk in the houses opposite had passed me a cup of the coffee they were drinking.

 

The first photo shows the crossing gates over which the train will approach from Norchard.

 

 

The platform is very long - this shot looking the same way as the previous photo.

 

 

Then two shots, one in each direction, of the immaculate station building.

 

 

 

Then 5541 arriving and slipping slowly along the platform, then leaving in the direction of St Mary's Halt and a few yards later to Lydney Junction.

 

 

 

More photos showcasing 5541 to follow in a separatepost.

[corneliuslundie]

Like cubed!  Yes, the station building is very nicely done. Mind you, a good many years ago I remember admiring the one at the junction.

 

Jonathan

[ParkeNd]

Like cubed!  Yes, the station building is very nicely done. Mind you, a good many years ago I remember admiring the one at the junction.

 

Jonathan

The station building at Lydney Junction still looks good to my eyes but is let down by the general environment. Since your post I have got to thinking that when even a few more miles are added in the direction of Speech House Road that making more of St Mary's Halt and installing a run around loop would be preferable to crawling the last few yards to the comparative desolation of Lydney Junction - except for the occasional links with say The Cathedrals Express. I accept that Lydney Junction might never have been picturesque but at least in days of yore it had a purpose. Unless there is ever a realistic hope of reaching the rejuvenated Lydney Docks (not in published plans up to 2040) then shifting the railway North by about 0.2 mile would retain its sylvan character which would be more appealing to repeat coach trips which then go on to lunch in Monmouth and tea in Ross on Wye.

Edited June 26, 2015 by ParkeNd

[ParkeNd]

Just a last quick burst for a while on the DFR photos - you will all be getting fed up with them. In the meantime I am going to be concentrating on some Parkend model railway layout photos for a change.

 

Some shots of 5541 from some hopefully less than usual angles.

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway no more for a while - I promise.

[Mad_Hatter]

This really needs Tony Comber to answer. A quick blast on Google shows that 6412 was the last loco run at Ross and this is on the West Somerset. The West Somerset have 5542 and this is the only tenuous link I can find although I am not much of a historian.

6412 is normally based on the South Devon railway who acquired it from the WSRA in October 2008. 5542 is owned by 5542 group and only spends a short amount of time on the WSR as it is hired out to other railways.

[Arthur]

Still no sign of a man with a dog in Lydney!!

Ha!, no, we don't often walk in Lydney. This is our rescue dog, Poppy, she's a whippet lurcher.

 

 

This is our usual walk, just 100 yards from the house, Clanna Ponds, we're often the only ones there. About 4 miles from the centre of Lydney.

 

 

 

 

Having said that, we were down walking the docks this morning. We crossed the Lyd and walked the old railway line, once serving the tipplers, back towards Lydney. I came across this, snapped with my iPhone, which I hadn't passed before, a pillbox right at the side of the track bed, with gun ports facing both ways down the line and back across the river.

 

 

 

And finally. I've posted this before but it fits in here with the photos of Lydney Town station.

 

 

It's circa 1960 and, looking roughly north, it shows the line at the bottom, just off shot to the right, the line crosses the main road through Lydney and just beyond that is the site of the present station. The road at the top is that running, left, to Norchard and on to Parkend.

 

The sidings serve what was then, Lydney Builders merchants. Obviously it lost its rail link a good while ago and more recently it was Travis Perkins, though they moved out earlier this year to a site across the by-pass from St Mary's Church.

[ParkeNd]

Thanks Arthur. Good to hear from you after all this time. I shall watch out for the very distinctive looking Poppy from now on.

 

I haven't taken any new DFR pictures for a while because I thing folk were getting brassed off with them coming too frequently, but I did hand in my completed application form and first year subscription to join the DFR Society just over 2 weeks ago - haven't heard anything back though.

 

I really liked you photos and thanks for posting them.

[Arthur]

 

Thanks ParkeNd.

 

I've been meaning to post that aerial photo for a couple of weeks. It wa yesterday's walk and seeing that pillbox which prompted me to put the post together.

 

I think that your photos have been very well received and I'm sure I'm not alone in looking forward to more.

[Captain Kernow]

I haven't taken any new DFR pictures for a while because I thing folk were getting brassed off with them coming too frequently, .

Not so, I really like seeing them, please keep them coming!

[brianusa]

As this is a favourite place for photos, here is one from an unlikely source:

Its an old picture from 2003 but perhaps it will suffice until something newer comes along!

 

Brian.

[ParkeNd]

That picture is absolutely brilliant Brian. Thanks so much for posting it. Norchard has changed a great deal since then which makes the photo all the more important.

 

This is the nearest current view I have from the same spot but it's not such an interesting photo.

 

Edited July 10, 2015 by ParkeNd

[ParkeNd]

I had a yen late on Saturday morning to go and take some photos on the DFR - there was a Facebook entry saying that the DMU would be running on two extra dates (11th and 18th July) so off I went. It was too late to see trains in both directions at the "termini" on either end of the line so I settled for Norchard in the middle. Now Norchard I find hard to photograph mostly because of the long string of carriages being overhauled against the Low Level Platform - they obscure all the interesting stuff from pretty well every viewpoint. The DMU came through both ways and 5541 arrived at the low level platform along with the restored Queen Mary but hid behind the signal box whilst the folk doing the Branchline Experience had lunch. But I did my best and great fun it was out in the open air. I noticed that a pagoda is being erected on the High Level Platform - photo attached.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 13, 2015 by ParkeNd

[shipbadger]

Hi all,

 

Firstly I didn't respond to the question about the last loco at Ross as I'm no expert on these matters :-(  I can tell you that the wagon underframe with the red oxide paint in the photos above is a Midland Railway 3 plank open originally dating from 1896.  Originally on a wooden underframe at some point it gained a steel one.  It also has brakes that can only be operated from one side.  The single sided operation of the brakes would have banned it from the main line in the 20's.  The reason that it has these unusual features is that at some stage early in the last century it became an internal user at Sharpness Docks.  Like Trigger's broom much patching and replacement has taken place over the years.  The grounded body next to it is a MR 8 ton van.

 

Tony Comber

[ParkeNd]

Thanks for the info Tony. The 3 plank wagon base caught my non-expert attention because of the distinctive wheels - I have never seen such spoked wheels before. The inside of the signal box visible through the open window appealed too. There is much detail to photograph at Norchard but it's difficult to access. One of my favourite views is of trains arriving out of the trees around the curve from Whitecroft - it would look even better if the rubbish bin at the end of the platform was not there and other abandoned items - my brain excludes it but the camera seems to accentuate it.

 

 

Edited July 14, 2015 by ParkeNd

[brianusa]

One of my favourite views is of trains arriving out of the trees around the curve from Whitecroft - it would look even better if the rubbish bin at the end of the platform was not there and other abandoned items - my brain excludes it but the camera seems to accentuate it.

 

 

 

The DFR could do with a spruce up in many locations. It may not matter to enthusiasts, in fact they may love it all, but the average mum and dad expect things to be more neat and tidy these days; without losing its atmosphere. Its the small things as mentioned, dustbins, litter, old concrete blocks as in the photo.

 

Brian.

[ParkeNd]

 

The DFR could do with a spruce up in many locations. It may not matter to enthusiasts, in fact they may love it all, but the average mum and dad expect things to be more neat and tidy these days; without losing its atmosphere. Its the small things as mentioned, dustbins, litter, old concrete blocks as in the photo.

 

Brian.

 On a couple of occasions I have asked DFR folk why things are so untidy in some locations. The most common reply is that volunteers and a cleanup train are required when this can be organised. This seems to me to be very 1960/1970 in outlook. The solution needs to be the same as in modern industry - that the people doing a job should be encouraged not to chuck a plastic barrier down beside the track when they have finished using it (see first photo above just behind the token section sign) but to put it where such items are stored. It's still a bit like when a plumber or electrician came to your house and just chucked bits of stripped cable or offcuts of copper pipe and plaster bits on your floor - and then left and expected you to clean up after them.

 

All this debris and flotsam is in full customer view and spoils the customer experience. And it's not the same on other heritage railways such as the West Somerset or the SVR.

 

I love the railway but it really is getting very scruffy in places.

[brianusa]

No worry, NR has the same problem!

 

Brian.

[Graham Walters]

 On a couple of occasions I have asked DFR folk why things are so untidy in some locations. The most common reply is that volunteers and a cleanup train are required when this can be organised. This seems to me to be very 1960/1970 in outlook. The solution needs to be the same as in modern industry - that the people doing a job should be encouraged not to chuck a plastic barrier down beside the track when they have finished using it (see first photo above just behind the token section sign) but to put it where such items are stored. It's still a bit like when a plumber or electrician came to your house and just chucked bits of stripped cable or offcuts of copper pipe and plaster bits on your floor - and then left and expected you to clean up after them.

 

All this debris and flotsam is in full customer view and spoils the customer experience. And it's not the same on other heritage railways such as the West Somerset or the SVR.

 

I love the railway but it really is getting very scruffy in places.

 

I recently visited the SDR, and have to say it was immaculate in most places, but also tended to be a bit scruffy around the edges. Whilst Totnes and Buckfast were great, Staverton was spoilt by piles of rotting sleepers and other debris, which ruined a typical GWR country halt.

 

Of the FDR it's many years since I've been there, and to be honest it hasn't changed, and hailing from that area, I think it is inbred in the psyche of the people working on it, the whole of the Glos/Hfd area is scruffy and unkempt.