ParkeNd

Is 'Aslington Lil still alive?

This is in N gauge. Thanks for looking.

In my view Speech House Road would make a perfect western terminus. I have been told this is in the DFR 10 year plan and money is the key requirement. All the more reason now to photograph St Mary's Halt with its removal likely. Apparently there is a group who favour absolute authenticity but the paying public reward a lively railway experience with return visits - and this is likely to provide the impetus for more "railway atmosphere" at Whitecroft and Norchard. I could go with this.

I went up to ParkeNd on Saturday, although the DFR calendar showed nothing running, to take some photos of familiar subjects with a new camera body. The individual photo sizes are giving my iMac memory a bit of a hiding, so until more memory arrives Tuesday I am having to downsize the photos I export to Photobucket to avoid the system churning for 'hours". Don't know how good this photo is going to look - the original is almost etched!! This photo shows a surprise (to me) Branchline Experience in progress at Norchard which was to become a Photo Opportunity just after I had to leave. Whilst at Parkend I talked for about 20 minutes to a very interesting DFR member who told me that the pile of stones I would see at Norchard is Berkeley Station Platform awaiting re-erection at Norchard, that St Mary's Halt might be dismantled to use the platform surface at Norchard High Level, that a second platform is to be installed along with a signal box and water column at Whitecroft, and since it is not a Sustrans cycle path at the old Travellers Rest Crossing there is no theoretical reason why the line could not be continued all the way to Cinderford. Here's the photo with pile of stone visible.

Thank you Phil - I have looked now but had not found the thread before. I have so far concentrated mainly on about a dozen books I have bought over the past 18 months from the truly incredible DFR bookshop at Norchard - they are better than any source I have found so far. However my absolute favourites for containing details for building my layout are Martin Wynne's photos of D6320 (Class 22) at ParkeNd - they set the loco plus wagons progressing up from Marsh Wharf, across New Road, and then down behind the Stationmaster's house. One of them includes the only shot I have ever seen of the original asbestos built semi-detached bungalow with the long corrugated shed that Alan, who now lives at the Stationmaster's house, told me housed a lorry. These photos are somewhere on this forum.

Thanks for the new info. Armed with an OS map I finally found the embankment with the very sharp left turn off the lane at Pirton so will visit and photograph from the Lydney bank - I have never seen a photo taken there. Using Google satellite view and your instructions I found the St Mary's Halt footbridge visible through the trees Arthur. I have also spotted the path running past the back of the church from Church Road to the Halt. Will visit and photograph if this rain ever stops.

I honestly don't know. Even the OS maps don't show it on the Lydney side unlike the Sharpness side. But I will find out.

Thanks Arthur for the directions. I shall give it a go.

St Mary's Halt is seldom photographed by my reckoning so this will be the venue for my next new pictures. First I have to find the entry point from a road and then plan my way around a month long series of road closures for resurfacing. The two week planned closure at Whitecroft proved to last 4 months!! The few old black and white photos in books show a crane stored there as well as the elaborate footbridge you can see as the train passes through. I'm guessing that entry from Lydney Park might be the solution.

I realise you are limiting yourself by utilising existing OO stock, but this is exposing the severe limitations of the wrong gauge in a domestic environment. Minehead station really needs around 15 feet minimum in OO gauge. A switch to N gauge (you really don't need a microscope to see it) would enable you to make a good representation of Minehead that people would recognise rather than you having to point out that it's the buffers end of half of Minehead station platforms. In OO each half length train is not even going to travel its own length to "arrive" at it's destination. But in N gauge 8 ft x 2 ft would allow you to have scale length trains and some landscape to arrive out of.

From Dean Forest Railway yesterday 29th April 2015.

At risk of boring you with new photos - but moving on to Lydney Harbour anyway. This is the link Arthur gave me to "The last of the Coal Tippers: http://www.sungreen.co.uk/Lydney-Glos/images/LYDNEY-DOCKS-1950-s.jpg And here is the same spot seen yesterday 29th April 2015. Note the ridge visible above the lock gates. The area is billed as a Heritage Site but the heritage part of it is actually being obliterated except for some informative sign boards. Try as I might I couldn't find a hint of a rail anywhere. But you can see the physical areas where the history once stood. Coal Tipper No 9 used to stand here and just a bit of woodwork remains. A siding came right up to this pin along the general line of the path in the photo. Coal Tippers 1 to 8 stood along the edge of this basin and the area of grassland on the edge of the photo was a dense mass of sidings. All this was sidings and the earth is still black with coal where the grass gets scraped away. The regeneration work is just that though - what was once pretty grim and dilapidated has become very attractive and is well visited. This stone commemorates the men who died when the two barges collided in fog and knocked down part of the Severn Railway Bridge. The Severn Railway Bridge crossed from the construction jutting out into the river from the bank on the other side of the river on the horizon of this picture. Note how huge the river is with the tide in. By contrast here is the river at low tide - the two Severn road bridges can be seen on the horizon - if you zoom into the picture that is.

As promised above a few photos first of what I think is some of DFR's most sparkling restoration work - the Owners Salon behind sloped prairie tank 5541. It's Friday 29th April 2015 and apparently the last few brushstrokes of paint had just been applied. So it doesn't get any fresher than this. Couldn't manage to avoid the reflections on the windows.

Thanks Tony for the additional and fascinating information. I revisited Lydney Harbour again this morning and took more photos which compare with the photo links Arthur gave me. Having rained overnight it was a very clear day with visibility for miles and I will post some of the pictures when I have processed the Raw files. After the harbour I moved on to Lydney Junction with the Nikon F100 film camera loaded with Ilford XP2 black and white film. Will publish a selection when developed and scanned. I reckon Lydney Junction was made for black and white. Next port of call was Norchard after I failed to find the access to St Mary's Halt. The treat waiting there was fantastic and sent me running back to my car for the digital camera to augment the black and white. The Owners Salon which has just finished restoration was pulled up alongside the low level platform behind 5541. The restoration is absolutely stunning - inside and out - with sparkling paintwork and fabulous lounge style furnishings fit for Royalty. I will post some photos.

It will look great when it's finished!! Lydney 24th April 2015.

The top of an old signal box at Lydney.

Having been prompted by Arthur's links to more pictures of Lydney Harbour in 1950's and earlier I have researched more about the dock area and expanded my knowledge a bit. Later this week I will shoot some more shots of this regenerated area concentrating on the bits that had train activity. Finding where the old Severn Railway Bridge came ashore on the Lydney side would be a plus since all the photos I have seen are from Purton on the Gloucester side. The Lydney Junction photos seem to have generated some discussion. I tried to make them as characterful as possible (might have another go with black and white film). Later on I will try to find the matching areas of the West Somerset Railway, and the Severn Valley Railway. Thanks very much for sharing all the extra information.

Thanks for the comments. Apart from the big signal box I really struggle with relating old photos with the 2015 Lydney Junction. Easier to do in other locations. This level of desolation and abandonment is more like 1950's London as I remember that. brianusa is probably right about the effect on return visits if passengers get out of the train briefly - better to stay in your seat. The contrast with Parkend at the other end of the line is very strong.

Now to Lydney Junction as seen Friday 24th April 2015. It is pretty desolate still. As far as I can make out from old photos this building just off the end of the current platform is in it's original place and a small signal box stood opposite it - note the lever frame bits in the second pic below. The Engine Sheds must have been about where the rolling stock is standing. This is all there is on the platform at present. There was a platform on the other side of the rails on the first pic but there is absolutely no evidence it was ever there no matter how hard you look. On the other side of the main road there is the DFR Diesel Groups refurb premises with a Class 37 and a Class 25 being repaired behind the polythene - and much more you can't see.

I'm going to shoot more pictures of Lydney Harbour as it relates to the Severn & Wye Railway before I publish any of them - maybe a week delay. So I will concentrate on Lydney Junction first. In the meantime for those who haven't visited DFR recently here is the new Cafe on the Norchard Lower Platform. It was Friday - everywhere deserted.

Thanks again Arthur. I've always regarded the Severn as an unfriendly river - in direct contrast to the Wye for instance. When I was standing on the part of the harbour jutting out into the river the tide was still coming in and it was quite scary. At Newnham people have been drowned because they were walking on the sandbanks when the tide came in at 30 mph - they just couldn't run fast enough.

Arthur, that picture is priceless. I stood exactly where the tipper was today and will go back again to reproduce the view as seen from 2015. Thank you very much.

I finally visited Lydney Junction and the Lydney Docks regeneration area this morning with my camera. Lydney Junction apart from the platform locations is very difficult to relate back to Pages 6-12 Of The Dean Forest Railway and ex-Severn & Wye Railway Lines book by John Stretton. There are lots of rails but lots of desolation too. The area needs massive work and it's not a happy place to be on your own. Lydney Harbour on the other hand is vastly improved, and plenty of helpful Environment Agency staff around to help with knowledge. Well worth the trip. When I have processed the raw files I will post some photos.

It's picture 2 I reckon is a reconstruction. I have a 1922 photo of Parkend showing a shelter on Platform 1 with a Nestles chocolate machine against the side wall facing the footbridge. I built it for my layout with some difficulty about the detailed shape of the canopy. When I had finished it I stumbled across my pic No 2 above. Since there was no station at Norchard I figured this building was a replica of the Parkend shelter mentioned above - so I could have copied it rather than the old black and white photo.

Partly spurred on by Tassie Tex and Arthur adding to the Fountain Inn info here are some more shots - this time of some of the minor structures at Norchard. The inside of the Station Masters office. I reckon this is a fair reproduction of the shelter that stood on Platform 1 at Parkend. The entrance out of the car park - with evidence of the old Norchard power station in the background. The building beside the crossing over the headshunt. Enamel advertising signs by the entrance. And a few more at the end of the static coaches.