Councils boost to resteam Dean Forest’s first loco
THE Dean Forest Railway is on track to return its first-ever steam locomotive to traffic after two local councils backed its restoration fund.
The awards of £10,000 from West Dean Parish Council's Yorkley Solar Farm Section 106 Grant Scheme and £5,000 from Gloucestershire County Council's Growing Our Communities Fund will see Peckett R4 0-4-0ST No. 2147 of 1952 Uskmouth No.1 set on course to run again, marking 50 years since it hauled the heritage line's first passenger rides.
Uskmouth No.1 was supplied new for the Central Electricity Generating Board's Uskmouth A power station (also known as Fifoots Point) at the mouth of the River Usk, near Newport, for hauling coal wagons brought via the main line from the South Wales collieries.
It gave relentless service for two decades before diesel shunters took over, and its retirement came at an opportune moment for it to be purchased by members of the Dean Forest Railway's (DFR) original preservation society, complete with a full boiler certificate.
Role
As recounted in our special feature last issue to mark the 50th anniversary of the DFR, Uskmouth No.1 gave brake van rides at the society's original base at Parkend, running on the Marsh branch siding under a local arrangement with BR.
Uskmouth A was closed in October 1981 and demolished in 2002, now the site of the gas-powered Severn Power Station, while Uskmouth B, built in 1959 to be coal-fired, is now fuelled by biomass and waste.
Uskmouth No. 1 therefore holds a very special place in the history of the DFR, but has been out of service for many years. Other DFR fleet members have taken precedence, thanks largely to their GWR heritage and being capable of hauling five-carriage trains, now a typical scene at the DFR.
Society chairman Alastair Clarke said: “We have been building up funds over the years to renovate Uskmouth No. 1 through annual draws, and now these funds have been substantially boosted thanks to two extremely welcome grants.
“This additional funding comes thanks to the society's charitable status and will not only enable Uskmouth No. 1 to steam again, but in doing so, we can provide our local community – of all ages – with volunteering opportunities in heritage conservation and hands-on engineering work. The locomotive's boiler requires professional, skilled repairs, so the railway can now at last afford this to be done by contractors in the fairly near future. We can't wait to see Uskmouth No. 1 back in action.”
Progress
Society treasurer Tim McLennan said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has delayed many projects at the railway due to the huge impact on revenue, but even before these grants were announced work has been progressing in the background with the ‘Thursday Gang' under Ed Freeman's guidance.
“Outside lockdown, our brake van rides became very popular as they gave very useful in-built social distancing for our visitors.
“Thanks to this funding boost, the DFR now plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of those first public brake van rides at Parkend with a return to service – in its original role with us – of its much-loved pioneering locomotive, Uskmouth No. 1.”