Peckett Rocket stars at Dean Forest’s 50th anniversary
IT'S not often that a Peckett 0-4-0ST is the star of anything – but for the Dean Forest Railway's 50th anniversary celebrations, it was the only choice.
Class W6 No. 1722 of 1926 Rocket visited from the Telford Steam Railway for the event on October 23/24, marking 50 years to the day since the DFR held its first steam day at Parkend on October 23, 1971. The star of the show on that occasion was Class R4 Peckett Uskmouth 1 (Works No. 2147 of 1952), the DFR's first steam locomotive, giving brake van rides over just 200 feet of track on a siding to which the DFR was confined while BR was still using the Lydney-Parkend line for freight traffic.
The DFR Society was formed to preserve the line in 1970. The railway had originally hoped to mark that anniversary last year and then to return Uskmouth 1 to steam this year, but the Covid-19 pandemic put paid to both those plans.
Rocket, however, helped to recreate those early days by giving short brake van rides at Parkend, while a display of traction engines and steam rollers and a miniature railway at the station also provided a similar atmosphere to a typical early 1970s steam day. Parkend featured a display of photographs and other archive material from the last five decades, and on the Saturday about 50 founder members, VIPs and local dignitaries attended the unveiling of a commemorative plaque by John
Metherall, who holds membership number three. Early members were presented with commemorative 50-year service badges, while the day also marked the launch of a new
Right: Visiting Peckett 0-4-0ST
No. 1722 of 1926 Rocket, from the Telford Steam Railway, gave brake van rides at Parkend to recreate the DFR’s early open days. A CLARKE heritager era history of the line, Five Decades in the Forest (see Off the Shelf Christmas special, pages 88-91.)
More than 600 visitors enjoyed the most intensive timetable the railway has run since the pandemic, with stalwart GWR 4575 2-6-2T No. 5541, Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST No. 75008 Swiftsure (Works No. 2857 of 1943) and Class 14 diesel D9521 working with all the available coaching stock, backed up by the DFR DMU Group's two-car Class 108 unit.
Trustees chairman Alastair Clarke said: “It was so lovely, after 18 or so months of very challenging times for the DFR, to be able to celebrate our 50th anniversary and to see so many early members reuniting to join in our celebrations.
“Alongside our early members, the DFR Society's Young Members Group was also present, and it was so pleasing to see the next generation of volunteers alongside our founders, to whom we must all be so grateful for their determinatio n to preserve something of the Forest of Dean's railway heritage.
"Here's to the next five decades in the Forest!”
Above: A typical scene from the DFR’s early days at Parkend, taken in 1972 and showing the line’s first steam locomotive, Peckett 0-4-0ST Uskmouth 1, and the GWR ‘Toad’ brake van used for the first trains. Work can be seen in progress to extend the short 200ft running line by a few more precious yards, DFR Society members being keen to shake off the title of ‘the shortest preserved railway in the UK’. C BLADON
Right: The DFR DMU Group’s two-car Derby Lightweight DMU arrives at Norchard Low Level on October 24, while Swiftsure waits to depart light engine to Lydney Junction. A BUDD