Telford’s Rocket boosts Dean Forest’s gala

THE Dean Forest Railway may have been unable to turn out its pioneer steam locomotive – Peckett ‘R4’ 0-4-0ST Uskmouth 1 (2147/1952) – for its 50th Anniversary Gala on October 23/24, but echoes of those early days were able to be rekindled thanks to a visit by another loco from the Bristol manufacturer. Peckett ‘W6’ 0-4-0 Rocket (1722/1926) was hired in for the event courtesy of the Telford Steam Railway. Just as Uskmouth 1 kick-started DFR operations by giving brakevan rides half a century earlier, Rocket rolled the clock right back by performing similar duties during the course of the weekend. Also in service were GWR ‘4575’ 2-6-2T No. 5541 and Hunslet ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST No. 75008 Swiftsure (2857/1943). Ex-British Electricity Authority Uskmouth 1 came to the DFR from Uskmouth ‘A’ power station near Newport after it was displaced by diesels in early 1971. It worked the fledgling line’s first brake van rides at Parkend in October 1971, and is currently under overhaul at Norchard.