Diesel Locomotives
The Railways of the Forest of Dean are often most associated with steam locomotion, mainly because the ‘golden years’ occurred during the time that steam ruled the rails. However, when British Railways phased out steam in the 1960’s, the Forest of Dean railways were still active in places, primarily with workings of track ballast from the numerous quarries dotted around the area. The diesel traction afforded to the Forest mainly consisted of small-medium sized diesels (photograph records show Class 22’s, 25’s and 37’s working Marsh Sidings in Parkend) including the class most connected our metals: the Diesel Hydraulic Class 14, or ‘Teddy Bear’.
Now firmly in the preservation era, steam traction once again rules the Dean Forest Railway but we have a small fleet of diesel traction at our disposal. Mainly used for works and maintenance trains, our diesels can also be seen on occasional diesel running days, galas and covering for steam traction during rare breakdowns or exceptionally hot and dry periods when the lineside fire risks force a steam ban. We have a dedicated diesel department within our Operations dept. who crew and operate our diesel locomotives. Various groups within the railway restore and maintain these locomotives to a high standard. We also have our fleet of Diesel Multiple Units too, information on which can be found here.
The list of locomotives below is centred on our resident fleet, all of which are based on our railway. Other locomotives may visit for work or temporary storage: Valley Rail Preservation have a small number of temporary residents currently undergoing works or storage at Lydney Junction, for example – they are not listed on this page as these locomotives regularly come and go on behalf of other owners and operators. We also don’t list previous visitors here, as the page would be far too large! Lastly, the Dean Forest Diesel Association (DFDA), previously based at Lydney Junction, has now disbanded and all of their locomotives (bar 08769, now under new ownership) have moved on to new homes.
| Operational | |
| Class 14 no. D9521
Built: 1964 D9521 is one of two British Railway Class 14’s based at the Dean Forest Railway. Built in 1964/5 for the Western Region, these diesle hydraulics were specifically designed to take on the work of the stalwart Great Western Pannier tank: they even shared the same size and wheelbase. They are known as ‘Teddy Bears’ by, following a comment by Swindon Works’ erecting shop foreman George Cole who quipped “We’ve built The Great Bear, now we’re going to build a ‘Teddy Bear’!” D9521 resides at our Norchard site and primarily runs on diesel running days and galas. It also acts as our ‘hot weather reserve’ locomotive in the summer months, when in exceptionally dry and hot conditions, we are unable to run our steam locomotives due to the risk they cause of starting lineside fires. D9521 can cover our steam locomotive’ duties with ease when they are unable to run. Image courtesy of Adrian Copley |
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| Class 08 no. 08769
Built: 1960 08769 is one of British Railways most numerous class of diesel: the Class 08 shunter. Developed from an LMS design from the 1930’s, over 900 of these primitive little shunters were built between 1952 and 1962. Their simple, rugged and durable design made them an instant success and their proven English Electric 6KT engine and 506 Traction Motors made them a reliable and dependable locomotive. 08769 can mostly be seen at our Norchard site but occasionally ‘holidays’ for service and maintenance at Lydney Junction. Due to its limited top speed of 15mph, it is primarily used for works and maintenance trains but occasionally covers passenger and demonstration freight duties, aswell as driver experiences and our annual diesel gala. It is also always left accessible as it is our on-call ‘thunderbird’: it can be fired up and used at a moments notice to rescue any of our other trains in the rare event they break down! Image courtesy of Adrian Copley |
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| Class 09 no. 09106
Built: 1961 as 08759, converted to 09106 in 1992 The Class 09 was an evolution from the Class 08, represented by other resident 08769 also listed here. However, Class 08’s were limited by their 15mph top speed. The requirement for a faster shunter resulted in the Class 09 which were geared for a slightly higher top speed (27.5mph) traded off against a lower tractive effort. 09106 was built as D3927 in 1961 and became 08759 when TOPS numbering was introduced. It received the 09/1 conversion work in 1993, becoming the Class 09 locomotive we know today. Most recently the locomotive earned a regular keep at Cardiff Tidal Sidings, shunting steel trains! 09106 joined the DFR home fleet on a long term hire in 2025. With a higher top speed it is more suited to primarily supporting our passenger trains, enthusiast days and special events. Currently sporting an Orange ex-HNRC livery, the locomotive will receive a new heritage livery in due course… Image courtesy of Adam Dickinson.
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| Hunslet no. 6688 ‘Salty’
Built: 1968 ‘Salty’ is named such due to the locomotive’ physical resemblance to the popular Thomas the Tank Engine character! It is a Hunslet Standard 0-4-0 Diesel Hydraulic locomotive, one of many built and sold to private industrial owners for use in factories, mines and any other industrial setting that require a locomotive: therefore it never ran on British Rail Metals in service. ‘Salty’ was built in 1968 for the Norwood Coking Plant in Gateshead. ‘Salty’ resides at our Norchard site. The locomotive is fitted with locomotive-only air brakes, it does not have what we call the ‘continuous brake’, either vacuum or air. This means it cannot be used on passenger services (for with the continuous brake fitted to all passenger trains is a regulatory requirement) and thus so, is only ever seen on works trains: primarily our lineside clearance and weedkilling trains. It can also been seen wandering around Norchard yard, often shunting owners-mate D9521 for maintenance. Image courtesy of Chris Bull |
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| Hunslet no. 5622 ‘Don Corbett’
Built: 1960 Like ‘Salty’, ‘Don Corbett’ is a Hunslet Diesel Hydraulic built specifically for industrial use. It is a slightly earlier design to ‘Salty’ being constructed in 1960. Originally named ‘Uskmouth No.5’, in service it operated for National Power at the Uskmouth Power Station in Newport, South Wales: after arrival at the DFR the locomotive was renamed ‘Don Corbett’, the General Manager of Uskmouth power station. Aswell as the striking Yellow livery it now carries, it also has carried a similarly bright National Power Red and Blue livery during it’s time at the DFR. ‘Don Corbett’ is also identical to ‘Salty’ in regards to it’s braking systems and therefore it too can not haul passenger services. At present it resides at our Lydney Junction site, acting as the based shunter there for moving rolling stock and locomotives around our sidings and to/from our road-transport loading pad. Image courtesy of Tom Lane |
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| Under Overhaul | |
| BR Class 14 no. D9555
Built: 1965 D9555 is the other Class 14 based at the Dean Forest Railway. D9555 was the last of the class and also therefore the last standard gauge locomotive built at the former GWR locomotive works in Swindon. After construction it entered service on the Forest of Dean railway network with photographic records of it working British Rail trains at Parkend, amongst other places in the ‘Dean. This makes its residence here particularly significant. D9555 is usually based at our Norchard site and like D9521, was previously seen on diesel running days, galas and covering steam locomotive duties during hot summers. Sadly the locomotive experienced a wheel bearing failure and was transported off-site by the owner for remedial works at a location that could offer the required facilities for the complicated work. The locomotive is still off site, but we hope it returns to us soon! Image courtesy of Adrian Copley |
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| Awaiting Overhaul / Stored | |
| Fowler no. 4210127
Built: 1957 Fowler no. 4210127 was built in 1957. It is of the Standard 150hp Diesel Mechanical type built by John Fowler & Co. Like ‘Salty’ and ‘Don Corbett’, the locomotive was built for industrial use. The locomotive is out of use, stored in our Lydney Junction sidings and would require a full and comprehensive restoration to bring back to working order. The locomotive has limited scope of use being low-powered and industrial, therefore at present there are no active plans for restoration to commence soon. |
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This page was last updated on 30/03/25. Information correct at time of writing, E&OE.