Keef and Perrygrove '09
Justine and Lydia
26 September 2009
"I think perhaps I'll go and see Justine and
Lydia" "Who are they?"...
With a good forecast, and the household
authorities otherwise engaged for the
weekend, I had to find my own entertainment.
Fortunately, the last weekend in September
held plenty of promise - with good weather
forecast, and the annual open day at Alan
Keef's loco works in the Forest of Dean. The
nearby Perrygrove Railway would be offering their
Enthusiasts' Afternoon too...
An added incentive at Keef's would be the presence of "Justine",
the nicely-restored little Arn. Jung 0-4-0 (939 of 1906) which we
had seen the previous weekend at Toddington, posing on the
freight train. She hadn't moved while we were there - perhaps
today would be a chance to see her in action. So it proved -
though, of course, her turn came when I was half-
way through my lunch (those hot pork and
stuffing baps again...).
Inevitably, as well as the steam action on the
short running line, there was plenty of interest in
and around the works. The frames of a pair of
metre-gauge Krauss well tanks stood inside (5742
of 1908 and 3142 of 1894) - clearly both will need
a lot of work, one needing a new boiler. Amongst the interesting
items outside were a new coach for the Perrygrove line and a
chunky Deutz single-cylindered diesel, for sale and, I believe,
already sold as I write.
Last time I was at Keef's, a new locomotive "Lydia" was under
construction for Perrygrove. Today at Perrygrove, Lydia was in
action. By all accounts, Lydia has been a great success -
certainly she sounded very well on the steeply-graded sections
of the line with a clear, sharp exhaust. Perrygrove is, of
course, home to an impressive collection of original and
replica Heywood "Minimum Gauge Railway" equipment,
including James Waterfield's lovely "Ursula" - the 3-
coach vintage train hauled by Ursula makes a fine sight
(and sound). Not forgetting the original steam loco
"Spirit of Adventure" taking her turn on the "normal"
passenger workings.
Enough for now - if you've never been, keep an eye on
the Keef website for the date of next year's open day -
put it in your diary and visit these fascinating sites.
Geoff’s Rail Diaries
Video
Lydia, Ursula and "Spirit of Adventure" in action
on the Perrygrove Railway
