Mark 2 Carriage Appeal
The Dean Forest Railway is currently undertaking the most comprehensive carriage refurbishment programme in its history. This will see each coach fully surveyed and restored to a high standard, ready to carry passengers for many generations to come.
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A side effect of this project is the lack of available running stock, while the coaches are being worked on. To counteract this, the DFR Society has agreed to purchase 2 ex-BR Mark 2 coaches to provide seating capacity both in the short-term, to cover the out-of-service Mark 1s, and also in the longer term when we hope to extend the line and therefore will require more coaching stock anyway.
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As of May 2019, the DFRS had purchased both coaches, with M5175 arriving at Norchard late in 2018 from its previous home at the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway. Whilst the engineering work on W5341 was nearing completion – M5175 received a new coat of paint and lining, and was out-shopped in early June. The following month W5341 arrived following contract work at Rampart Engineering.
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Our Mark 2 Carriage Appeal is therefore effectively closed - many thanks to all the generous donors who contributed to the purchase of these coaches. As well as our members, supporters and donors - our thanks also go to The Veronica Awdry Charitable Trust (Registered charity number: 1113328) for a small grant of £2000 towards the appeal. This grant helped with the conversion of W5341 from air-braked to dual-braked and from electric heating to dual-heating
To celebrate – once both coaches were accepted into service, we ran an evening special aboard our Mark 2s on Saturday October 19th 2019, which started at Norchard at around 5pm. In addition, donations of:
- £250 or greater received a 5 year Membership
- £500 or greater received a 10 year Membership
- £1,000 or greater received a Life Membership
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During the last quarter of 2019, the DFRS entered negotiations with the companies under the Dean Forest Railway umbrella for the purchase of all of the railways’ existing carriage stock. Over the winter of 2019/20 after the completion of our Santa Special services, W5341 received a new coat of paint and lining ready for the start of the 2020 services.
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How to Help
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If you would like to contribute to the ongoing maintenance of our Mark 2 coaches and the restoration of our Mark 1s, you can help by donating to our Mark 2 Carriage Appeal - there are many ways to do this:
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​- Donate directly via PayPal:
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- Send cheques (Payable to "Dean Forest Railway Society") or cash to:
DFRS Coach Appeal,
Dean Forest Railway,
Forest Road,
Lydney
GL15 4ET
