2020
SO6706 : Route of the Forest of Dean Central Railway
taken 4 years ago, near to Blakeney, Gloucestershire, England
Route of the Forest of Dean Central Railway
The Forest of Dean Central Railway (FoDCR) was opened, after a troubled gestation, as far as New Fancy Colliery near Moseley Green in the Forest of Dean. However, after only four years, the line - already considerably shorter than the original promoters had wanted it to be - was cut back to Howbeach Colliery, which provided not quite enough traffic to keep the line afloat: in 1877, the FoDCR could not even afford to have its accounts printed. The line soldiered on under GWR control until Howbeach Colliery closed in 1921, at which point the line was cut back to Blakeney. This stretch was in use until 1949, and would almost certainly have closed earlier had it not been used to load and transport charcoal for the war effort. For a while after closure, the remaining track was used as a wagon storage siding but the track was finally lifted in 1959: the route of the line is now an unofficial footpath.
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