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Author: Ben Coulson

Chief website tinkerer, bear washer, paintbrush botherer and wire brush wielder.
Simplex with tipper wagon
👮‍ Theft of Engine Parts ?>

👮‍ Theft of Engine Parts

Originally published on our Facebook Page on 26th March 2019 Volunteers at a heritage mine railway on the Gloucestershire-Herefordshire border have been left without motive power after thieves broke in and stole parts from two diesel engines. Lea Bailey Light Railway Society operates the mine and associated railway system at Bailey Level in the Forest of Dean which is also home to several small independent iron and coal mines known as Freemines, operated under an ancient right granted by King…

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A view looking into the mine
📅 Save the Date — 18th & 19th May 2019 ?>

📅 Save the Date — 18th & 19th May 2019

Due to recent unforseen events the Open Weekend has been postponed — watch this space for details… We are in the early stages of planning for our next Open Weekend which will be on 18th & 19th May 2019. This event will focus on mining, with displays and demonstrations of heritage mining equipment and techniques. Mining has had a great impact on shaping the social history of the Forest of Dean, its people and culture.

Clearwell Caves wagon
📝 Mineral Wagon Details for Modellers ?>

📝 Mineral Wagon Details for Modellers

We recently received an e-mail from a new member who has expressed an interest in modelling the wagon at Clearwell Caves which was featured at the end of our previous post. As our Chairman’s day job is at Milkwall just half a mile or so up the road from Clearwell, it was easy to pop down and get some measurements and extra photos. The wagon is roughly rectangular in shape with slightly rounded corners. The body has straight sides at…

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Wagon and Eimco 24
🚃 Wagons Roll (Again) ?>

🚃 Wagons Roll (Again)

Since the early days of Lea Bailey Light Railway, our site has been home to a variety of wagons, some of which are more useful than others. Unfortunately as with many of the items preserved here, we don’t know the history of these two wagons — they appear to have been fitted with side hoppers which had subsequently been welded up. One of the pair had been modified by our volunteers by grinding off the weld and freeing off the…

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Mine doors under repair
⛏ Mine Door repairs ?>

⛏ Mine Door repairs

The doors that lead into the Bailey Level mine are kept locked for safety reasons. Wild animals, small children, and even adults without the relevant training would all be at risk if they were able to enter the underground mine workings. Certain people, however, see a locked door as a challenge, and some recent visitors took it upon themselves to enter the mine uninvited, causing damage to the doors in the process. It was good fortune that our volunteers had…

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Airborne autum leaves (mainly beech)
📅 Autumn Open Weekend — September 2018 ?>

📅 Autumn Open Weekend — September 2018

The Autumn Open Weekend will take place on 22nd & 23rd September 2018. On Saturday 22nd, there will also be the annual Steam-Up at Alan Keef Ltd just up the road at Lea. Our large Hydrovane compressor will be on site providing air for the Eimco 12B rocker shovel, Eimco 401 locomotive and Holman Silver 3 rock drill. There will be regular demonstrations throughout the day. Four different types of Wingrove & Rogers battery-electric locomotives will be on display —…

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Richard posing with a shovel
🛤 New line taking shape ?>

🛤 New line taking shape

Some good progress was made on Sunday 19th August as two panels of track (complete with ballast) were laid from the new set of points towards the inspection pit next to the container. The rail is of a heavier section than the usual 35lb/yd found on the rest of the railway — it matches the track on the line towards the container — so putting a slight curve into the second section using the Jim Crow was quite challenging. The…

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NAMHO visitors 2018
🌞 Summer Update ?>

🌞 Summer Update

Due to the hot weather and volunteers taking time off for other activities, there has been no major progress to report during the months following the Spring Open Weekend. The National Association of Mining History Organisations (NAMHO) Annual Conference was held in the Forest of Dean from 1st to 3rd June 2018. Delegates had the choice of attending a series of lectures or signing up for one or more trips to various mines around the Forest. On the Saturday and…

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Lea Bailey Signs
📅 Spring Open Weekend — May 2018 ?>

📅 Spring Open Weekend — May 2018

Hopefully you have been keeping up-to-date with what is happening at Lea Bailey Light Railway by reading the regular updates on this website and on our Facebook Page — but now is your chance to come and see for yourself. With a compressor wagon now on site, our resident Eimco 12B rocker shovel will once again be put to work alongside a rock drill on the open air demonstration line to show how these machines would have worked underground. The…

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A new set of points under construction
🛤 New Junction Taking Shape ?>

🛤 New Junction Taking Shape

As we said goodbye to the Beast from the East, work started once again on relaying the track that was lifted back in February. The first priority was to reinstate the curve which would allow the wagons parked in the mine to access the rest of the line. The two curved rails were put back in place with five new sleepers and with a minimal amount of packing to get the correct level, the fishplates were bolted together and the…

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