Forest of Dean Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the north, the River Severn to the south, and the City of Gloucester to the east. The area is characterised by more than of mixed woodland, one of the surviving ancient woodlands in England. A large area was reserved for royal hunting before 1066, and remained as the second largest crown forest in England, the largest being New
Forest of Dean Railway services in country districts began to be a real cause of competition for the railway. The GWR was seeking methods of catering economically for light passenger traffic, using steam railcars. These consisted of a passenger coach into which was built a four-wheeled steam locomotive, duplicate driving controls being provided at the opposite end from the locomotive. The very limited power of the small traction unit was always an issue, and on the steeply graded Forest of Dean Railway section it proved impracticable. Instead higher capacity units known as auto-trains, consisting of a tank locomotive coupled to one or two coaches