Quattro Road Rail Vehicle (RRV)
The Dean Forest Railway has the benefit of a mainline connection, which gives us the ability to be in a position to train technicians from Network Rail and their contractors on track maintenance machinery and a good relationship has been established between our heritage volunteer workforce and our mainline counterparts.
With the efforts of the DFR (and the whole sector) over the years – there is no doubt in the old adage that ”one volunteer is worth ten pressed men”, however sustainability is now key. The correct mechanisation and mobilisation of our volunteer base will improve our socio-economic and environmental sustainability through upskilling volunteers and spending less in terms of time, money, materials and CO2 whilst achieving more.
The Road-Rail Vehicle (RRV)
Reps from the DFR and Quattro at the handover
At Norchard, a home team met with Quattro representatives including John Murphy, Managing Director and Trevor Hartnett, Regional Rail Director for the handover. The machine, a Komatsu PW130ES was built in Birtley, County Durham in 1998 before being fitted with a Rexquote rail conversion. It was originally purchased and operated by Byrne Construction Limited (BCL) before joining the Quattro Plant fleet in 2009.
Alastair Clarke with John Murphy
Roger Phelps with Trevor Hartnett
We are grateful to Quattro for this donation, which we'll be sure to put to good use! Sadly, Roger Phelps (our prime link with mainline clients, who was skilled in all aspects of operating a railway), passed away suddenly shortly after the ceremony in January 2022. Roger was instrumental in setting up the partnership with Quattro (which led to this donation), but he never got to see this machine used in anger. We miss him greatly.
An operator gets used to controls when in reverse
A Machine Controller supervises the on-tracking
Quattro have provided familiarisation and health and safety training for three willing excavator operators and will be helping with the ongoing machine maintenance and routine inspections. Our operators will now start to accumulate experience, even so - we’ll continue to have other Quattro equipment on site in the future, the relationship between us being viewed as a valuable corporate partnership of equal benefit to both sides.
Trustee Adam Williams at the controls, getting to grips with a borrowed plate grab
How to Help
If you would like to contribute towards any of the ongoing costs involved with use and upkeep of this piece of equipment (that's worth its weight in gold), you can help by donating - there are many ways to do this:
- Donate directly via PayPal:
- Send cheques (Payable to "Dean Forest Railway Society") or cash to:
DFRS RRV Fund
Dean Forest Railway,
Forest Road,
Lydney
GL15 4ET
