Coleford Great Western Railway Museum — Attraction in Forest of Dean

I had a lovely time at Coleford GWR Museum yesterday, looking at the exhibits and chatting with the staff there. I'm a volunteer at the Mid Hants Railway and they are both volunteers at the Dean Forest Railway, so it was interesting to compare notes on railway operations during the COVID-19 pandemic! I'd love to give more stars, but I feel there's a lot of work to be done. The volunteers I chatted to are aware of this, so it's no discredit to them. Given the fantastic location (both in terms of being so close to the town centre and being in such a wonderful original building), there's a great opportunity for a really accessible museum which tells the story of the railway and its relevance to the area to a wide audience. What they actually have is unquestionably an impressive collection - both in terms of its size and variety -, but much of it is chiefly interesting if you already know what you're looking at and what was used for. So much more could - and should - be done to explain these items in accessible terms. To transform this from a collection into a really good museum would, of course, be an enormous amount of work, and the volunteers here are obviously working with very limited resources. I hope they get some more volunteers and are able to keep heading in the right direction. Thank-you for an enjoyable visit. Keep up...

A small museum run by people who clearly love the place and its exhibits to bits. Their enthusiasm is infectious!

The guided tour we had of the train was brilliant, standing on the footplate and learning how it worked was a treat. Plus, the trip to the signal box was mind-bogglingly great. I just thought the signal man pulled a few levers to raise and lower a signal, but in reality, the signal box has a "mechanical brain", so it keeps drivers and passengers safe at all times. Getting to test the system out to prove how it worked was a lot of fun... (and I'm not a train buff or six and on a school trip. :) )

Recommended if you're passing through Coleford on a Friday or Saturday afternoon with an hour or two to spare... there's parking right...

Absolutely brilliant, guys are full of information and provide a well thought out tour packed full of historical and operational explanations as to how the trains,tracks and associated infrastructure were made,maintained and operated.

The little ones really enjoyed the train ride around the museum!

Also a very helpful calm and patient bunch of guys. Thanks for...