THE long-term plans to reintroduce trains to the Forest and once again link Lydney and Cinderford could hit the buffers at Parkend.
Attitudes are hardening on both sides of a debate which has already brought e-mail skirmishes and a call for discussions to be carried on without recriminations.
The rail link is seen as a vital component in the 'Rainbow' project suggested for the future of Drybrook Quarry and also a park and ride rail facility at Cinderford.
Councillor Andrew Gardiner, who has spearheaded the idea, says it is a "glorious opportunity and one too good to miss."
"If these people have their way they will destroy the economy of the Forest," he told the Review.
But on the other side of the fence members of the Parkend Residents' Society are digging in their heels.
They say councillors who voted to allow the Dean Forest Railway to extend their line across Fancy road and through Parkend Sidings towards Cannop did so without the support of the village.
They are writing to councillors, the local MP Diana Organ, and other organisations telling them of their opposition to the scheme.
On behalf of the Residents' Society Karen Aldridge writes: "It is barely two years since residents made it known that they did not support any further extension to the railway through Parkend. Why would the councillors consider that minds had changed? Residents certainly do not want such decisions made without consultation and the opportunity to give their opinions without abuse."
Mrs Aldridge told the Review that while there were some Parkend residents willing to consider the scheme, most were opposed.
""It has been likened to living in a goldfish bowl. Many residents fear the railway would be very intrusive," she said.
Others have been more pointed.
In an e-mail to councillors a Parkend resident says steam trains are dirty, polluting and noisy and and there was the additional worry that an extended line would eventually be used for freight and perhaps stimulate more quarrying and mineral extraction.
"It now seems that a London barrister (not a resident) has persuasively reopened this issue on behalf of the directors (none of whom are residents of the railway (which does not employ any local residents - it is run by unpaid volunteers) and that this has been done without any consultation with the residents – who are, after all, the people who elect the council to represent them."
Mr Gardiner's response is that the railway could be narrow gauge north of Parkend and, possibly, eventually link many parts of the Forest.
"Rail and cycle links are very much part of Government policy and there is widespread and growing support for this. It is a very exciting project," he said.