THE SECOND volume of rare colour photographs of the twilight of the age of steam in the Forest has been published.

Author and collector Neil Parkhouse has spent 15 years tracking down colour photos of the rail network that criss-crossed the Forest and the new volume is called Forest of Dean Line and the Severn Bridge.

Mr Parkhouse said: “There are more than 600 photographs, taken between 1957 and 1976, showing both steam and diesel engines atwork on the lines to Cinderford, Parkend and Coleford as well as long-lost railway locations such as Lydbrook, Bilson Junction and Speech House Road station.

“Most photographers at the time didn’t like the results they got with colour film and so the majority of photographs are in black and white.”

The first volume of photos was published two years ago and has sold more than 2,500 copies.

Mr Parkhouse added: “It’s not just rail enthusiasts who have bought the book. There are many people who are interested in how places looked back in the 1960s.”

He started researching local railways after moving to Lydney in 1995 and the latest volume is one of a series that will cover the whole of Gloucestershire.

Mr Parkhouse signed copies of the book at The Dean Forest Railway on Sunday and will be at the GWR Museum, Coleford on Saturday between 2.30pm and 5.30pm.