The Dean Forest Locomotive Group is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered as a Charity No 1164847 in December 2015. The charity was formed from the unincorporated bodies of the Forest Prairie Fund (FPF) and the Forest Pannier Tank Fund ( FPTF ).
The Forest Prairie Fund was formed in 1972 to preserve and operate ex GWR 2-6-2T Prairie Tank Locomotive No.5541; similarly, the Forest Pannier Tank Fund was formed in 1973 to preserve and operate ex BR 0-6-0T Pannier Tank Locomotive No. 9681.
The FPTF changed its name in 1998 to the DFLG in anticipation of increasing the number of locomotives in its care.