A Pannier in the Port Again!

Posted on January 19, 2025 by corwinb

As Henbury is currently away at the South Devon Railway, in return the BHR has Collett pannier tank No.1369 on loan. It arrived earlier this week, straight from a guest appearance at the Battlefield Railway’s winter gala. Thanks to Bob, Katie and Jay for these photos.

After the trailer was lined up on the quayside and the loco winched down, Larry did the honours of towing it to the Buttery, with the crane assisting on the way to the shed.

There is a photo charter planned with 1369 and hopefully it’ll make a few appearances in steam.

Sulphuric Acid Tanker – Refurbished

Posted on January 15, 2025 by corwinb

The ‘tarting up’ of the tanker has been completed by the weekday volunteering team.
The Coles having been fixed at the weekend meant the tanker could be manoeuvred onto the running line yesterday. Katie was on hand to take these photos.

With the wagon re-railed, the lid could be craned into place. This wasn’t removed during the previous restoration but it has enabled some remedial work to be done inside the tank.
Bruce did the honours of tightening up the new/refurbished securing hooks.

All done! A nice quick win for the team and proof if proof be need be that the team can turn around wagon overhauls in good time.

Henbury Holiday, Coles Controls and Toad TLC

Posted on January 12, 2025 by corwinb

Henbury is currently on vacation down at the South Devon Railway. Unfortunately it missed its guest appearance at the winter gala partially due to a weeping washout plug. Hopefully the SDR engineers can work their magic on it while its at Buckfastleigh.
Bob Edwardes and I got some photos of Henbury and the SDR fleet over the course of the gala,

Back at M Shed, the Coles has been having issues with its control switches. Tis was traced to eroded contacts. These were replaced with NOS contacts (never throw anything away) and after some fettling, seems to have worked, with the crane being able to move again.

The TOAD’s refurbished springs are due back soon, and the shed space will be required, so there have been a few work sessions at cleaning up the underside (which may not have been touched in decades). Plenty of scraping, grinding, brushing, rust treatment and onto primer. Some volunteers almost managed to get more paint on themselves than the van…
There was also maintenance to do on Larry the Loader and John King the tug.
Thanks to Katie and Bob for the photos!

#WhistleUp200

Posted on January 1, 2025 by corwinb

On the 1st January 2025 at 12 noon, whistles across the heritage rail world sounded in celebration of 200 years of train travel.
In 1825, the Stockton and Darlington Railway brought together some new-ish engineering, some novel ideas on funding and some different legal thinking to create something that was far more than the sum of its parts.
With grand plans for railways to link towns and cities, not just mines and rivers. Railway ‘Mania’ was born.
1863 saw the Mayoress, Mrs Sholto Vere Hare lay the first rail for the Bristol Harbour Railway. Originally designed to connect the Floating Harbour to Temple Meads for goods, the line officially opened in 1872. Now, 153 years later the railway is still in use, operated by M Shed’s dedicated volunteer team to provide passenger rides along Bristol’s historic dockside.

With Henbury out on loan and Portbury under overhaul, the honours were done by the trusty compressor with two whistles, the larger of which is from GWR Castle Class No. 7015 Carn Brea Castle.