The staff and volunteers have removed the point from the shed road, formerly used as the coal wagon siding. This has now been relayed with plain rail. The access road’s new formation will go straight on here and round the back of the olive shed.
While the BHR currently operates the ex-British Gas shunter (Known as ‘The Bug’), this isn’t the first Ruston & Hornsby Diesel to have worked on the docks railways in Bristol.
In July 1952, just over the water at the Bristol Gas Company’s works at Canon’s Marsh (Now the site of luxury new build and re-build flats), a 4-wheel diesel mechanical shunter is at work.
This photo is reposted from Rail Photoprints and can be purchased at this link.
One of the main aims of 2014 has been to tidy up the overall look of the railway. This has ranged from the restoration of the MOGO van, to weedkilling and cutting back branches.
Even the simple things such as picking up litter can make a huge difference. From the small area next to the river siding came enough rubbish to fill 2 large sacks.
Here is the river siding earlier this year:
Today:
The PBA brake van has also had a clean. The North side of the wagons, facing away from sunlight, can get very dirty and covered in moss.
Before:
After:
One of the biggest challenges of having a railway in the inner city is graffiti. Bristol has a proud history of famous graffiti and street artists, such as Banksy, 3D and Inkie, however it is less helpful when someone puts their tag on museum stock. Sometimes this could be due to the perception that the stock is out of use, or more generally, trains are daubed so that particular tag can be seen all around the country.
Regardless of the reasoning, the best response is to clean it off quickly, showing that the trains are in fact in use by the museum and that people care about their appearance.
The passenger train was tagged in April this year. This was cleared off almost straight away.
After lovely weather Saturday and Sunday, today is a bit of a wash-out so sadly no train services are running.
Portbury has been put back in the shed.
Portbury is running trains all weekend, come down and take a ride!
The doors on the South side have been removed for work. Note also the volunteers at M Shed have completely repainted the underframe of the wagon.
It’s coming on well. For comparison, here is a photo of the van from last year.
Adjacent to the yard at Whapping Wharf, Bristol City Council have been trialling a cobbled surface design.
Beautiful though they are, old cobblestones can be a hazard and difficult to navigate if you are on a wheelchair or pushing a pram. Instead of replacing the cobbles along this section of path with granite setts in a fan pattern, this method reuses the existing cobbles, sawn in half and relaid to the original pattern.
The council is holding a consultation on this, so the residents and visitors to Bristol can give their opinion on the matter. You can get involved (and read the Council’s reasoning behind the trial) at the following link:
https://www.citizenspace.com/bristol/city-development/sawn-setts-trial-1/consult_view
Here are a couple of photos of the ‘new’ cobbles alongside the old ones
This fantastic photo posted on the magnificent Bristol Railway Archive site shows ex-GWR pannier tank loco No.9769 taking a special train for the Railway Correspondance & Travel Society down the quayside line along Hotwells road in 1959.
This photo is property of The Railway Magazine.
The green bug out on the shed road, rearranging the weedkiller wagon and ready to move Henbury back to the shed.
A few pics of progress on the box van, now with more undercoat applied.
…and a bonus photo showing the progress on the Sugar Quay development.
Bristol Harbour Railway Blog 