August Bank Holiday Weekend saw the re-introduction of Avonside 0-6-0ST ‘Portbury’ into service. She top and tailed services with Peckett ‘Henbury’ all weekend.
All photographs are reproduced here with the kind permission of Rob Skuse.
Morning prep, shunting and down the branch
Stalwart locomotive ‘Henbury’, and the two stablemates at the end of the day.
In order to rearrange the two saddle tanks, and to get ‘Henbury’ over the inspection pit, it was necessary to do some shunting using the Ruston diesel shunter, not often seen on the line.
The Ruston itself was in the ‘Barn’, behind the line’s self-propelled crane.
The crane shunts the coal wagon back out of the way.
With a growl and a puff of smoke, the Ruston creeps out of the barn, collects the two vans (Which double up as a good way of preventing people falling into the pit), and deposits them back outside the shed before heading down to M Shed.
Dragging the two steam locos out, Portbury deposited in the siding while Henbury heads to the pit.
Henbury is pushed back into the shed first….
and Portbury basks in the sun
This week, she’s been treated to warming fires to test the boiler for any leaks. Sunday saw her courting attention on the quayside.
I was lucky enough to take some holiday last week and have spent the days down at the railway. ‘Portbury’ has been the main focus of attention as she is prepared for her steam tests.
Here’s a few pics I’ve taken over the course of the week.
Firstly, lining in progress (During Harbour Festival)
Painting up the inside of the frames
and the coupling links (red oxide first)
Smokebox front rubbed down and first coat applied
The obligatory front three quarter view
More to come…
A little animated teaser for Portbury….
‘Portbury’ with chimney fitted, steam tests due next month
On Saturday 29th June the BHR team celebrated one of our volunteers’ 18th Birthday. ‘Henbury’ was renamed ‘Emily Anne’ for the day and wore a ‘Birthday Special’ headboard.
Here’s a few photos from the day.
Henbury is dragged out of the shed by the front loader.
Morning checks, and the fire is lit.
Some shunting was necessary as the Weltrol wagon used for ‘Gromit Unleashed’ on Friday needed to be shunted back into the long siding, and the passenger train reassembled.
The birthday girl
The belly of the beast
The last service of the day was a special train for volunteers, running down to the Create Centre and back
At the end of the day, the fire is dropped and Henbury/Emily Anne uses the last of her steam to return to the shed.
Unfortunately, ‘Portbury’s return to service has been delayed a bit. Hopefully she’ll be back in steam before the end of the year and ready to take over from her stablemate, as ‘Henbury’ will be withdrawn for her ten-year overhaul in July 2014.
Cycled down to the quayside in my lunch break as a launch party for Visit Bristol’s ‘Gromit Unleashed’ project was underway.
Several decorated Gromits were on a flat wagon pulled by ‘Henbury’.
Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park was there being filmed by a tv crew
Follow the link to the official post on the M-Shed website
http://mshed.org/about-us/news/gromits-make-a-grand-entrance-on-the-henbury/
Visit England made this short news piece on the launch:
I called in at ‘The Cathedral’ (M Shed MPD) on the way from work today and met Chris, who will be taking on the role of General Manager from David Martin, who has been there since the railway’s inception in 1978.
Chris was repainting much of ‘Portbury’ as she was being reassembled. The hope is to get her ready in time for the Harbour Festival, but the aim is not to rush unnecessarily as ‘Portbury’ will be taking over from ‘Henbury’ as the sole steam locomotive when ‘Henbury’s boiler ticket expires in July 2014.
Pics showing the progress:
‘Evening all.
A few pics of what’s been going on…
Demolition of the former coal yard/car park is proceeding rapidly. The half of the car park that is left will keep functioning for 18 months, then the bulldozers will move in
The site seen from the mud dock deli toward M/L sheds and the former goods platform (Now roofless)
About 2 weeks ago an old friend returned to ‘The Cathedral’, seen through the glass here…
…and inside the shed here.
‘Portbury has returned from Buckfastleigh workshops on the South Devon Railway after her overhaul, and is being reassembled. It is hoped she will be back in traffic for the Harbour Festival later this summer
At the time of these photos, ‘Henbury’ was outside getting steam up for the bank holiday weekend
There are more updates and track modifications up the line toward the SS Great Britain which I hope to report on later in the week.
That’s it for now!
Well, yesterday was my first day of work on the BHR. The main task was to prep the Peckett ‘Henbury’ for the weekends work, among others!
Bristol harbour has a military visitor
I arrived to find Henburys fire lit having been dragged out of the shed.
The wagons covering the pit had to be shunted out of the way before oiling could be completed, once the loco had steam up and I ineffectually tried to clean some grease off the wheels!
Rob dropped the clinker out
All oiled up and ready to go, Rob collected the coal wagon from the middle siding and brought it back to the crossing where coal was loaded into the excavator bucket
Then brought the train forward to the crossover to load the coal into the bunker
Then a short jaunt down to the end of the line (By Ashton Swing Bridge) to collect the flat wagon of sleepers Rob and David had sorted previously in the week.
Before bringing the lot back to the yard and stashing them in the middle siding.
Henbury dragged her stablemate out of the shed to drain the water and remove a pipe.
Then I had to run off to the office! But a very enjoyable day, thanks to David, Rob, Philippa and Rodney (For the loan of boots!)
