Henbury’s boiler out of the shed, with a warming fire in it, yesterday.![]()

In 2006, Bristol Industrial Museum was host to a 1940s event. One of the highlights saw Fairbairn Steam Crane, built in the 1870s, lift up a restored Sherman M4A4 tank and place it on a goods train. The immense strength of the Fairbairn design is evident, and the crane is still in operation to this day as part of M Shed.
Good news as Henbury’s boiler has arrived back at M-Shed. I believe this boiler dates from 1955 as it was a new one fitted to ‘Mackenzie’ which had the winged smokebox front typical of earlier Pecketts. In or around 1960, the boiler was fitted to ‘Henbury’ which previously had a straight smokebox front.
Lots of steps still to go through on re-assembly but the boiler is one of the biggest hurdles in any overhaul!
On Saturday March 24th 2018, the Bristol Harbour Railway celebrated 40 years of operation on Bristol’s Harbourside, accompanied by the Lydney Town Band and of course a cake to commemorate the occasion! 101-year old ‘Portbury’ did the honours, pushing and pulling the freshly-refurbished passenger train up and down all day. What started as a group of enthusiasts, one locomotive (Henbury) and a brake van has seen dozens of changes on the harbourside, with the disused industrial area changing into a vibrant tourist hotspot. Long may it continue to bring delight to passengers, giving a unique experience in UK preservation.
Instagram user Alex_4472 took some photos of Henbury under overhaul. This shows the progress being made by the volunteers and staff at M Shed.
The wheels have been scraped back and are in the process of being painted, the tank and frames are also receiving attention.
The last photo shows the chimney used for donations!
Uploaded here with permission.
Henbury, Kilmerson and Teddy share the dockside in this great photo.

This photo appears here with the kind permission of flickr user Captain Tower. Please do not reproduce.
Just one photo from last weekend. Portbury standing at SS GB Halt.

Alistair Grieve took these great photos at the recent night photo shoot with Portbury, and has kindly given permission for them to be reproduced here.
You can see all of Ali’s photos on his smugmug site.