Photo courtesy Bob and Jonathan Edwardes, with thanks
Here’s the results of the hard graft the volunteers and staff at M Shed have been putting into the wagon restoration. Sulphuric Ace Tanker now looking smart and fully signwritten!
Over the summer, the M Shed staff and Volunteers have been restoring another of the preserved wagons in the BHR’s fleet.
The ex-WD Sulphuric Acid Tank Wagon, built in 1940, had the tank lifted off the frames for new plates to be welded on – corrosion had come through in the areas where the tank sits on its cradle.
It’s now had the plates welded in (shown here in green gloss) and is in primer.
The frames and supports for the tanker have been worked on in the running shed and are shown here looking rather smart, along with appropriate works plates.
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.
The BHR will be in operation tomorrow and Sunday! An early start for an exciting year, and the public debut of the newly overhauled TOAD.
Portbury was out on Thursday shunting the passenger train together.
The Bristol Harbour Railway is 40 years old this year!
In 1978 a group of keen and like minded people began operating steam train rides on Bristol’s harbourside. They had one working locomotive and an ex-GW brake van.
Henbury and the TOAD outside M Shed in 1979 (Courtesy John Law)
Since then, the van has given thousands of passengers rides up and down the line. It is essential to the running of the railway, becoming the leading end of the train when being propelled, and the large veranda gives a good field of vision for the guard.
Over the winter of 2017-2018, the van has been taken into the shed and been given a makeover. Rotten wood has been repaired, the whole vehicle has been sanded down and repainted, and it now sports a ‘Bristol’ allocation.
It looks very smart and is a credit to the volunteers and employees at M Shed.
I am trying to find out more information on the history of this brake van before it came to the BHR. If anyone does know of its past life, please do leave a comment below.
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.
The passenger stock has been receiving a bit of TLC recently, a bit of fresh paint.
Up near the passenger station outside L Shed, some groundworks are under way.
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.
