The BHR is back in action this weekend!
M Shed has published a list of dates up through until June, which can be viewed here.
The BHR is back in action this weekend!
M Shed has published a list of dates up through until June, which can be viewed here.
Wallace, Gromit and the Feathers McGraw are out on the streets of Bristol!

A few years back, the BHR took part in the launch of the first Gromit Unleashed, with Henbury delivering Gromit to M Shed…
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.
It’s Docks Heritage Weekend tomorrow and Sunday, featuring a variety of attractions, one of the most varied weekends of the year.
Portbury was warming up outside the shed earlier this week.

Take a look at Will Stratford’s video of last year’s event showing some crane and goods action on the quayside:
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.


This summer, Crane 29 has borne an unusual addition. The veteran crane has been host to a luxury ‘treehouse’, where you can stay overnight.
The treehouse is being run by Canopy and Stars.
Here are a few photos from the official website.

Here is what it looks like from the outside:
THE WORLD’S FIRST TREEHOUSE ON A CRANE COMES TO BRISTOL’S HARBOURSIDE
Over the past three years, we’ve been secretly tending to a rather surprising seed of an idea. Canopy & Stars at Crane 29 – a glorious treehouse suspended high in one of Bristol Harbourside’s iconic cranes! We’ve taken all the goodness of the outdoors and put it into a cosy cocoon of calm in the heart of the city to create a surprising, sensory experience and a true natural high. The best bit? You can actually stay in it!
Although we’ve spent years collating our collection of the most unusual places to stay in the outdoors, this is our first ever treehouse in a crane, and, indeed, the first time you can fully experience a Canopy & Stars holiday in an urban environment. This low-impact build, supported by brilliant solutions from B&Q, is completely carbon neutral and built using sustainable materials. The treehouse will grace Bristol’s skyline for just four months. As the first leaves drop from the trees in late September it will disappear but not before leaving the world a little greener. We’ll be donating all profits from the treehouse to Friends of the Earth.
-Canopy and Stars
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.
I managed to get down to the Nailsea Model Railway Exhibition today and snap some photos of John’s lovely EM gauge (1:76 scale) model of M Shed.
The layout has Portbury and Henbury complete with the passenger train (much of which was scratchbuilt), as well as the Ruston and Larry, and the steam crane (which is motorised!).