The Xmas steam up event was a success, with all tickets selling out. Rich Skuse and Zoe Robinson were among the lucky people to try their hand at driving ‘Portbury’ and the Steam Crane.
Rich has kindly allowed these photos to be reproduced here!
It’s the first day of the Xmas Steam Up weekends tomorrow, so Portbury and the Fairbairn Steam Crane should be in action on the dockside.
This week, the lovely people from the Helston Railway in Cornwall have been back for more rail and sleepers. Here they are loading up (Photo from the Helston Railway Facebook page, click the link for more).
On the last day, M Shed’s waterborne fleet (Mayflower, John King and Pyronaut) went out on a cruise around the harbour, followed by all 3 and Portbury sounding off to say goodbye to a BIM/M Shed volunteer who sadly passed away this year.
Photo courtesy Rob Skuse
On the Friday before, Portbury and one of the electric cranes were used to deliver a model ship to the SS Great Britain.
This Saturday and Sunday are the last two days of operation on the BHR for the 2014 season, and possibly the last services to travel to Butterfly Junction in its present form before the remodelling in anticipation of the Metrobus route construction.
Come down and take a ride!
With just 3 operating weekends left in the season, here are a few photos from today’s workings. The weather was good for the most part, with only one trainload of passengers getting the full ‘goods’ experience during a heavy shower!
Coming off the pit with steam to spare
There was a march organised for Saturday evening to raise awareness for cancer on the dockside
Ominous clouds
Newly-repainted Thekla in the distance
Raising steam at M Shed
The day’s work done
Note the new sleepers installed when this section of track was relaid
Coaling up
Larry empties the last of the coal into 34’s bunker
Creeping back to the shed
Ready for another day
Here’s a bonus .gif of Portbury heading to the shed after a hard day’s work.
Don’t forget this weekend is Docks Heritage Weekend at M Shed!
Featuring vintage commercial vehicles on display (Including the museum’s own Bristol 8-wheel lorry), both steam and electric cranes in use unloading cargo from ship to shore, and the rare sight of the working electric capstans being used to shunt wagons on the quayside.
See the quayside come to life with dramatic re-enactments by Show of Strength theatre company.
Plus, see the amazing city of Briswool in all its woolly splendour.
The newly-outshopped MOGO van will also be on display, and the Tug John King will be giving rides around the harbour.
Lots to see and do, it should be a cracking weekend!
The museum’s Bristol lorry during a loading demonstration in 2013 (Photo copyright Stu Chapman)
A few snaps from the weekend’s operations. Really nice to have all three steam exhibits in operation. Lots of happy, friendly passengers, the sun shone, and steam was in the air.
It’s a Steam-Filled September Weekend!
Portbury, the Fairbairn Steam Crane, and Mayflower the Steam Tug are all in operation, so come on down.
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.
