Please note that the Chocolate Path (alongside the A Bond branch line and New Cut) will be closed from 9th Feb 2015 for 4 weeks.
Chocolate Path Closed for 4 Weeks
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Category Archives: The Route
Level Crossing Work 5
Cold January mornings give everything a glistening sheen of frost.
A couple of pics showing level crossing construction progress.
Stone setts kept with new parking bays to the right
Concrete complete – Almost unrecognisable from the scene a year ago!
The two steam locos were outside the shed this morning, Portbury was having her fire lit.
Helston Railway returns, and Christmas is around the corner…
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).
Metrobus and Ashton Avenue Bridge
Metrobus, the guided busway project in Bristol, has now been given financial backing and construction is due to start in 2015.
The busway scheme is set to use sections of the former BHR, joining at Ashton Junction (Going ‘up and over’ the Portishead Railway line on a bridge), then across the old sidings at Ashton Meadows, under the Cumberland bypass, then crossing the New Cut at Ashton Avenue Bridge. From here, it is intended that the buses take the route of the current BHR, joining onto Cumberland Road itself adjacent to the ‘West Yard’ throat.
The Metrobus Website has published the aims for the refurbishment of Ashton Avenue bridge, the deteriorating condition of which was one of the factors in the BHR ceasing operations South of the river in the 1990s.
The full webpage is here, but here are some excerpts:
Ashton Avenue Bridge is on Bristol City Council’s Listed Building At Risk Register.
The register describes the bridge as being in a very bad condition with clear signs of structural instability and says the bridge in its current state is at “immediate risk of further rapid deterioration”.
The MetroBus project will restore the Victorian bridge and return it to its original role as a public transport corridor
English Heritage have been consulted on our plans for the bridge and support the works to conserve it.
Restoring the bridge
Pedestrians and cyclists will still to be able to use the bridge after it has been restored. The restoration works include a lane for the MetroBus and a 3.5 metre pedestrian and cycle path that is wider, smoother and a safer environment than the current path.
Lighting will also be provided on the bridge, making it a much safer environment for pedestrians and cyclists using the bridge at night.
The proposed restoration works also include:
– Repair of corrosion damage which would otherwise compromise the long term durability of the bridge.
– Removal of graffiti.
– Removal of vegetation from piers and the bridge deck.
– Removal of temporary repair measures including metal mesh fencing.
– Removal of guardrail separating pedestrian walkway from rail line.
– Replacement of badly corroded deck plates.
– Repairs to trusses to allow drainage modification works which will reduce future corrosion.
Ashton Avenue Bridge, with the morning mist rising off the New Cut, November 2014
Level Crossing Work 4
The concrete has now been poured for the level crossing.
As mentioned previously, this area was relaid with concrete sleepers as wooden ones do degrade and can rot over time. Next we should be seeing work done on the approaches, and the laying of the roadway around the back of the shed.
Level Crossing Work 3
The two running lines were reinstated before the final operating weekend, and now the season is over, work has recommenced.
Wooden shuttering in place shows the location of the crossing
Showing the vegetation clearance next to the retaining wall
Helston Railway Collects Rail
Some of the surplus track lifted during the remodelling of both ends of the line was collected by the volunteers at the Helston Railway in Cornwall.
This line is based at Trevarno, and they operate two Ruston diesel shunters very similar to the one based on the BHR.
The below photos appear here reposted from the Helston Railway’s Facebook Page.
Open quayside
With the introduction of new barriers to deter cyclists from the front of the museum (where the operating lines make it dangerous for bike wheels), a section of the temporary fencing along the quayside has been moved to bring back the authentic dockside look and feel.
Level Crossing Work 2
Both lines have now been lifted, and the trackbed excavated.
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- Wednesday
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- Thursday
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- Sugar Quay development looms behind
Level Crossing Work
The lines leading from the shed to the yard are being lifted in preparation for the new level crossing to be built. This will span both tracks at an angle.
Bristol Harbour Railway Blog 