Henbury’s Last Day

Posted on July 20, 2014 by corwinb

It’s the second day of the Bristol Harbour Festival, and compared to Saturday’s thunderstorms, the weather is positively delightful.

Peckett ‘Henbury’ comes out of traffic today as her 10-year boiler certificate is due to expire. She’s been a long time stalwart of the Bristol Harbour Railway from the very beginning.

These images are from ‘Henbury’s second to last operating day, and appear here with the kind permission of Juliet Eden. You can see more of Juliet’s fantastic photos on her website: http://julieteden.com/mdashshed

Portbury on ‘Driver for a fiver’ (Juliet Eden)

Henbury (Juliet Eden)

On the quayside (Juliet Eden)

‘MOGO’ Van Restoration – 1

Posted on July 17, 2014 by corwinb

One of the railway’s goods wagons is currently having a bit of TLC. This van has previously been the victim of graffiti tagging, and while the worst was quickly cleaned off, the remnants were still visible.

It’s Bristol Harbour Festival this weekend! The railway will be in operation both days. Various ships are arriving at the docks, including this tugboat.

Driver for a fiver

Posted on June 22, 2014 by corwinb

A little animated gif of Henbury propelling the passenger train past Portbury, on ‘driver for a fiver’ duties, in the yard.

You still have the chance to drive Portbury on the next two operating weekends this year! After that, Henbury’s boiler ticket will expire and she will be withdrawn, with her stablemate taking over passenger duties.

TBT – Steam meets diesel on the wharf

Posted on June 12, 2014 by corwinb

Source: http://bristol-rail.co.uk/wiki/File:Wapping_Railway_Wharf7.jpg
Copyright Mike Radford

In this photo found on the Bristol Railway Archive, ‘Henbury’ complete with full yellow end and bufferbeam, meets ‘Western Pride’ on Whapping wharf circa 1981.
The diesel loco is standing on what is now the long siding in the yard. This photo also illustrates the industrial backdrop of the early days of the Harbour Railway, quite a contrast to the contemporary view.

Ruston on the quayside

Posted on June 11, 2014 by corwinb

The green diesel shunter eases wagons onto the wharf earlier this morning.

A familiar sight has returned to the harbour in the shape of the MV Balmoral, back from dry dock with fresh paint shining in the morning sun.

Whapping Wharf Development

Posted on June 2, 2014 by corwinb

As the housing at Sugar Quay is going up…

… Other buildings are coming down. The former coal office (Latterly the office for the car park managers) has been demolished, along with the partially-collapsed roof of the building on the right.

See this photo from February 2013 for a comparison

Over on the shed road, the old goods platform has been renovated and the entire wall treated to new paint. The remnants of the platform roof have been removed.

Compare this last photo with the view back in 2009

Likewise, this view back toward the shed has changed so much, and is due to change again, as the access road is to be built and will need to cross the two yard tracks.

This shot of the Ruston, taken from the same location, is about a year old.

Riverbank Subsidence and Repairs

Posted on June 1, 2014 by corwinb

The phrase ‘ship shape and Bristol fashion’ refers to the high tidal reach of the River Avon in Bristol, where ships would have to be strong to withstand being on the riverbed every 4 hours.
During the harsh tides this spring, the banks of the New Cut between Vauxhall Bridge and the Create Centre sagged a bit, requiring this section to be closed while repairs were carried out.

This photo shows the ‘sag’ in the track.

The rails in this section were duly lifted, and the sleepers repositioned to form a ramp for construction equipment to get in.

Within two weeks the operation was completed, allowing ‘Henbury’ to propel the first passenger trains across the repaired section. A speed limit of 5mph is currently in place here.

Come and drive ‘Portbury’!

Posted on May 26, 2014 by corwinb

This bank holiday weekend, both ‘Henbury’ and ‘Portbury’ were in operation, with ‘Henbury’ on regular passenger duties, while her Bristol-built stablemate was to be found in the yard, where members of the public could have a go at driving it!

Pictures courtesy of Adrian Croshaw

This coming Fathers Day (Sunday 15th June), ‘Portbury’ will be on driver experience duties once more, as part of the ‘Fathers Day: A Grand Day Out’ offer from M Shed. At just £35, you can treat Dad to driving both a steam loco and two of the dockside cranes!

On Friday, ‘Henbury’ had prepared the yard by shunting most of the stock into the New Cut siding.

‘Henbury’, the square, and Sugar Quay

Posted on May 23, 2014 by corwinb

Henbury with a warming fire lit ahead of this bank holiday weekend’s services. Construction of the Sugar Quay development continues in the background, whilst in the foreground, the new square with map of Bristol inlaid, and new lighting overhead, is visible.

TBT – Southern E1 at the Festival of the Sea

Posted on April 24, 2014 by corwinb

From the 24-27th May 1996, Bristol Harbour was host to the International Festival of the Sea. This was a huge event featuring many guest ships and attractions, and of course the BHR played a part. A shining and fully-lined out ‘Henbury’ was joined by LB&SCR E1 class 0-6-0T No.B110, then based at the East Somerset Railway (Now being restored to service on the Isle of Wight as No.W2 ‘Yarmouth’). The two locos operated a shuttle service between the station at Ashton Meadows and the Bristol Industrial Museum with 3 loaned coaches.
The following pictures appear with the kind permission of Geoff Hartland.

Number 110 was built at Brighton Works in 1877 and named ‘Burgundy’. It was withdrawn in 1927 and sold to a colliery in Rugeley, which resulted in it being the only member of its class to survive scrapping, being sold into preservation in 1963. It was in service on the ESR between 1993 and 1997, when it was withdrawn early due to firebox problems. She is now on display at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway’s ‘Train Story’ exhibition, and will be restored in due course.

Bristol Harbour Railway Blog

An unofficial blog site about the BHR and industrial railways in Bristol