Paul Jarman of Beamish Transport Online has posted updates on Portbury’s arrival at Beamish. Shunted off the lorry siding by departing hire loco ‘John Howe’ (An Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST), Portbury was in steam the next day and immediately put to work shunting the yard at Rowley station.
These photos appear here with Paul’s permission
In May 2014, a shunting move to get rolling stock out of the Smeaton Road shed and into the rebuilt ‘Barn’ saw Fox, Walker and Sons No.242 (NCB No.3) out in the open air. This loco had new bearings fitted before the rebuild of M Shed in 2006, so is a rolling chassis and can be moved around.
The photos also give an indication as to the condition of the loco, and the scale of any restoration that might take place.
These pictures were taken by Michelle Scoplin of the Create Centre and appear here with her kind permission.
As previously mentioned on this blog, in 1981, the Western Fuel Co.’s diesel shunter Western Pride was in need of an overhaul. This locomotive was used to shunt wagons on the dockside and into the WFC compound, as well as trip workings along the New Cut to Ashton Meadows sidings, from where a BR loco would take the wagons onto the main line.
So it was that Henbury was hired as the first preserved steam loco to pull scheduled goods trains for British Railways (BR having stopped using steam traction in 1968). She crept onto the Western Fuel Co.’s site at 7am on Monday 28th September 1981 and worked for the next three weeks hauling coal trains of up to 450 tons.
This cinefilm was captured by Bob Edwardes and appears here with permission.
Points of particular interest include running on the main line to Bristol Bath Road engine shed to use the turntable (creating quite a contrast to the BR Blue mainline diesels at Bristol Temple Meads!) and double heading with the PBA Rolls-Royce Sentinel No. 41 (10220) that took over duties from Henbury.
The Avonmouth Docks system utilised a large motive power stud, mainly consisting of locomotives constructed in Bristol by Avonside or Peckett. In 1939, there were some 28 steam locomotives in the fleet.
The steam fleet included (But was not limited to):
S1 ‘Hudson’ (Avonside 1724 of 1915) – 0-6-0ST
S2 ‘William’ (Avonside 1725 of 1915) – 0-6-0ST
S3 ‘Portbury’ (Avonside 1764 of 1917) – 0-6-0ST
S4 ‘Percy’ (Avonside 1800 of 1918) – 0-6-0ST
S5 ‘Brian’ (Avonside 1799 of 1918) – 0-6-0ST
S6 ‘Fyffe’ (Peckett 1721 of 1926) – 0-6-0ST
S7 ‘Ashton’ (Peckett 1878 of 1934) – 0-6-0ST
S8 ‘Westbury’ (Peckett 1877 of 1934) – 0-6-0ST
S9 ‘Henbury’ (Peckett 1940 of 1937) – 0-6-0ST
S10 ‘Hallen’ (Peckett 2035 of 1943) – 0-6-0ST
S11 ‘Bristol’ (Peckett 2036 of 1943) – 0-6-0ST
S12 ‘Clifton’ (Peckett 2037 of 1943) – 0-6-0ST
S13 ‘Redland’ (Peckett 2038 of 1943) – 0-6-0ST
‘Lionel” (Peckett No.466 of 1889) – 0-6-0ST
‘Henry’ (Peckett 1264 of 1913) – 0-6-0ST
‘Strathcona’ (Peckett No. 1243 of 1910) – 0-6-0ST
The ‘S’ prefix was added to the loco numbers by the early 1960s as diesel traction was introduced, as well as the addition of the distinctive red and white striped bufferbeams.
At first a small batch of Hudswell Clarke diesels were purchased, of which D1171 ‘Western Pride’ (Later sold to Western Fuel Co., now preserved) was one. Another, No.23 ‘Merlin’ is preserved at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway in Yorkshire, although currently out of use awaiting overhaul.
ex-PBA No.23 ‘Merlin’ (D.2003) on the KWVR (Helena via Wikipedia)
In 1965 a fleet of Sentinel shunters came to the port. Finished in smart blue livery, they were direct replacements for the steam locos, which were withdrawn shortly afterward.
The Sentinels worked right up until the closure of the Avonmouth Docks Railway system in 1983.
Sentinel PBA 39 is now preserved on the nearby East Somerset Railway, and has recently been restored to its original PBA livery. Also on the East Somerset Railway is PBA 42, also known as ‘Eric’, which went on to work for La Farge in Westbury, before being preserved in 2007, and is currently awaiting restoration.
PBA 39 on the ESR (T. Dalton)
The photographs on this page (Unless otherwise stated) were taken by Jack Faithfull and purchased from the Rail Correspondance and Travel Society’s website. They appear here for research purposes only and may not be used for profit or gain without permission.
Plenty of action on the dockside. 3 cranes in operation, along with the electric capstan shunting wagons. Actors from Show of Strength Theatre Company in character, loading demos, the Bristol Lorry, Portbury in Steam, and rides on tugboat John King to boot!
Here’s a video of the electric capstan winch shunting demonstration:
Based just a few miles away at the Avon Valley Railway is an almost identical loco to the BHR’s own ‘Portbury’, Avonside No.1798.
An appeal has been launched to get this locomotive restored and back in steam. It was the first steam loco on-site at Bitton in 1973, and worked there right up until it needed a heavy overhaul in the mid 1980s.
Built in 1918 at the same Bristol works as ‘Portbury’, it was delivered to the Imperial Smelting Works in Avonmouth, where it laboured away its whole working life.
ISC Ltd. No.2 at work in Avonmouth (Photo copyright Gordon Edgar)
The above photo appears here with the kind permission of Gordon Edgar, please take a look at his flickr site for more great railway images
When restored at the Avon Valley Railway, the loco received a plain black livery and was named ‘Edwin Hulse’ after a founder member of the railway.
En route to Bitton
The first steam-hauled trains at Bitton
A lot has changed since 1974, but this loco has seen it all!
How you can help
You can help by sponsoring one of the major parts listed in this brochure (download link) or by joining the 1798 Club whereby you covenant to donate £17.98 each month by standing order for up to 24 months. Whether you sponsor a specific item or donate monthly, you will automatically become members of the 1798 Club and be entitled to a range of benefits.
Every penny received from sponsorship or donation is spent on restoring this important engine.
Further details can be obtained by downloading the leaflet.
Please take a look at the official website for more details.
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)
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.
The Government has approved Bristol’s rapid transit Metrobus scheme, as reported by the BBC here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-24835593
Previously, the plans called for the railway line along the New Cut to be rebuilt into a combined busway and railway. This route has now been amended so that buses will use Cumberland Road, and will not run along the harbourside.
The current plans envisage a remodelling of the railway near the Create Centre to accommodate the busway as it crosses a rebuilt Ashton Avenue Bridge. The plans have the busway utilise the current railway alignment in order to join Cumberland Road on the level, with the railway being re-aligned.
Details of the plans (Including the amended route) are available on the Metrobus website:
http://www.travelwest.info/node/526
Here is a plan of the proposed works. Please note that the revised route for the BHR is not shown, as it is yet to be decided.
Harbour Festival is always busy down at Bristol Docks. I was volunteering on the Sunday (Saturday had seen torrential downpours, we were lucky on Sunday).
A couple of views from 8am before the crowds arrived.
The ever faithful ‘Henbury’ was on duty today.
As steam was raised outside the shed, I was tasked with polishing up some of the brasswork, including climbing up on the saddle tank to do the whistles, safety valve cover and chimney cap.
Then Driver Bob eases her over the pit for oiling.
The harbour area was packed full of interesting vessels and activities, and the museum’s own fleet was out in force.
The main challenge of the day was traversing the extremely busy area on the wharf. Trains proceeded along this section at a snail’s pace. Museum volunteers in high-vis made sure members of the public didn’t stray on to the running line.
Services were between M Shed and the SS Great Britain halt. The rain did eventually come, thankfully only toward the end of the day.
‘Henbury’s fire was dropped and she backed into the shed after another day’s work.
Bristol Harbour Railway Blog 
