TBT – GWR 813 at Ashton Meadows

Posted on March 19, 2015 by corwinb

It’s been a while since I’ve done any Throw Back Thursday posts, but with summer just around the corner, there are more to come!

This is a photo from a charter in 2001, during the last days of Ashton Meadows sidings (note the overgrown bushes). The loco is GWR 813, a unique survivor built in 1901 for the Port Talbot Railway in Wales. The 813 fund have given permission for this photo to be reproduced here.

To find out more about GWR 813 or help fund the group’s restoration projects, click here.

(Courtesy GWR 813 Fund)

Butterfly Junction Redevelopment – 1

Posted on March 13, 2015 by corwinb

In this first look at the changing face of the Butterfly Junction area, you can see the extensive clearance of foliage that has taken place. Surveyors have been working in the area over the past few weeks.

Further down the line, the area around the Cumberland Road Bridge siding has also been cleared. The spare wagon wheelsets have been moved out of the way. The plans for the bridge indicate that the path here will be raised up to platform height in order to meet the new bridge.

Portbury at Beamish – In Steam

Posted on February 5, 2015 by corwinb

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.

(Paul Jarman)

These photos appear here with Paul’s permission

The Fox, Walker sees daylight

Posted on December 4, 2014 by corwinb

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.

The Coles crane is moved out first as part of the shunt

With the crane out of the way, the Ruston couples up

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‘For Sale’ – very funny!

Pinholes in the tank give an idea as to the thickness of the metal

The view from the Ruston’s footplate as it drags the Victorian locomotive out

Gently eased out on to the running line

Out on the New Cut – the furthest the loco has been in a long time

TBT – Henbury Makes History – Coal Trains in 1981

Posted on November 27, 2014 by corwinb

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.

Taking loaded wagons up to the Wharf (John Stanford)

October 1981, in between shunting moves (John Stanford)

About to go under Vauxhall Bridge (John Stanford)

Bringing the trucks into the yard (John Stanford)

The Engines of Avonmouth

Posted on November 13, 2014 by corwinb

Port of Bristol Authority Avonmouth Shed, Avonsides S4, S5 and Pecketts S11 and another present, 21/7/63 – Railphotoprints.com

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

‘Hudson’ (Avonside Engine 1724 of 1915) at the Port of Bristol Authority, Avonmouth Docks 13/8/49

‘William’ (Avonside Engine 1725 of 1915) at PBA, Avonmouth 5/4/58

No. S3 ‘Portbury’ (Avonside Engine 1764 of 1917) at the Port of Bristol Authority, Avonmouth 21/7/63

‘Percy’ (Avonside Engine 1800 of 1918) at PBA, Avonmouth 5/4/58

No. S4 ‘Percy’ (Avonside Engine 1800 of 1918) at the Port of Bristol Authority, Avonmouth 21/7/63

‘Brian’ (Avonside Engine 1799 of 1918) at PBA, Avonmouth 5/4/58

No. S5 ‘Brian’ (Avonside Engine 1799 of 1918) at the Port of Bristol Authority, Avonmouth 21/7/63

‘Fyffe’ (Peckett 1721 of 1926) at PBA, Avonmouth 5/4/58

‘Ashton’ (Peckett 1878 of 1934) at PBA, Avonmouth (side view) 5/4/58

No. S7 ‘Ashton’ (Peckett 1878 of 1934) at the Port of Bristol Authority, Avonmouth 21/7/63

‘Westbury’ (Peckett 1877 of 1934) at PBA, Avonmouth (side view) 5/4/58

‘Westbury’ (Peckett 1877 of 1934) at the Port of Bristol Authority, Avonmouth Docks (side view) 13/8/49

No. S8 ‘Westbury’ (Peckett 1877 of 1934) at the Port of Bristol Authority, Avonmouth 21/7/63

‘Hallen’ (Peckett 2035 of 1943) at PBA, Avonmouth 5/4/58

No. S10 ‘Hallen’ (Peckett 2035 of 1943) at the Port of Bristol Authority, Avonmouth 21/7/63 (Courtesy RCTS/Jack Faithfull)

No. S11 ‘Bristol’ (Peckett 2036 of 1943) on an RCTS rail tour at the Port of Bristol Authority, Avonmouth 21/7/63

No. S11 ‘Bristol’ (Peckett 2036 of 1943) on an RCTS railtour at the Port of Bristol Authority, Avonmouth 21/7/63

‘Clifton’ (Peckett 2037 of 1943) at PBA, Avonmouth 5/4/58

No. S12 ‘Clifton’ (Peckett 2037 of 1943) at the Port of Bristol Authority, Avonmouth 21/7/63

Peckett S12 ‘Clifton’ (Copyright Geoff Plumb)

No. S13 ‘Redland’ (Peckett 2038 of 1943) at the Port of Bristol Authority, Avonmouth (side view) 21/7/63

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.

PBA 34 on the dockside,1973 (Courtesy John Stanford)

Sentinel 0-6-0 No. PBA 39 and PBA 40 at Avonmouth docks 14/5/82 (Courtesy Kevin Hughes/RCTS)

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.

Docks Heritage Weekend 2014 – Photos and Video

Posted on October 5, 2014 by corwinb

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!

AEC Matador Timber Tractor at the entrance to the quayside

Portbury simmering away, visitors could take a look around the cab

Freshly painted MOGO

Co-ordinating loading

Twin crane action

Preparing the capstan

The Museum’s Bristol-built lorry

British Road Services Livery

Here’s a video of the electric capstan winch shunting demonstration:

Click here to see the Bristol Post article of the event

Portbury’s Twin Needs Your Help!

Posted on October 1, 2014 by corwinb

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.

Docks Heritage Weekend 4th-5th October

Posted on September 29, 2014 by corwinb

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.

Docks Heritage Weekend

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)

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.

Bristol Harbour Railway Blog

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

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