Tag Archives: crane

We’re Going Back up the Branch! (II)

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Thankfully we have been lucky with the weather recently and have done more work on repairing and rebuilding the branch to A Bond.

EVEN MORE concrete sleepers have arrived and were stashed on wagons. These deliveries have almost finished now with enough in stock to relay the majority of the running line. Bob caught these photos of Crane 32 doing the honours with Henbury ready to tow them away.

A thankless task has been moving the stacks of concrete sleepers which were left on the trackbed in the new station area. The contractors employed to fix the wall of the New Cut and the Chocolate Path were meant to have installed these in ‘the gap’ but for some reason this was not done before the work site was cleared. We need to re-grade this area due to the height difference in the old running line and the new yard area, so the laborious work of moving all the sleepers had to be done by Larry and a few volunteers. Frustrating, but necessary to allow work to continue.
Chris cleared the last few earlier last week leaving the platform road clear.

At the weekend we were then able to drag another 30-foot rail into position at the railhead and begin to hammer keys into every other rail chair to give the track some rigidity. Then, using a turfer ratchet chain thingy we slewed the 60-foot panel to begin making a gently curve towards the station.
The view at the end of the day shows the new curve as well as the height discrepancy between the new track and the old. The old railhead will need jacking up and re-packing underneath once it’s been connected to the new panel.

Bringing Back the Branch

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A few blog posts recently have covered the acquisition of loads of second-hand concrete sleepers. This is all in aid of bringing the New Cut branch back in to use.
It’ll soon be 10 years since the track was lifted at Butterfly Junction to make way for the Metrobus Guided Busway.

The return was delayed as in early 2020, the ongoing subsidence of the New Cut wall came to a head as the wall, the Chocolate Path and the Railway all collapsed into the Cut.


The wall has since been fixed, but then came the refurbishment of Vauxhall Bridge (halfway down the branch) which requires a large amount of scaffolding blocking the track.

The current railhead at the new section of wall, with a fenced-off Vauxhall Bridge in the background.

The aim is to be ready to commence tracklaying and sleeper replacement as soon as possible, to return trains to the station at ‘A’ Bond warehouse.
To this end, volunteers and staff, along with Larry the trusty loader, have been working down at A Bond to position the platform and track, sort through the materials and work out what is re-usable and what needs refurbishment. Hauling track out of the undergrowth is part of the challenge!
The platform has been shot-blasted and repainted to protect it.
Thanks to Chris and Katie for these photos.

Hopefully this work shows a statement of intent to the public that the branch is on its way back.

Back on the Wharf, a huge amount of hedge trimming and lineside clearance has taken place along the curve to Cumberland Road Bridge, requiring use of the Coles Crane and cage, seen here returning to the shed at the end of a running day.

The next step was the clearance of the ash pile next to the pit, which was getting rather tall. This required use of the grab and the Vincent wagon. The ashes are being used to create a walking route for trackworkers and shunters alongside the running line, where there was previously very limited clearance. Ash paths were a staple of the steam-era railway environment as there was so much of it around. More sorting and moving of sleepers and chairs was also done. The crane’s new clear acrylic roof and windscreen are very useful for this work.

More to come as work progresses….

More trackwork and first running weekend of the year

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Last weekend more preparation for the relaying of the New Cut branch to A Bond warehouse took place along with track maintenance ahead of the first running weekend of the year this coming Saturday and Sunday.

The sleepers were unloaded on to one of the flat wagons earlier in the week. The Coles Crane was to be used but needed to be on the East side of the wagon, so Larry was used to push the truck up the quayside and enable the Coles to couple up. The Coles then propelled the wagon up the branch to the siding alongside Cumberland Road bridge.

We put our cargo handling and crane direction training as seen at Docks Heritage Weekend to good use. Using the brothers (dual chain hooks) enables 2 sleepers to be loaded at a time and stacked neatly on the siding.

With that done and the wagon returned to the yard, in the afternoon the team were jacking and packing sleepers on the running line by the steam crane, as well as slewing the rails to ease the curve either side of the rail join. This required multiple jacks and a lot of sweat!

HENBURY will be in steam tomorrow morning so come on down and enjoy a train ride in the sunshine.

Docks Heritage Weekend 2021

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It’s been a week since the first public outing for the working exhibits in over a year, Docks Heritage Weekend. What a blast! So great to have the volunteers working with the public again. Both Portbury and Henbury were on display and the capstan was back in operation both days, and crane 30 was kept busy loading and unloading the lorry.
Quayside operations were bolstered with audience interaction from the Show of Strength Theatre company.
Thanks for Bob, Bruce and the M Shed social media channels for these photos of the weekend.

John King’s Wheelhouse Lift

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Back at the start of the month, Crane 30 was used to lift off the wheelhouse to Bristol tug ‘John King’ so it can have some tender loving care.

Thanks to Bob Edwardes for these photos!
Bob says “Whilst up the crane I also had a cracking view of the recently restored Thames sailing barge (S.B. Gladys) making her way from Gloucester back to London via Bristol Harbour.”

Video – Mayflower’s Boiler Lift – April 2020

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The 1861-built Steam Tug ‘Mayflower’ takes another step in the progress of its overhaul as the boiler is lifted back into the hull. Assisting in the operation is 1917-built Avonside ‘Portbury’ and 1951-built Stothert and Pitt ‘Crane 32’, both working exhibits and still earning their keep at M Shed Museum. Whilst the superstructure was off I took the opportunity to film some shots of the engine room with natural light, a rare occurrence! The lifting operation was undertaken by a minimum number of volunteers due to the COVID-19 situation and working regulations.

Henbury Overhaul Update – November 2020

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Henbury’s overhauled rolling chassis has now been reunited with the boiler, allowing re-assembly to continue.
In order to do this, the temporary track was extended out of the workshop, and a commercial crane was employed to turn the frames through 90 degrees and onto the quayside track. Portbury was able to bring the boiler on its trolley down to the quayside, where it was lifted into the frames. It was nearly dark by the time the operation was completed.
Lastly, Portbury took her old stablemate back to the running shed.


Photos courtesy Bob Edwardes, with thanks.

Restoration Updates – April 2019

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Lots has been going on, ‘Portbury’ has just finished working the busy Bank Holiday weekend.

A few weeks ago the Steam Crane’s jib was re-painted.

The Turbot’s vacuum brake cylinder was due for overhaul, so in March it was shunted out of the service train and outside the shed, where the work was carried out.

Here it is, freshly refurbished.

The BD open wagon’s repaint is pressing ahead. The planks still have a few years left in them so since the wagon won’t be carrying much in the way of loads, the scabby looking planks were simply turned around in situ.