Tag Archives: diesel

We’re Going Back Up The Branch! (I)

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The long journey back to the Bonded Warehouses at Ashton Avenue Bridge took another step in the right direction last weekend.
The last train ran here in 2015, when the station was closed to make way for the Metrobus route over the bridge. Since then, progress has been hampered firstly by the delay in building the bus route, followed by the collapse of the wall along the New Cut in 2020. This has now been fixed, but Vauxhall Bridge was then closed for refurbishment for 2 years, which has resulted in the track under the bridge being blocked by scaffolding.


The railway has been stockpiling assets to return down the branch, with multiple deliveries of concrete sleepers over the past year.

Staff and volunteers have been putting the time in, prepping the area around the station now that the contractors have moved out. Track that had been stored alongside A Bond has been pulled out, sleepers sorted into no-hopers vs. reusable ones, and roughly laid along the trackbed.

Last Saturday we were able to take another step forward. More sleepers were moved into position and lined up from the stub of track remaining on the West side of the slip, then Larry dragged two 60-foot rails out of the pile and with much lifting, levering and a gentle tap from the bucket, managed to drop the rails into the chairs.

It may only be one track panel so far, but it gave an immense feeling of satisfaction and progress. The next one is likely to be another 60-footer. The aims here are to build a single line from the railhead to the platform in the first instance, for works trains. This will be followed by relaying the area outside A Bond to allow access to the Barn and the run-round loop. There is some re-grading to be done as the platform area is much higher than the running line, and the old railhead is lower than the new yard, so will need to be built up.
Several passers-by had positive comments while we were working, with the best one being “Does this mean we’re getting our train back?”

Whilst the trackwork was going on, the jungle that had grown in front of the shed was cut back, revealing the track underneath! Also a rare view of the Fox, Walker steam locomotive, LMS Brake Van and Ruston inside the shed. This was the victim of a break-in which resulted in every window being smashed and all the side panels taken off and thrown on the floor. Another fixer-upper!

Passenger Rides with an ex-PBA Diesel

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This weekend there will (hopefully) be the chance to ride behind an ex-PBA diesel shunter, in Norfolk!
From the Whitwell and Reepham Station Facebook Group. Photo Credit: Dan Knights
Operational notice! We have been dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s but this Saturday, we plan to haul the first passenger official passenger trains with D1171.
Part of our Vintage Transport Weekend. Diesel Saturday and steam Sunday.
D1171 was built by Hudswell Clarke in 1959 and delivered to the Port of Bristol Authority (PBA), being registered by the British Transport Commission (BTC) to operate over parts of the nation railway network as required in the Bristol area. Although delivered in 1959 it was built in 1958. PBA had many locos constructed by Hudswell clarke.
Initially working for the PBA at Avonmouth docks, she later worked at Portishead docks. The loco was then sold to British Fuels LTD moving to their coal handling facility at Princes Wharf in Bristol City Centre. Then moving to Filton site after the Wharf closed. Named Western Pride. D.1171 made her last trip along the BHR in May 1987, on an overnight move to the coal depot at Filton. Purchased privately in April 1989 with the long term intention of being moved to the Avon Railway at Britton. The loco never reached Bitton and was moved to the MOD site at Long Marston in September 1990 for storage and saw limited use. The loco was fitted with vacuum and was finally laid up due to a gearbox issue. The gearbox was fixed in 2006 and work was undertaken again to restore. But again sadly later stopped. She was eventually moved to Whitwell in 2017 where restoration has continued, including a new clutch and painting it back to its PBA guise.
D1171 is powered by a 204 hp Gardner 8L3 engine and is very similar to a Class 03/04.

‘Western Pride’ in the East

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Ex-PBA Hudswell Clarke D1171 ‘Western Pride’, which formerly worked on the New Cut Branch, has recently (in the past few years) moved to the Whitwell and Reepham Railway in Norfolk where restoration is ongoing.

Thanks to Aaron Browning for the photo of the loco in the shed at Whitwell, starting to look very smart!

D1171 at Whitwell 15/09/20 – Aaron Browning

You can read more about D1171 on its page here.


The Fox, Walker sees daylight

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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
‘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

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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

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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)

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)

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. 

‘The Bug’ – Ruston 0-4-0DM

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‘The Bug’ is the nickname for the green Ruston & Hornsby diesel shunter based on the railway.

The loco is not fitted with vacuum brakes so cannot haul passenger trains, but is one of the most useful bits of kit on the railway, along with Larry the Loader and the Self Propelled Crane. As a diesel loco, the time required to start up is a fraction of the that required to bring a steam engine up to working pressure, you just switch it on and go! This means it can be used to shunt wagons and locos about on non-operating days.
IMG_1143
0-4-0 refers to the 4 coupled wheels, and the DM stands for Diesel Mechanical, meaning the engine drives the wheels through a mechanical transmission, rather than hydraulic or with electric traction motors as found on most modern locos.

The Headlight and Makers' Plate

The Headlight and Makers’ Plate

Shunting two vans off the inspection pit

Shunting two vans off the inspection pit

Shunting the two operational steam locos into the shed

Shunting the two operational steam locos into the shed

The locomotive, like most of the rolling stock in the museum’s collection, has a local connection. For many years it worked at the British Gas site in Hallen Marsh near Avonmouth, and it was there that these two photos were taken.
These photographs are linked here from the Bristol Rail Archive site and are the property of Mike P.
622px-Seabank1

Seabank2

The loco was donated to the museum by British Gas in 1995. It was subsequently repainted green with red motion and bufferbeams, and given a fictional shedplate (82 was the Bristol area shed code under BR).
IMG_1093

TBT – Another Ruston at Canon’s Marsh

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While the BHR currently operates the ex-British Gas shunter (Known as ‘The Bug’), this isn’t the first Ruston & Hornsby Diesel to have worked on the docks railways in Bristol.
In July 1952, just over the water at the Bristol Gas Company’s works at Canon’s Marsh (Now the site of luxury new build and re-build flats), a 4-wheel diesel mechanical shunter is at work.

An unidentified 4 wheel diesel mechanical built by Ruston, potters around the Bristol Gas Company’s works at Canon’s Marsh, note Bristol’s famous Cabot Tower on the skyline. 7/52. ©www.railphotoprints.co.uk – collection

This photo is reposted from Rail Photoprints and can be purchased at this link.

TBT – Steam meets diesel on the wharf

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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.