Toad brake van repainted

Posted on February 5, 2018 by corwinb

The Bristol Harbour Railway is 40 years old this year!

In 1978 a group of keen and like minded people began operating steam train rides on Bristol’s harbourside. They had one working locomotive and an ex-GW brake van.

Henbury and the TOAD outside M Shed in 1979 (Courtesy John Law)

Since then, the van has given thousands of passengers rides up and down the line. It is essential to the running of the railway, becoming the leading end of the train when being propelled, and the large veranda gives a good field of vision for the guard.

Over the winter of 2017-2018, the van has been taken into the shed and been given a makeover. Rotten wood has been repaired, the whole vehicle has been sanded down and repainted, and it now sports a ‘Bristol’ allocation.

It looks very smart and is a credit to the volunteers and employees at M Shed.

I am trying to find out more information on the history of this brake van before it came to the BHR. If anyone does know of its past life, please do leave a comment below.

Henbury’s Overhaul Progresses

Posted on January 6, 2018 by corwinb

Instagram user Alex_4472 took some photos of Henbury under overhaul. This shows the progress being made by the volunteers and staff at M Shed.

The wheels have been scraped back and are in the process of being painted, the tank and frames are also receiving attention.

The last photo shows the chimney used for donations!

Uploaded here with permission.

TBT – Peckett Party in 2015

Posted on October 19, 2017 by corwinb

Henbury, Kilmerson and Teddy share the dockside in this great photo.

This photo appears here with the kind permission of flickr user Captain Tower. Please do not reproduce.

M Shed in Miniature

Posted on March 12, 2017 by corwinb

I managed to get down to the Nailsea Model Railway Exhibition today and snap some photos of John’s lovely EM gauge (1:76 scale) model of M Shed.

The layout has Portbury and Henbury complete with the passenger train (much of which was scratchbuilt), as well as the Ruston and Larry, and the steam crane (which is motorised!).

Henbury Overhaul Progress (October 2016)

Posted on October 26, 2016 by corwinb

Work on Henbury’s 10 year overhaul is progressing well.

The boiler has now been lifted from the frames (courtesy of Crane 32 with shunting assistance from Portbury). The boiler has been placed on a trolley and taken back to the engine shed, while the frames were lifted and turned 90 degrees, then placed on a temporarily-laid piece of track so they could be pushed into the workshop. The cab and other items are also inside.

During certain running days, visitors to M Shed can see work taking place and even make a donation to the overhaul. There are photographs of the boiler lift on display to show the process.

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The above sequence shows the lift.

Above: The boiler, cab, frames and tank all separated out.

Meanwhile, Portbury is running the scheduled services. This weekend is the last operating weekend of the season, with trains running from M Shed and alternating down the branch to Vauxhall Bridge and the quayside line to SS Great Britain.

Here are a few shots of Portbury at work last weekend.

Overhauls and Maintenance

Posted on April 6, 2016 by corwinb

There’s plenty going on at M Shed at the moment. Henbury is in the shed being dismantled for overhaul.

If you are visiting M Shed and would like to make a donation to help Henbury steam again, there is a donation box in front of the viewing window. All donations are welcome!

The TOAD brake van, meanwhile, is outside the workshop receiving new boards and a lick of paint on the door.

Much further down the line, Ashton Avenue Bridge is inside its cocoon, being repaired for use by MetroBus.

Henbury’s Saddle Tank Removed

Posted on February 7, 2016 by corwinb

Henbury’s tank has now been lifted off and is pictured here stored on a handy flat wagon on the quayside.

Crane Dance/Heritage Weekend Photos and Videos

Posted on October 4, 2015 by corwinb

What a nice weekend! The weather was good and the crowds turned out to both the Docks Heritage Weekend, and on Saturday evening, the Crane Dance. The dance, featuring live music and choreographed lighting and movement, was devised by Laura Kriefman and was a collaboration between:

M Shed, Underfall Yard, RSVP Bhangra, The Balmoral, Bristol Pilot Gig Club, Bristol Channel Social Rowers, Watershed, Studio 360.

Here’s a few clips:

Jamie Corbin put together this timelapse of the crane dance:

In the daytime, there were dockside loading and unloading demonstrations, actors from the Show of Strength Theatre Company, mosaics, the steam crane in operation, rides on the tug John King, and the chance to drive Judy for £10, and more…

Here’s an example of one of the mosaics made by Mosaic Madness

The steam crane had quite an unusual load…

Henbury was on display in the yard. She is in need of 149 new boiler tubes for her overhaul and any and all donations towards this are very welcome!

This delightful Bristol bus was busy ferrying people between M Shed and Underfall Yard.

Docks Heritage Weekend and Crane Dance

Posted on October 1, 2015 by corwinb

This coming weekend is the excellent Docks Heritage Weekend. Here’s a couple of pics and videos from last years event in case you missed it.

Freshly painted MOGO

Here’s what the Official M Shed Website has to say about the event:

A weekend of activities across two sites exploring the history and working life of the old City Docks.

Stroll around the fantastic Underfall Yard as its restoration programme gets into full swing and take part in activities at M Shed including boat trips, crane visits, have a go experiences and performances.

Events at M Shed

Mosaic Madness will be helping visitors create mosaics inspired by Bristol’s working docks and the river Avon
Screenings of historic films about the port
Dramatic interludes from Show of Strength Theatre Company exploring characters from the dock’s past Saturday and Sunday at 11am, 11.30am, 2pm and 2.30pm
Visit an electric crane (charges apply)
Cargo handling demonstrations
Trips on the tug John King (charges apply)
Visits to Balmoral, once part of the P & A Campbell fleet
Visit the Fairbairn steam crane
Drive a steam locomotive (charges apply)

Events at Underfall Yard

Demonstrations of traditional skills
Pop on a hard hat and take a look behind the scenes of the restoration works
Visit the viewing platform for spectacular harbour views
Family activities
Dramatic interludes from Show of Strength Theatre Company exploring stories from the yard’s past, Saturday and Sunday at 12.30pm and 3.30pm
Guided walks to Brunel’s Other Bridge, Sunday 1pm and 3pm
Explore reuse and recycling stories from Bristol’s boating communities and make your own floaty boaty (run in partnership with Bristol Green Capital), Sunday 2-4pm

A special event will also be taking place on Saturday evening. This is the Crane Dance performance, devised by Laura Kriefman. Starting at 8pm, this will combine lights, boats, choirs, live bhangra band music, and choreographed synchronised cranes!

This event is completely free and best viewed from the Arnolfini or Lloyds Amphitheatre.

Exciting stuff!

Judy and Teddy in action

Posted on August 10, 2015 by corwinb

The pictures below were taken the weekend before last, with Judy on passenger duties and Teddy once again offering ‘Driver fora Tenner’ experiences in the yard. These photos were taken by Tim Symons, who has given permission for them to be reproduced here.