It’s the 11th July 1993. ‘Portbury’, resplendent in blue, is being prepared for the day’s work. Note the industrial buildings behind, now the site of apartments.
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Photo courtesy Gillet’s Crossing/Wikipedia Commons
TBT – Beware of Trains
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Tag Archives: locomotive
Portbury’s Twin Needs Your Help!
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.
Henbury in Preservation
Following up from the story of Portbury in Preservation, here are a few highlights from Henbury’s career after being withdrawn from Avonmouth shed in the 1960s.
Henbury was rebuilt with the 5 year old boiler from a sister engine, and in after a spell in store, in 1972 she was located at Radstock engine shed with No.242 and Portbury.
‘Henbury’s classmate, Peckett S12 ‘Clifton’ on shed at Avonmouth, (Photo copyright Geoff Plumb, used here with permission)
Henbury under restoration at Radstock in 1972 – note the striped bufferbeam typical of Avonmouth locos
She was put to work hauling brake van specials from Radstock Station to Writhlington – a distance of approximately 1.5 miles.
At this time she wore a partly lined out green livery (lining on the cabside and front of the saddletank only), lighter than the shade she had when withdrawn, with red buffer beams.
Henbury working on passenger trains at Radstock
As mentioned before, the Radstock operation finished in 1975 and Henbury was homeless for a short while, until in 1978, the Bristol Industrial Museum opened.
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Henbury outside M Shed, before it opened as Bristol Industrial Museum, December 1975
Henbury was present at the opening ceremony of the museum, and was immediately put to work pulling passenger trains on the quayside.
At this time, coal trains from the main line would regularly travel down to Whapping Wharf sidings, either trip worked a BR loco, or thereafter by the Western Fuel Company’s Hudswell Clark shunter.
It was in 1981 that the diesel loco required repairs, the Western Fuel Co. turned to the nearby museum for assistance, and Henbury was pressed into service to keep coal coming in to Bristol, thereby becoming the first preserved steam loco to haul scheduled goods trains for British Rail.
Repainted with a yellow bunker, running plate and WESTERN FUEL CO. lettering on the tank sides, she pulled full wagons from Ashton Meadows to Whapping Wharf, and empties back, for two weeks.
On shuttle runs, 27/09/1981
At the old passenger halt, 27/09/1981
In Western Fuel Co. markings, ready to pull coal trains, 27/09/1981
The above photographs are copyright John Chalcraft and can be purchased from Railphotoprints
At the Wapping Wharf sidings, Fuel Co. compound to the right
Approaching the site of the current SS Great Britain Halt
On shuttle runs showing the yellow bunker
The above photos are copyright flickr user Emmdee
Sharing the line with an unusual stablemate
At the site of SS GB Halt
Above photos are copyright Robert Tarling
Henbury has hauled thousands of passengers over the years. In the 1990s her livery was altered again, the lining more closely resembles that which she wore at Avonmouth, but extending over the saddle tank as well as the cab.
Here she is pulling BR Mk1 carriages at the Festival of the Sea in 1996, before the main line link was severed.
Henbury in ex-works condition, 1996
Rob Skuse on the M Shed working exhibits page compiled a little selection of Henbury’s exploits over the past 10 years. These pictures are all copyright Rob Skuse.
Receiving some attention in the old workshops
With the refurbishment of M Shed under way, the power supply to the cranes was cut off. Henbury stepped in to help once more, and with the help of some chains, dragged the cranes into position
Ready to go
At the ‘Gromits Unleashed’ launch in 2013 with Aardman’s Nick Park.
On winter holiday at Midsomer Norton
Ready to attack the incline
In July 2014, she was withdrawn once more, and will be dismantled to allow her boiler to be inspected.
Photo courtesy of Juliet Eden
September Sun
A few snaps from the weekend’s operations. Really nice to have all three steam exhibits in operation. Lots of happy, friendly passengers, the sun shone, and steam was in the air.
TBT – Portbury to Portbury – 2001
Way back in 2001, the previously-mothballed rail link to Portbury had been renovated and was due for re-opening. The opportunity was taken to run a special 3-coach train hauled by the museum’s own loco ‘Portbury’ from Parson Street Station (Where the Portishead branch leaves the Great Western Main Line) to the new terminal at Portbury dock.
A full write-up of this historic event written by Paul Stanford can be read on the Avon Valley Railway’s website here:
http://semaphore.avonvalleyrailway.org/html/avonside.html
Here are two videos on YouTube documenting the event, one taken from the leading carriage of the special train.
TV Stars…
Never camera shy, the railway’s operational steam fleet made a cameo appearance on Channel 5’s ‘Emergency Bikers’ programme last week.
‘The Bug’ – Ruston 0-4-0DM
‘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.
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
Shunting two vans off the inspection pit
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.
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).
TBT – Pannier on Hotwells Road
This fantastic photo posted on the magnificent Bristol Railway Archive site shows ex-GWR pannier tank loco No.9769 taking a special train for the Railway Correspondance & Travel Society down the quayside line along Hotwells road in 1959.
This photo is property of The Railway Magazine.
Henbury’s Last Day
It’s the second day of the Bristol Harbour Festival, and compared to Saturday’s thunderstorms, the weather is positively delightful.
Peckett ‘Henbury’ comes out of traffic today as her 10-year boiler certificate is due to expire. She’s been a long time stalwart of the Bristol Harbour Railway from the very beginning.
These images are from ‘Henbury’s second to last operating day, and appear here with the kind permission of Juliet Eden. You can see more of Juliet’s fantastic photos on her website: http://julieteden.com/mdashshed
Portbury on ‘Driver for a fiver’ (Juliet Eden)
Henbury (Juliet Eden)
On the quayside (Juliet Eden)
TBT – Southern E1 at the Festival of the Sea
From the 24-27th May 1996, Bristol Harbour was host to the International Festival of the Sea. This was a huge event featuring many guest ships and attractions, and of course the BHR played a part. A shining and fully-lined out ‘Henbury’ was joined by LB&SCR E1 class 0-6-0T No.B110, then based at the East Somerset Railway (Now being restored to service on the Isle of Wight as No.W2 ‘Yarmouth’). The two locos operated a shuttle service between the station at Ashton Meadows and the Bristol Industrial Museum with 3 loaned coaches.
The following pictures appear with the kind permission of Geoff Hartland.
Number 110 was built at Brighton Works in 1877 and named ‘Burgundy’. It was withdrawn in 1927 and sold to a colliery in Rugeley, which resulted in it being the only member of its class to survive scrapping, being sold into preservation in 1963. It was in service on the ESR between 1993 and 1997, when it was withdrawn early due to firebox problems. She is now on display at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway’s ‘Train Story’ exhibition, and will be restored in due course.
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