Bristol Harbour Railway - Updates and Goings on

The dockside cranes outside the M-Shed are now listed buildings, and interestingly, so is the track beneath them.

“designed for utility, but with a resultant architectural and aesthetic quality…of a scale and monumental form that has conferred them with emblematic status” says the list, and it is difficult to argue with that.

Full list entry here: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1482011

 

First trains of the year on the Harbour Railway? Hopefully the New Cut branch will reopen this year, the long-running repairs to the river wall look almost complete.

 

I really must make a decent visit to BHR / M-Shed / Cranes etc etc this summer.

I'm from the area - born in Bristle - and miss my harbour fix ...

 

Does the low emission zone have any effect ?

 

No. The LEZ is for road vehicles.

 

Are there any plans for a harbour festival with lots of M shed action this summer? Could the New Cut branch be open by then?

 

Yes, the harbour festival is July 15 & 16, although the branch won't be open by then. The contractors currently expect to finish repairing the river wall by the end of May, but then the track will need to be relaid, platform reinstated etc. Realistically we are looking at 2024.

 

Repairs to the New Cut have been completed and the "chocolate path" riverside walk/cycleway is to reopen on September 4th. Happy to help with reinstating the track from Vauxhall Bridge to the bonded warehouses @Bill Drewett!

 

Thanks for the offer @Kingscross. I've sent you a message.

 

Nice to see the old butterfly Junction platform now rebuilt alongside the A-Bond warehouse. Will make for some fine photos in future. Signs the trains are returning to the New Cut branch?

 

That’s right. The old position of the platform was roughly where the part of the road (actually a busway) that’s in the sun in my photo is. The bridge over the river is now a bus and cycle route.

 

I've been over it on a train from Temple Meads

 

Drove past the newly repaired bit of the cut, and the trackbed looks to be ready and waiting for new track

 

A couple of photo's regarding the above ,Ashton Jnc and Ashton swing bridge.46443 with the GWR 150th .14/09/1985

 

I was given two boxes of photos and negs at one of the Kidderminster Museum Photographic Fairs. The prints are 'machine printed' black and white photos. These are very dark with a lot of detail lost. I have scanned the negatives and here is some results of GWR 813 At Bristol Harbour Railway 2001
Photos: Alister Grieve.

 

It’s have-a-go week and there are slots available for you to come and try your hand at driving ‘Henbury’ and one of the electric cranes on the quayside.
The price is £80 per person for 20 minutes on each machine getting one-on-one tutoring.
Book your tickets here:
https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/train-and-crane-driving-experiences/

 

Another season over, Henbury's back in the shed.
https://bristolharbourrailway.co.uk/2024/10/28/last-operating-weekend-of-2024-sunday/

Portbury's tubes have all been removed so the workshop team need something to do. To this end, the Sulphuric Acid tanker has been picked up and rolled into L Shed to have some TLC on the tank. It was refurbished a few years ago but the paint has peeled badly, so this could be a quick win for the museum volunteers.

https://bristolharbourrailway.co.uk/2024/10/29/sulphuric-acid-tanker-in-for-the-winter/