Bristol Harbour Railway 2012 Dates

Hi all -

The Bristol Harbour Railway have recently released their dates of operation for 2012.

The railway will be running steam-hauled rides from 11am til 5pm on the following dates...

Saturday 24th March
Sunday 24th March
Saturday 7th April
Sunday 8th April
Monday 9th April
Saturday 21st April
Sunday 22nd April
Saturday 5th May
Sunday 6th May
Monday 7th May
Saturday 19th May
Sunday 20th May
Saturday 2nd June
Sunday 3rd June
Monday 4th June
Tuesday 5th June
Saturday 23rd June
Sunday 24th June
Saturday 14th July
Sunday 15th July
Saturday 28th July
Sunday 29th July
Saturday 25th August
Sunday 26th August
Monday 27th August
Saturday 8th September
Sunday 9th September
Saturday 22nd September
Sunday 23rd September
Saturday 6th October
Sunday 7th October
Saturday 27th October
Sunday 28th October
Saturday 3rd November
Sunday 4th November

The steam-tug "Mayflower" (150 years old last year - the oldest steam tug in the world) will be operating trips on the following dates... (£5 adults, £3 concessions).

Saturday 14th April
Sunday 15th April (also Aston Martin day)
Saturday 9th June
Sunday 10th June
Saturday 21st July
Sunday 22nd July
Saturday 1st September
Sunday 2nd September
Saturday 13th October
Sunday 14th October
Saturday 3rd November
Sunday 4th November

1934 built fire boat "Pyronaut" will be operating trips on the following dates... (£5 adults, £3 concessions)

Saturday 28th April
Sunday 29th April
Saturday 30th June
Sunday 1st July
Saturday 11th August
Sunday 12th August
Saturday 29th September
Sunday 30th September

Diesel tug "John King" (built 1934) will be operating trips on the following dates...

Saturday 12th May
Sunday 13th May
Saturday 16th June
Sunday 17th June
Saturday 4th August
Sunday 5th August
Saturday 15th September
Sunday 16th September

For something a little different, the museum are offering electric crane trips for a small charge on the following dates.... (the 1878-built Fairburn Steam Crane will also be in steam for demonstration)

Saturday 31st March
Sunday 1st April
Saturday 26th May
Sunday 27th May
Saturday 18th August
Sunday 19th August
Saturday 20th October
Sunday 21st October

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Cheers,

Phil.

 

Very useful. Thank you.

 

Are there likely to be any trips down to the old bonded warehouses?

 

I think this is the most recent thread on the BHR, so apologies if I'm wrong on that...

Anyway, I visited on Saturday -- despite having strong connections with Bristol this was the first time I'd actually travelled on the railway. Henbury, two open trucks, brake van. The weather was quite varied, but nobody much seemed to mind -- nor, perhaps more surprisingly, did I hear anyone complain about getting soot on their clothes. Still, I suppose if you sit in an open truck you expect such things; there can't be that many preserved railways where a trip in the brake van is the luxury option! A rover was £4, with trips alternating between the Create Centre and SS Great Britain branches -- decent value, I reckon.

Now that the busway thingy has received approval, I'm guessing the railway may be living on borrowed time? Absolutely nobody (outside of specialist forums like this) seems to want to address the issue, but although I suppose the short Great Britain stretch might be able to survive in some form, the other branch would have to be destroyed entirely. It may still not happen, given Bristol's dire record on public transport improvements over the years, but if it does I certainly urge anyone with even a slight interest to go and see the BHR while it's still there.

 

The bus rapid transit scheme has received funding, but the necessary Transport and Works Act Order depends on the outcome of a public inquiry, starting on 22nd May.

There is a campaign group opposed to the BRT scheme, their website is here:

STOP BRT2 | . . . there are better ways

 

Are there any precise details about what would happen to the BHR if the BRT2 plan went through as proposed? The short comment on the site you linked to is about as good as I've seen, and that's very far from giving full answers. "The Railway will be shortened in length, and run a reduced timetable (Sundays only)." Does "shortened" mean that the Create Centre branch will be lost, that it will be retained but curtailed, that the Great Britain line will be affected too, what? And surely either buses will go to the GB (in which case they'll be touristy, and have to run on Sundays) or they won't go to the GB (in which case the railway ought to be able to run on other days as now.) Is this even known? To me as a visitor from (a little) afar, it's the quayside line that really matters, since there's nothing else like it -- but I'll still miss the other branch if it's lost.

You make a good point, though. I have a long family association with Bristol, and I'm aware that the city's record when it comes to actually putting transport initiatives into practice is, to put it politely, mixed. (I remember that weird 1990s idea for a bus/trolleybus/tram/Uncle Tom Cobbleigh and all network, for example.) They don't seem to value industrial heritage as much as they might. As someone said, if all that matters is slightly faster bus journeys, then let's get the suspension bridge knocked down pronto and replaced with a modern one that buses can use! (Maybe I shouldn't give the council any more ideas...)

 

The current plan is that the BHR track along the CREATE Centre branch will be replaced with tramway style track, laid in the surface of the concrete busway. The exact location of the station at CREATE has yet to be determined, but will not be in its current position. It will have to be moved east, thus shortening the run.

BHR will be allowed to operate along the branch on Sundays, but not Saturdays, thus reducing revenue. There will also be a big change in the ambience of the branch run, it will go from a trip along a railway, to a trip along a concrete trough. On Sundays when BHR is operating, the buses will run along Cumberland Road, instead of along the busway to allow BHR access to the branch.

The latest drawings for the BRT scheme are here:

http://www.travelplus.org.uk/media/242443/am.1 revised plans for information.pdf

More plans including cross sections, etc are included in older scheme plans here:

BRT Ashton Vale to Temple Meads TWAO | West of England Partnership

under section A17, if anyone's interested in the detail.

 

Thank you; much obliged. It seems even odder than I'd first envisaged, but of course what actually appears may be different again.

(Secondary question: is the BHR the shortest preserved railway with a branch in Britain?)

 

A couple of shots of the branch line alongside The New Cut and Cumberland Road.

Bristol Harbour Railway May 2012 - a set on Flickr

Does anyone know where Portbury's boiler went for repair/overhaul?

 

Portbury (including boiler) is being overhauled at the South Devon Railway.

South Devon Railway - Bristol Harbour No34

 

It went to the South Devon Railway - the comment in the winter 12 Bulliver (SDR mag) is that the job is to be fitted in before next summer

 

Just wondering if they mean summer 2012 or summer 2013?

 

I wondered that too - the phrase i used is a lifted quote from the magazine and i agree its not very clear!

 

Cheers for the info.

 

Please note BHR is NOT running on July 28/29 and that this weekend is Harbour Festival when the railway operates to SS GB only.
David M.