A lovely rainbow over the museum as Henbury shunts in the yard this afternoon, rounding off this Easter bank holiday weekend’s activities. Thanks to Bob Edwardes for the picture ..read more

Henbury is out raising steam for this weekend’s activities with steam train rides on Saturday and Sunday. Come on down to the quayside and have a ride ..read more

With the GWR O18 wagon freshly painted and out on the quayside again, it was time for Portbury to go in to the workshop to continue its 10 year overhaul. The volunteers and staff have done a lot of prep work getting the tank off and freeing up the boiler. Henbury was being warmed up on Saturday for the move whilst the track inside the workshop had been extended. On Monday morning, Henbury dragged its shedmate onto the quayside and Crane 32 was used to lift the boiler off and onto the boiler trolley. Thanks to Art Spicer for this photo. The rolling chassis required a larger crane so one wa ..read more

Good news from the harbourside as the restoration of ex-GWR O18 open wagon No.61110 is finished. It’s been brought out of the workshop and placed back on the running line. This item of stock was bought by the Port of Bristol Authority in 1961 for use at Avonmouth. The protective cover is metal and can be lifted by one of the cranes if needed. Thanks to Bob Edwardes for the photograph ..read more

It’s the last operating day of the season tomorrow, so here’s a little round-up of things that have been happening. Docks Heritage Weekend took place over 30th September/1st October. Good turnout of volunteers in period dress, along with the Show of Strength Theatre Company interacting with the public. Henbury was in steam both days and collected the BD wagon (which had been in use with the capstan) on the Sunday after the toys had been put away. Steam tug ‘Mayflower’ has made a return to service following repairs to its engine. It’s been great to see it working on the harbour aga ..read more

I’ve been a bit lax in updating the blog this year, so there may be a few late uploads. On the weekend of 28th August some of the volunteers and staff were undertaking sleeper replacement in the yard. This has been on the cards for some time as the old ones were life-expired ..read more

The railway and diesel tug ‘John King’ were operating over the Chazza Cozza weekend, with the train suitable carrying flags and bunting for the occasion. Of course the skipper of ‘John King’ had been revising their morse code for a 12:00 sound-off ..read more

Youtube channel ‘Stef’ posted this interesting video of the line from Portishead to the junction at Portbury, passing the site where the locomotive now known as ‘Portbury’ once worked. Also visible is the loop that was used for steam specials to Portishead back in 1985 ..read more

‘Henbury’ was out and on the quayside line this weekend. Despite a late start on Saturday due to the awful weather in the morning, things brightened up considerably! Thanks for Beth for sharing these photos of the weekend’s running ..read more

Fenwick was built in 1911 as Peckett Works Number 1221 and worked at Canons Marsh Gas Works. Thanks to a heads-up from fellow volunteer Bob, I acquired this photo from eBay which is dated on the back as 11th August 1949 and shows Fenwick between duties with the mighty gasometer in the background. Fenwick (P1221/11) – 13/8/1949 ..read more