The Bristol Railway Archive

Without a Bristol Metro being written into the upcoming franchise, it's all pie in the sky. The city council seems to think that Bristol's traffic problems are going to be solved by the multi - million pound bus lanes, or whatever they're calling them. I think not.

On the subject of depots, South West Trains' Desiro fleet is maintained at "Northam Traincare Facility". Somewhat pretentious, methinks.

Driving past Temple Meads yesterday, I noticed that the front of Collett House is covered in scaffolding and sheeting. Has the time finally come for this long-condemned building to be demolished?

Ahh, yes. Westerns and Warships, the pride of the Premier Region

I was born in Radstock and our house overlooked both the S&D and the Bristol & North Somerset lines. I spent countless hours sitting on the garden wall just watching the trains go by. One of my earliest memories is of a GWR railcar working towards Bristol, and the horrendous traffic jams that built ...

I worked the Tytherington branch back in the mid 80's. At Yate the ground frame was operated by an Annett's key, released by Bristol panel.
Once a train was in clear on the incoming road at Yate, the ground frame was locked up and the key returned to its machine. We then requested a token for the ...

When I worked the Beach line as a Bath Road guard, there was always trouble at the Severn Salmon on a Saturday night. I would watch the revellers spill out of the pub, cross the road and stagger drunkenly towards the platform,making a lot of noise in the process. I'd let them come within twenty ...

It's true that XC would take a share of the revenue generated between Bath and Bristol, but with just the one train a day, that amount would be miniscule. It's more likely that XC saw the potential for through passengers from Bath to the north and would keep all the revenue from Advance tickets sold ...

As a Train Manager with XC at Birmingham, I am able to answer this one :D
We have several services booked via Camp Hill, mainly Manchester - Bristols. The Camp Hill line is a handy diversionary route when things go wrong on the West Suburban line and having services booked via Camp Hill means that ...

I was a mere skoolboy at the time, living a few hundred yards down the hill from Midsomer Norton South station.
Midsomer Norton was always proned to flooding in its High Street, but by the morning after that storm the water was six feet deep, causing much damage to the shops, the owners of which ...

Locos used on the trippers tended to be whatever was available at Bath Road. Usually, 47's, but 31's, 33's, 37's and 50's were not unusual during my time as a freight guard from '84 to '86.
My memory is a bit hazy now, but I seem to recall that the engineering and S&T departments used to load ...

Fantastic!

Chittening?

I'm afraid I can't make it on Friday, I've just volunteered to work a rest day
Will the book be available by mail order?

There's a couple of minutes' worth here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q8nb-EM1LA
I remember the Kilmersdon incline operation very well, it was fascinating to watch. As a schoolboy at the time, I did get to know Frank Kemp, one of the drivers based at Radstock. Frank taught me to drive the ...