The Bristol Railway Archive

I've read that there used to be a miniature railway at Severn Beach

Not a brilliant picture - from the summer of 1960

I certainly took a train on the Midland line north from Bristol on Boxing day 1968.

A Christmas memory from 1968...

I was travelling from Bristol to Stoke on Boxing Day to see my then girlfriend (now my wife). The train broke down on the Midland line just under the M4. I suggested to the guard that the quickest way to get help would be to use the M4 emergency phone (I could see ...

When my Dad was in Ham Green hospital in 1960 this was a regular Sunday trip. Ham Green had its own halt with typical GWR 'pagoda' roofs. I recall there was a passing loop (always switched out on Sundays, I think) just where the line leaves the Avon opposite Sea Mills to break up the long section ...

The Great Train Robbery was August 1963 at Linslade on the WCML.

I have always thought the closure of Filton is a tragedy. An airport there could replace Lulsgate and Rhoose with the critical mass to develop more routes. It would be attractive to areas like Gloucester and Swindon.

And it's only (or could be) an hour from Paddington. It's virtually on the cross ...

What I also remember from the Midland trains were 'stretcher' compartments where the whole window hinged open.

Another line closed for ever by a landslip was the Callender and Oban but that, too was scheduled for closure.

And this from the Peak Rail website history "The closure of the Ambergate-Chinley section actually began in 1954 when Dove Holes tunnel was found to be unsafe. The line was closed at night ...

Auto trains are not restricted to one coach. I travelled from Gloucester to Chalford in 1963 and that was at least 2 coaches - as were auto trains on the Clevedon branch.

I was talking to someone the other day about stations in Weston and remembered how it used to be Weston-super-Mare General. There used to be lots of 'General's - Cardiff, Neath, Reading, Bodmin(?) but the only one left is Wrexham, I think. Can anyone recall any others?

When a home and a distant are on the same post then, if I remember correctly, they always return to level together. But maybe it's not the same for a lone distant.

I was driving north on the M5 this morning and City of Truro passed me heading south on a low-loader. Anyone know where it was going?

The original plan for the Long Ashton bypass was to continue from Flax Bourton to join the M5 at Clevedon

The advantage of Filton - and there was a planning application for terminal buildings refused c20 years ago - is that it could replace Rhoose (which is struggling) too and attract custom from Gloucester/Cheltenham and so achieve the critical mass to support more destinations.

And it's only an hour ...

Off-topic, but illustrative of how remote some places were then, I was at the youth hostel In Capel-y-ffin in the Black Mountains at Easter 1963. Electricity had only reached that valley in summer 1962.

A guy had driven there on Boxing day to go pony trekking and he didn't get his car out until the ...