The Bristol Railway Archive

On the Portishead side of Clifton Bridge No 2 Tunnel once stood a signalbox known as Netham Quarry Box .

As far as I can ascertain its sole purpose was to provide a warning system for blasting operations at Netham Quarry alongside the line . After many years of disuse it was eventually demolished ...

The most frightening rail journey ever could open up a big new thread :), so I'll put my two top ones in for starters:

1. The speed at which a Standard class 5 plus 3 coaches could come down from Devonshire tunnel towards Bath junction was always something to get concerned about. :shock:


If ...

Just one final point - Hallatrow was of course the junction for the Limpley Stoke branch. Perhaps somebody knows when it was lifted between Hallatrow and Camerton, but it was certainly before my time, as the remaining Camerton to Limpley Stoke section was lifted just after they filmned "The ...

Seeing the Hymeks new as they arrived (from Gorton was it?) was of some interest, but of course we were aware that when the deliveries were completed, that would be the end of steam on the GW lines at least.

Was that really 1962 ? How time flies . I think we ended up with half the Hymeks coming ...

Yes its probably a fancifull idea that there were any survivors other than those which went into preservation but the fact remains that the MOD purchased a great many new locomotives that they didnt appear to need at that time and apart from 199 many of the rest of the batch remained in store for ...

Up until a couple of months ago I would have been the very last person to give any credence to the idea that a Strategic Reserve ever existed.

However I am now not so sure but my theory doesnt involve ex BR locomotives but engines owned by the MOD.

Several months ago I came across a picture of ...

Whassat? Never heard of it!

I hope its not somebody telling us about the "Strategic Reserve" of Stanier 8Fs in the tunnels under Box Hill again ........ :roll:

Lol Robin, no, the 8Fs were all stored in a secret siding off of Staple Hill Tunnel

Now thats just plain silly I thought everyone ...

Box Hill is honeycombed with tunnels and caverns , most from old stone quarries which were later adapted by the MOD for ammunition storage and various other uses . The railway tunnel was originally for delivery and removal of ammunition by rail etc.

If you Google Corsham Underground all sorts of ...

An excursion train would probably leave its passengers at their destination for a few hours.

Plenty of time to run LE to Highbridge for turning, coaling and watering

Yes thats true of course but Burnham had very little siding space and the only place a train of that length could be left while ...

Copies of that picture have been on ebay several times recently.

As the train is stood at the excursion platform its fair to assume its some sort of special thats worked through from another part of the S & D , probably the southern end as that looks like ex LSWR coaches but I am quite happy to be ...

I have to agree the presence of a 44XX in Bristol in that condition is odd . Was there maintenance work that Newton Abbot couldnt do so necessitating sending the loco to Swindon ?. Do we know who the photograher/s are as they certainly seem to be well aware of anything out the ordinary going on ...

Work has now started on the construction of a 4mm scale model of Portishead New Station as it was built in 1954. We have done a great deal of research but information is very hard to come by and two things we are missing are:

1 A descent photograph of the booking office building from the platform ...

I think that statement was a stock press release the MOT put out if there were any suggestions that a railway line on a course of a new motorway may be saved from Dr Beeching. It was usually enough to stop any embrionic schemes but I wonder with the benefit of hindsight what would have happened if ...

What an interesting picture.

Only had a chance for a quick look at the rest of the site but there is a lot of S & D stuff and some unusual other shots like a Prairie awaiting departure to Bristol TM from the original Portishead station in 1952.

Will be bookmarking that site for future reference ...

During the course of my various researches into Bristol railway history I have come across references to a locomotive shed at Shirehampton but very little other information apart from the fact it was of wooden construction and burnt down.

Now I dont think this shed was anything to do with the ...