The Bristol Railway Archive

Whenever I go to Southampton I always try and make a quick visit to the Hythe Pier Railway as I find it absolutely fascinating to watch . However it was not until I came across a reference to its locomotives on the internet today that I realised there was a connection between the railway and Bristol.

It seems that three locomotives were obtained for the pier railway in 1923 from what had been the Avonmouth Mustard Gas Factory which had operated during the First World War. One loco was scrapped but I think the others are the ones still in use but someone else may be able to confirm this.

Does anyone have any information about the Avonmouth Mustard Gas Factory and its railway system ?

A bit of research on the internet has come up with the following information regarding the locomotives and the Mustard Gas Factory.

Avonmouth was the centre of the British Chemical Warfare manufacturing industry during World War 1 . When the plant was in full production 20 tons of mustard gas a day was being produced but none arrived in France until two monthe before the armistice.

The factory was on the site later occupied by Imperial Smelting and must have been a dangerous place to work for in the short period it was open from 1917 to 1918 three people died from accidents and another four as a result of illnesses contracted from the manufacturing process. There were a thousand instances of chemical burns reported to the 1400 workers in a 6 month period and the factory hospital had 30 long term patients suffering from gas related illnesses.

The three locomotives were supplied by Brush in 1917 and were originally battery operated but when transferred to the Hythe Pier Railway were converted to mains electric picked up from a third rail. One loco was canabalised for spares and the remains scrapped but the other two are in fact the ones still in use today. The rolling stock for the pier railway was supplied by the Drewry company who were better known for their railcars like those on the Weston Clevedon & Portishead Railway. .The Hythe Pier Railway is one of the oldest if not the oldest pier railway still operational in the world.