The Bristol Harbour Railway (known originally as the Harbour Railway) was a
standard-gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
industrial railway that served the wharves and docks of
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, England. The line, which had a network of approximately of track, connected the
Floating Harbour
Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of . It is the former natural tidal river Avon through the city but was made into its current form in 1809 when the tide was prevented from going out per ...
to the
GWR mainline at
Bristol Temple Meads
Bristol Temple Meads is the oldest and largest railway station in Bristol, England. It is located away from London Paddington. It is an important transport hub for public transport in the city; there are bus services to many parts of the city ...
. Freight could be transported directly by waggons to
Paddington Station
Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great We ...
in London. The railway officially closed in 1964.
In 1978, a
heritage railway
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
named the Bristol Harbour Railway was opened and operated by
Bristol Industrial Museum
The Bristol Industrial Museum was a museum in Bristol, England, located on Prince's Wharf beside the Floating Harbour and which closed in 2006. On display were items from Bristol's industrial past – including aviation, car and bus manufactur ...
. It uses approximately of the preserved line that runs adjacent to the
River Avon. The line is a very popular visitor attraction in the city.
Industrial line
![Bristol RJD 9](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Bristol_RJD_9.jpg)
The Harbour Railway was a joint venture by the GWR and sister company the
Bristol and Exeter Railway
The Bristol & Exeter Railway (B&ER) was an English railway company formed to connect Bristol and Exeter. It was built on the broad gauge and its engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It opened in stages between 1841 and 1844. It was allied with ...
. The first part of the network opened in 1872 between Temple Meads and the Floating Harbour. The route required a tunnel under
St Mary Redcliffe
St Mary Redcliffe is an Anglican parish church located in the Redcliffe district of Bristol, England. The church is a short walk from Bristol Temple Meads station. The church building was constructed from the 12th to the 15th centuries, and it ...
church and a steam-powered bascule bridge across the entrance locks at Bathurst Basin. In 1876 the line was extended by to
Wapping Wharf
Wapping () is a district in East London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Wapping's position, on the north bank of the River Thames, has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, ...
.
In 1897 a
Private Act of Parliament
Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. This is unlike a private bill which is a proposal for a law affecting only a single p ...
gave the GWR the authorisation to make a westwards connection between the Harbour Railway and the
Portishead Railway
The Portishead Railway is a branch line railway running from Portishead in North Somerset to the main line immediately west of Bristol, England. It was constructed by the Bristol & Portishead Pier and Railway Company, but it was always operated ...
. This created the West Loop at which permitted southerly travel towards and . The connection also permitted the double the rail capacity to the
Great Western Main Line
The Great Western Main Line (GWML) is a main line railway in England that runs westwards from London Paddington to . It connects to other main lines such as those from Reading to Penzance and Swindon to Swansea. Opened in 1841, it was the or ...
.
In 1906 another authorised extension created new branches from the south via the
Ashton Swing Bridge to
Canons Marsh on the north side of the Floating Harbour and to Wapping via a line alongside the New Cut.
In 1964, the Harbour railway connection to Temple Meads was closed and the track lifted. The steam engine from the link's bascule bridge is now preserved at
Bristol Museum
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery is a large museum and art gallery in Bristol, England. The museum is situated in Clifton, about from the city centre. As part of Bristol Culture it is run by the Bristol City Council with no entrance fee. It holds ...
. The following year, the Canons Marsh line closed. The branch from the Portishead line and Wapping marshalling yard to the Western Fuel Company continued remained open for commercial coal traffic for another 20 years. It was officially closed in 1987.
Heritage railway
In 1978, the
Bristol Industrial Museum
The Bristol Industrial Museum was a museum in Bristol, England, located on Prince's Wharf beside the Floating Harbour and which closed in 2006. On display were items from Bristol's industrial past – including aviation, car and bus manufactur ...
reopened part of the line as preserved railway using locomotives built in Bristol and formerly used at
Avonmouth Docks
The Avonmouth Docks are part of the Port of Bristol, in England. They are situated on the northern side of the mouth of the River Avon, opposite the Royal Portbury Dock on the southern side, where the river joins the Severn estuary, within Avon ...
. At first, it connected the museum with the SS ''Great Britain'', but when commercial rail traffic ceased in 1987 on the remaining branch line, the museum railway expanded to use the branch alongside the
New Cut. However, when the
Portishead Railway
The Portishead Railway is a branch line railway running from Portishead in North Somerset to the main line immediately west of Bristol, England. It was constructed by the Bristol & Portishead Pier and Railway Company, but it was always operated ...
was relaid, this severed the connection to Ashton Junction.
The line starts at M shed, following the south side of the harbour and crossing
Spike Island, the narrow strip of land between the harbour and the
River Avon.
The former route east over the Swing Bridge is now the Pill Pathway
rail trail
A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...
and
cycleway
Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except w ...
.
The railway operates on selected weekends on
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
track over . The railway runs along the south side of
Bristol Harbour
Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of . It is the former natural tidal river Avon through the city but was made into its current form in 1809 when the tide was prevented from going out per ...
, starting at M Shed (the former
Bristol Industrial Museum
The Bristol Industrial Museum was a museum in Bristol, England, located on Prince's Wharf beside the Floating Harbour and which closed in 2006. On display were items from Bristol's industrial past – including aviation, car and bus manufactur ...
), stopping at the , and ending at
B Bond Warehouse
B Bond Warehouse () is a former bonded warehouse built to serve Bristol Harbour.
Built in 1908, B Bond was the second of three warehouses constructed close to Cumberland Basin to meet the demands of the tobacco import boom of the early 20th ce ...
(home of the CREATE Centre), one of the large tobacco warehouses beside
Cumberland Basin .
In 2006,
Bristol Industrial Museum
The Bristol Industrial Museum was a museum in Bristol, England, located on Prince's Wharf beside the Floating Harbour and which closed in 2006. On display were items from Bristol's industrial past – including aviation, car and bus manufactur ...
was closed and the site redeveloped into
M Shed
M Shed is a museum in Bristol, England, located on Prince's Wharf beside the Floating Harbour in a dockside transit shed formerly occupied by Bristol Industrial Museum. The museum's name is derived from the way that the port identified each of i ...
Museum of Bristol. The railway continues to operate between SS Great Britain Halt and the CREATE Centre, and in 2011 the railway became part of M Shed's working exhibits.
In 2010, Bristol City Council, in partnership with other local councils in the area, proposed that the route of the railway should be used for a
bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
route to serve the south-west of the city.
In early 2013, a review of alternative routes recommended a route along Cumberland Road, Commercial Road and Redcliff Hill as the best alternative. This change of route means that the rapid transit buses would no longer use the railway.
Currently (March 2017) the track and platform at Butterfly Junction (by the CREATE Centre) has been removed due to work on the Bristol Metrobus system. Trains can only run from outside the M Shed as far as Vauxhall Bridge.
Rolling stock
The steam locomotives were formerly part of the aborted preservation scheme at . There is also a collection of wagons, some of which have been converted for passenger use while others are used for demonstration goods trains.
References
Sources
*New page for M Shed Museum
*Old version of the museum's web page, now located at
*Unofficial behind the scenes blog on Bristol Harbour Railway
External links
Bristol Industrial Museum*
*
{{authority control
Bristol Harbourside
Grade II listed buildings in Bristol
Heritage railways in Bristol
Railway museums in England