The changing face of Bristol

[101]

What has been sacrificed to achieve that?

I remember that on the down side there used to be:- down loop, down reception, then the yard roads (9 at one time)

 

edit this was the view in the 1980s

Pic 31 Stoke Gifford Yard View a.jpg

 

cheers

Kev,

 

What was the down loop is now the platform road (Bristol parkway passenger loop line) which then goes on down what was the spur (down Bristol parkway relief line) and out onto the Down Filton so it bypasses the junction

 

The down reception is now the Down Bristol parkway goods loop

 

 

Nice 'everyday' picture of the yard, just how I remember it - before STJ closed and the two centre roads were relaid

Edited December 31, 2017 by 101

[The Stationmaster]

What has been sacrificed to achieve that?

I remember that on the down side there used to be:-  down loop, down reception, then the yard roads (9 at one time)

 

edit this was the view in the 1980s

Pic 31 Stoke Gifford Yard View a.jpg

 

cheers

 

Probably not much to be honest - and of course some of us can remember Stoke Gifford Up Yard, which vanished under Parkway station and its ever growing car park a long time ago.  Different world, different railway.

[jonny777]

Kev,

 

What was the down loop is now the platform road (Bristol parkway passenger loop line) which then goes on down what was the spur (down Bristol parkway relief line) and out onto the Down Filton so it bypasses the junction

 

The down reception is now the Down Bristol parkway goods loop

 

 

Nice 'everyday' picture of the yard, just how I remember it - before STJ closed and the two centre roads were relaid

 

 

No down loop? 

 

So, photos like this will not be possible any more?  

 

 

[Great Western]

What has been sacrificed to achieve that?

I remember that on the down side there used to be:-  down loop, down reception, then the yard roads (9 at one time)

 

edit this was the view in the 1980s

Pic 31 Stoke Gifford Yard View a.jpg

 

cheers

The yard is so infrequently used these days there no operational lose as far as I can see.

[Great Western]

I’m told by one of the project team that once Filton four tracking comes in December 18, there will be a bi di option all the way from Severn Tunnel to BPW via the UP & DN tunnel lines, also a new UP direction move from the UP Filton at Abbey Wood which will also UP trains to access the new P1 at BPW from the UP Filton.

[The Stationmaster]

I’m told by one of the project team that once Filton four tracking comes in December 18, there will be a bi di option all the way from Severn Tunnel to BPW via the UP & DN tunnel lines, also a new UP direction move from the UP Filton at Abbey Wood which will also UP trains to access the new P1 at BPW from the UP Filton.

 

That would be really good - seeing the reversible commissioned all the way from Lining to Patchway only about 20 30 years after some of the signals for it were first erected (and never commissioned of course).  Mind you coming Up the Down over the 1 in 68 west of Patchway Tunnel could prove rather interesting for some trains, then the 1in80/1in90 in the tunnel won't give them any chance to get their wind back, definitely not the way to route certain freight trains.

[Corbs]

We'll have to borrow 7202 from Didcot for banking duties!

[The Stationmaster]

We'll have to borrow 7202 from Didcot for banking duties!

 

When it's finished, but the 41XX is available already of course.

[Tim V]

A couple of pictures of Portishead.

[Rivercider]

A couple of pictures of Portishead.

Portishead 10 April 1980 Olympus OM1 196-002.jpg

Portishead 10 April 1980 Olympus OM1 196-003.jpg

Portishead has changed a bit, I never knew it back then.

This is a similar view in 2016

Portishead Marina 20/10/2016

 

cheers

[Tim V]

These two were taken 12 years apart.

[Corbs]

When the new housing at Portishead Docks was under construction, you could just drive in. 

 

When I was doing my A levels, I made this music video and it was a great space to drive around in. The rails on the dockside were being lifted at the time (in fact the thumbnail shows us driving over the old quayside lines)

 

Edited January 5, 2018 by Corbs

[Dava]

Mark Steels recent Radio 4 visit to Portishead seemed to catch the spirit of the place well.

 

Dava

[Downendian]

I thought I’d post some copyright negs I’ve recently won on eBay.

It’s Bristol Parkway shortly after opening in May 1972 (slide processing date was June 1972).

The station and its environs have changed massively, but this is how I like to remember it. The footbridge was covered within the first two years of opening, and shots of the first few months are quite rare. I particularly liked the rake of Presflos in Stoke Gifford yard and the collection of 1960s cars in the car park.

Neil

[PatB]

When the new housing at Portishead Docks was under construction, you could just drive in.

 

When I was doing my A levels, I made this music video and it was a great space to drive around in. The rails on the dockside were being lifted at the time (in fact the thumbnail shows us driving over the old quayside lines)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMmRI_SQvJE

Very good footage, but I must express myself disappointed to discover that you are not actually Graham Chapman living under an assumed name .

[Fat Controller]

Pretty much how I remembered it from 1975/6, when Bristol Poly moved from Unity Street to Coldharbour Lane- no buses from the place, nor paved footpaths. Looking at it in those early days, one wonders why the two outer platform faces were not brought into use then, and not forty years on.

[Coppercap]

Looking at it in those early days, one wonders why the two outer platform faces were not brought into use then, and not forty years on.

Bristol Parkway was very much an experiment in the new concept of the Parkway, hence minimal expense on platforms and buildings. Among other things, using the outer platform faces may not have been possible due to track levels and alignment, and there was no need at that time. If there'd been much more expense and the experiment didn't work out, BR would been accused of wasting yet more taxpayers money. Who could have forseen how the Parkway principle would grow since the 1970s to what it is today?

[Tim V]

Pretty much how I remembered it from 1975/6, when Bristol Poly moved from Unity Street to Coldharbour Lane- no buses from the place, nor paved footpaths. Looking at it in those early days, one wonders why the two outer platform faces were not brought into use then, and not forty years on.

When I was at the Poly 1980-84 Unity Street was still open - Wednesday was dancing night! The ceiling used to drip on us - ah we were young then ...

[Fat Controller]

When I was at the Poly 1980-84 Unity Street was still open - Wednesday was dancing night! The ceiling used to drip on us - ah we were young then ...

I wonder what courses were based there? The BSc Econ and HND Business Studies had moved in 1975. Glad to see the Wednesday night bops continued- I was the DJ for a couple of years when it was revived in 1974.

[Killybegs]

I wonder what courses were based there? The BSc Econ and HND Business Studies had moved in 1975. Glad to see the Wednesday night bops continued- I was the DJ for a couple of years when it was revived in 1974.

 

 see http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/about/corporateinformation/history/uwehistorytimeline.aspx

[Rivercider]

Pretty much how I remembered it from 1975/6, when Bristol Poly moved from Unity Street to Coldharbour Lane- no buses from the place, nor paved footpaths. Looking at it in those early days, one wonders why the two outer platform faces were not brought into use then, and not forty years on.

I suppose another reason that the loops were not provided with platform faces was that they were more regularly used for freight work,

a lot of the engineering trains for the Badminton high speed route work started from there, and then then came the Tytherington stone traffic with six or seven

trips a day to and from the quarry,

 

cheers

[Vanders]

Hmmm, a model of Bristol Parkway in 1972. Basically a couple of drab platforms in the middle of a downsized yard. BR Blue, Western Region, Presflos in the yard...yeah it's ticking all my boxes!

[Dazzler Fan]

+

Commuted from Parkway to Paddington each day from

1980. The car park was allways a mess.

5;59 home non-stop - several runs on 57 minutes.

 

Noel

[Fat Controller]

 see http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/about/corporateinformation/history/uwehistorytimeline.aspx

Thanks for that. So the Student's Union didn't open until the year after I left (1976)? I wonder which bar I was using then?

[Fat Controller]

Hmmm, a model of Bristol Parkway in 1972. Basically a couple of drab platforms in the middle of a downsized yard. BR Blue, Western Region, Presflos in the yard...yeah it's ticking all my boxes!

I don't remember seeing any Presflos there myself: apart from spoil wagons for the Patchway Tip, it was either ore-tipplers and hoppers for Tytherington, or yet more (unfitted) ones waiting to go into Barton Hill for vac-fitting. St Andrew's Road generally held much more interest for me.