Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 21:15 28 Mar 2024
* Bus plunges off South Africa bridge, killing 45
- Easter getaways hit by travel disruption
- Where Baltimore bridge investigation goes now
- How do I renew my UK passport and what is the 10-year rule?
- Family anger at sentence on fatal crash driver, 19
- Easter travel warning as millions set to hit roads
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 02/06/24 - Summer Timetable starts
17/08/24 - Bus to Imber
27/09/25 - 200 years of passenger trains

On this day
28th Mar (1988)
Formal end to carrying coffins by BR (link)

Train RunningCancelled
18:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
18:36 London Paddington to Plymouth
19:33 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill
19:35 Exeter St Davids to London Paddington
19:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading
20:20 Reading to Shalford
20:49 Newbury to Bedwyn
20:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport
20:56 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington
21:16 Bedwyn to Newbury
21:30 Shalford to Reading
21:53 Newbury to Bedwyn
22:25 Bedwyn to Newbury
22:30 Gatwick Airport to Reading
22:47 Newbury to Bedwyn
Short Run
16:03 London Paddington to Penzance
17:03 London Paddington to Penzance
17:30 London Paddington to Taunton
17:36 London Paddington to Plymouth
18:03 London Paddington to Penzance
19:04 Paignton to London Paddington
20:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
20:11 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads
20:42 Bedwyn to London Paddington
21:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
23:04 Reading to Bedwyn
23:17 Bedwyn to Reading
Delayed
16:15 Penzance to London Paddington
Additional 17:26 Castle Cary to Penzance
19:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
23:45 London Paddington to Penzance
PollsOpen and recent polls
Closed 2024-03-25 Easter Escape - to where?
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
March 28, 2024, 21:16:26 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[118] West Wiltshire Bus Changes April 2024
[116] would you like your own LIVE train station departure board?
[89] Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption el...
[46] Return of the BRUTE?
[38] If not HS2 to Manchester, how will traffic be carried?
[28] Reversing Beeching - bring heritage and freight lines into the...
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: [1]
  Print  
Author Topic: Bristol Tramways  (Read 3223 times)
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« on: September 28, 2019, 11:27:25 »

I have oft wondered about the rails in the yard outside "Platform 14" at the base of the incline up to Bristol Temple Meads Station, and a few 'spare' minutes this morning lead me to researching them ... turns out (according to sources I have not verified) that they were part of the Bristol tramway network.

Quote
The first trams in Bristol (horse-drawn, with a maximum speed of 6 miles per hour) were introduced in 1875. Electric trams were introduced in 1895, the first city to do so in the United Kingdom. At the system's peak there were 17 routes and 237 tramcars in use.

Quote
Abandonment of the tramways began in 1938, but this was halted at the outbreak of World War II. Tram operations ceased in 1941 following the Luftwaffe's Good Friday air raids during the Bristol Blitz, which set central Bristol on fire. A bomb hit Counterslip bridge, St Philips, next to the Tramways generating centre, and severed the tram power supply. The final tram from Old Market to Kingswood was given a push by passers-by and freewheeled its way into the depot.

Above from Wikipedia which includes a map and much more.

Edit to add - also at http://wpehs.org.uk/bristol-tramways which includes similar wording  Cheesy
« Last Edit: September 28, 2019, 11:39:06 by grahame » Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
johnneyw
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 2257


From station to station, back to Bristol city....


View Profile
« Reply #1 on: September 28, 2019, 12:24:16 »

There are remnants of the Bristol tram system still visible in the car parking area of the Gloucester Road Health Centre. Original rails were retained on the site of the old tram depot as a reminder of it's former use.
Logged
Red Squirrel
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 5190


There are some who call me... Tim


View Profile
« Reply #2 on: September 28, 2019, 12:28:57 »

...and of course the length of rail embedded end-on in St Mary Redcliffe churchyard, where a high explosive bomb planted it.

When they built the Temple Meads tram terminal, part of the facade of the old station was demolished; you can see that it is no longer symmetrical. Wouldn't get away with that now!
Logged

Things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then they happen faster than you thought they could.
johnneyw
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 2257


From station to station, back to Bristol city....


View Profile
« Reply #3 on: September 28, 2019, 13:54:05 »

...and of course the length of rail embedded end-on in St Mary Redcliffe churchyard, where a high explosive bomb planted it.


Blimey, you learn something new every day. Added to my 'next time in town' and 'did you know?' lists.
Logged
Bmblbzzz
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 4256


View Profile
« Reply #4 on: September 28, 2019, 13:57:17 »

Not to mention the rails and steps outside what is now Zero Degrees at the top of Colston St. And the old tram shed near Page Park. And others.
Logged

Waiting at Pilning for the midnight sleeper to Prague.
TonyK
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6435


The artist formerly known as Four Track, Now!


View Profile
« Reply #5 on: September 28, 2019, 14:45:46 »

Hiding in plain sight is the former tram depot at the junction of Sandy Park Road, Bloomfield Road, and the A4 Bath Road, at Arnos Vale. The Bristol and North Somerset line ran through the rear of the now council depot.


(c) Me, but feel free to use after contacting me for the appropriate attribution.

There are some lovely pictures in this Bristol 24/7 article.

There is a picture of the tram depot in its heyday here - the sheds are still visible in my photo above. There is another of a tram outside the depot here.

...and of course the length of rail embedded end-on in St Mary Redcliffe churchyard, where a high explosive bomb planted it.

This was a different bomb from the one that blew up the bridge in Counterslip, although part of the same raid on Good Friday 1941, and possibly from the same aircraft. It hit somewhere around Bedminster Bridge, and the rail travelled through the air for around 400 yards before reaching its current spot. It proved easier to make it a memorial than to dig it out, and there are pictures here.
« Last Edit: September 28, 2019, 15:04:53 by TonyK » Logged

Now, please!
Red Squirrel
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 5190


There are some who call me... Tim


View Profile
« Reply #6 on: September 28, 2019, 15:12:30 »

Image No.1 in the Bristol 247 piece is at Clifton Down Station - the single-story shops backed onto the coal yard where later the Clifton Down Shopping Centre was built, doing the architectural equivalent of mooning at the station platforms.

Eastville Tram depot is largely intact, though it's easier to make it out from the air (see here https://goo.gl/maps/qmFNoatZ3KyXxf8CA ) than from Fishponds Road owing to a seventies building blocking the view (https://goo.gl/maps/rnWst9EsnE9M8zAA7)

Staple Hill depot is much easier to spot: https://goo.gl/maps/5woNgtnFDAtH9Mxe6

Horfield depot is, as johnneyw points out, now Gloucester Rd Medical Centre; you can see the tracks in the car park ( https://goo.gl/maps/suv64CJW7WK7xUGx8 ). The building to the north of the fossil fuelling station was part of the depot complex.
« Last Edit: September 28, 2019, 15:18:24 by Red Squirrel » Logged

Things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then they happen faster than you thought they could.
Bmblbzzz
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 4256


View Profile
« Reply #7 on: September 28, 2019, 21:25:23 »

If you'll forgive a distraction from trams for a second, some rails from the former Clifton Down coal yard are still visible in Alma Vale Road. It's hard to make them out on Street View but I think you can just about see a small length of one in the middle of the road here: https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4636443,-2.611672,3a,75y,265.33h,75.3t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNHcsFNZOSY0chorAifY2yA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
They're much more obvious in real life.
Logged

Waiting at Pilning for the midnight sleeper to Prague.
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: [1]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules (email link to report). Forum hosted by Well House Consultants

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page