Avon Valley Railway

Avon Valley Railway
Bitton railway station and yards from a level crossing with the Bristol & Bath Railway Path
Locale	Gloucestershire
Commercial operations
Name	Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line
Original gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Preserved operations
Length	3 miles (4.8 km)
Preserved gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Commercial history
Closed	1966
Preservation history
1977	Reopened
Headquarters	Bitton

The Avon Valley Railway (AVR) is a three-mile-long heritage railway based at Bitton station in South Gloucestershire, England, not far from Bristol and is run by a local group: The Avon Valley Railway Company Ltd. The railway follows the Avon Valley south-east from Oldland Common, through Bitton and alongside the River Avon towards Kelston and Bath. The railway shares its route with the Sustrans cycleway and footpath, the Bristol & Bath Railway Path.

History

Exposition of AVR Edmondson tickets from 1979--1986

Main article: Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line

The railway is part of the otherwise-dismantled Midland Railway Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line, which was closed during the late 1960s as a result of the Beeching Axe and due mainly to the Great Western Railway being just a few miles to the south, which also connected Bristol and Bath.

The railway is perhaps best known for connecting the former Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR), whose northern terminus was at Bath Green Park station, with the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). The Midland Railway lines along the Avon Valley thus opened up the S&D lines to travellers from the British industrial Midlands. This was particularly so during summer Saturdays when families flocked south to the beaches of Dorset and the English south coast. Many extra trains thus had to be added to the schedule to accommodate this increased demand. Although owned and run by the Midland Railway, many S&D locomotives were often seen working trains along this line.

After the lines were removed, from 2000 the northern section from Mangotsfeild to Warmley was used to build a dual carriage development of the A4174 road, although both station sites presently still exist. The remainder of the line was passed from the British Railways Board to Sustrans, who in co-operation with the local councils developed the Bristol & Bath Railway Path. Further development of the preservation railway is wholly dependent on a usage agreement with Sustrans.

Avon Valley Railway shown within Gloucestershire
(grid reference ST664710)

Avon Valley Railway
Legend To Warmley Oldland Common Bitton River Avon Avon Riverside River Avon To Kelston

Preservation

Bitton station and its yard, including some trackbed, was leased from British Railways Board by the Bristol Suburban Railway Society, a group of local volunteers intent on restoring commuter and weekend steam use to the Bristol-Mangotsfield-Bath and Mangotsfield-Yate railway routes.

Work progressed slowly over the years restoring the heavily vandalised buildings and laying track north towards Oldland Common and Warmley. Weekend steam-hauled 'brake van' train rides progressed to proper passenger servics along the ever-lengthening line in restored 1950s British Railways Mark 1 carriages.

In 1979, the Bristol Suburban Railway Society was incorporated into the Bitton Railway Co. Ltd. and the laid track reached Oldland Common in 1988. By 1992 however, the city of Bristol had expanded greatly with houses encroaching upon the former railway line and expansion north to Warmley and Mangotsfield was no longer practical. The line thus began to expand south out into the valley of the River Avon. By 2004, it had crossed the Avon and a new station was built to service the Avon Valley Country Park – a large picnic and recreation site – along with a river wharf to provide visitors with connections to river barges and river boat trips.

Building of a new buffet and toilets facility at Bitton station began in 2007 to replace the current buffet and toilets and to increase space for the railway's gift shop.

Work continues to extend the railway south-east towards Kelston, Weston and a proposed "Bath Riverside" railway station in Bath^{[citation needed]}.

Heritage railway

As a tourist attraction, the Avon Valley Railway now handles 80,000 visitors per year.

The AVR provides round trip steam train travel from Bitton Station north to Oldland Common then south to Avon Riverside station. The line is open to travellers on most weekends.

Motive power

RSH 7151 and Hunslet 1837 'Jessie' at Oldland Common railway station

TKH 4015 'Karel' at Bitton railway station

Steam locomotives

Number & Name	Description	Current Status	Livery
No. 4015 "Karel"	Chrzanow 0-6-0T	Operational	Polish State Railways Green
No. 4123	LMS Fowler 4F 0-6-0	Currently undergoing extensive restoration to working order from Barry Scrapyard condition.	N/A
No. 7151	RSH 0-6-0T	Operational; boiler ticket expires in 2017.	Black
N/A	LSWR T1 class 0-4-4T	Only the boiler of the engine remains, so work is being planned to build a new T1 from scratch.	N/A
No. 2018 "Littleton No.5"	Manning Wardle 0-6-0ST	Stored in yard.	Dark Blue
No. 1 "Meteor"	RSH 0-6-0T	Undergoing restoration	N/A
No. 1798 "Edwin Hulse"	Avonside 0-6-0ST	Currently undergoing restoration, being worked on in the goods shed.	N/A

Diesel locomotives/DMUs

Barclay no. 446 'Kingswood' at Bitton railway station

Number & Name	Description	Current Status	Livery
No. 446 "Kingswood"	Andrew Barclay Sons & Co. 0-4-0 shunter	Operational	Green
No. 610 "General Lord Robertson"	Army shunter 0-8-0	Undergoing restoration	Blue
"Grumpy"	Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 Shunter	Undergoing restoration	Black
"Salty"	Ruston Hornsby 0-6-0DH shunter	Undergoing repairs	Red
No. D2994	British Rail Class 07	Operational	BR Green
No. 73101 'Royal Alex'	British Rail Class 73	Operational	Pullman
Unit 52006 + 52025	British Rail Class 107	Operational	BR Green

External links

• Avon Valley Railway - Official site
• London Midland Society, restoring LMS 4F No. 4123