Shunting Poles Apart

The British Aircraft Corporation Railway Society enjoyed brake van rides on scheduled trains from Bristol to Portishead and to Radstock in the late 1960s hauled by Hymek Class 35 diesels. This video is from cine film taken by the late John Simons.
A Class 14 "Teddy Bear" is to be seen at Bristol East Depot. Shunting poles feature at Portishead, Radstock and Bristol East Depot. Bristolians, in particular, will surely enjoy the ride back from Portishead to Stoke Gifford. NOTE: the video is silent.

[@grahamallison2990]

Wonderful stuff. So much now gone though, so lives on in memories.

[@stephensmith4480]

I never worked with Diesel Hydrraulics but as a shunter of 34 years service I used the Pole more times than I could count and they were happy days.

[@AH-dj8mi]

4:36 This is the triangle at Ashton Vale.
The centre piece of land was once home to a large timber company known as " May and Hazel"... they had another yard at Bristol Docks. They eventually closed both yards and moved to Avonmouth.
The line to the left which is still there, leads to Parson Street after going under a stone bridge at South Liberty Lane.
The right hand line was taken out of use possibly late 1960s... and was used as a long siding for a few years. The line used to go over South Liberty Lane, but the bridge has now been removed.
The area to the right of the picture which is not in view is Swiss Drive.
I remember watching green liveried DMUs with speed whiskers traveling down to Portishead in the early 1960s along here... i think they were mainly Class 120 units that were built at Swindon.
They have been talking about reopening the passenger service back to Portishesd for years and years... well that's all it is just talk even though they have been given the go ahead to do so... I can't see it ever happening in my life time.
I wonder if anyone will bother to read this after i have taken the trouble to write it. We shall have to see? 🤔

[@amazoniaamazonia7225]

We are indebted to John Simons in filming this wonderful archive, I remember shunting at Portishead in the early 70s and a company next to the railway, I think TWW, ringing up to complain about the noise, we were only there about half an hour.

[@TheDaf95xf]

Fantastic footage of classic diesel hydraulics 😆 Great seeing a teddy bear at work 👍🏻

[@SpoonyMcSpoonface]

Great seeing all those boxes,semaphores and totems.
One wonders what was under the sheets in the small shed seen when arriving into Portishead?

[@vishengro]

Great video thanks for posting....interesting to see DMU with goods wagon in tow at Bristol!

[@katrinablakesley2864]

Good footage of hydraulic locos around Bristol..... actually had D7046 from Newport to Clifton Down on a Bristol Zoo special in the summer of 1970 when I was 5 years old and my dad luckily took notes of what we saw and traveled on, something I’m eternally grateful for..... saw all the Western and Hymeks and all but four Warships and two NBL class 22 locomotives.......my grandparents lived in Horfield so I recognize all the locations on this fantastic bit of film..... anymore gems like this please ?? 😀😎

[@BobBishopDiagonal]

Have you seen the series of D10XX Archive Tasters on my channel? eg ua-cam.com/video/rMZg9yZPIWA/v-deo.html

[@NDSKOSTHEORY]

@@BobBishopDiagonal hi it was me using my girlfriend’s phone to comment earlier...... yes I’ve seen them all and very impressed with the quality and sound of them....... was a big hydraulic fan and then class 45/6 and Deltic follower !!!! 👍👍👍😎