Avonside Locomotive Works
The Avonside Locomotive Works was a locomotive manufacturer on Filwood Road, Fishponds, Bristol, England. A nearby locomotive builder was Peckett and Sons located on Deep Pit Road between Fishponds and St George.
The new company
The original
Locomotive production
In 1882 Avonside made the first of the unusual Guinness-designed locomotives for shunting in their brewery either on the narrow gauge, or in converter bogies on the standard gauge. The engine was a success, but the remainder were built by William Spence in Dublin.
The company carried on the previous firm's policy of concentrating on smaller engine types of various gauges, and saw some success in exporting their locomotives all over the world as far afield as
The Avonside Locomotive Works was badly affected by the 1930s Great Depression and went into voluntary liquidation in November 1934. The Fishponds plant and buildings were sold off in 1935 and the goodwill, drawing and patterns purchased by the Hunslet Engine Company.
Surviving Fishponds-built Avonside locomotives
Several Fishponds-built Avonside locomotives remain, including:
- Avonside ST, built in 1918 for the Avonmouth Imperial Smelting Works. It was retired in 1972 and purchased by the Avon Valley Railwaywhere it is currently being restored. It now carries the name "Edwin Hulse".
- None of the former GWR Avonside T (1101 Class) survived, but a similar loco, built for Cadbury, is on display at Tyseley Locomotive Works
- 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) gauge Tprivately owned by Peter Rampton. Not on public display.
- Elidir a 1 ft 10+3⁄4 in (578 mm) T, one of Avonside's last locomotives built in 1933. Returned from preservation in Canada in 2006 and is now at the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway
- Avonside 1563/1908 is a standard gauge Foxfield Light Railway
- Avonside ST(works no. 1764) "Portbury", built 1917 for the Inland Waterways and Docks (War Department). Acquired by Bristol Corporation Docks after the war and numbered S3. Donated to Bristol Museums she was restored to running condition in 1988. She is now in her original IW & D grey livery, No. 34.
Avonside locomotives preserved in Bolivia include:
- Avonside #2049 from 1930, 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) . Her wheels, cylinders and the frontal parts of its frame are missing.
See also
References
- John Bartlett (2004). Images of England, Fishponds
- Mark Smither (1993). Backtrack, The Avonside Engine Company of Bristol, 181-7
- Peter Davies (1994). Backtrack, Avonside Engine Co, 274-8