Clifton Bridge Station

A station in the Bower Ashton suburb of Bristol, Clifton Bridge was opened in 1867 by the Bristol & Portishead Pier and Railway Company with a single platform. It was later taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1876 and a second platform and passing loop was added.

Sadly after the Second World War passenger services were in decline and the Beeching Report recommended that the Portishead Line closed. Passenger services at Clifton Bridge Station ceased in September 1964 and goods services July 1965. Occasionally freight services used the line until 1981.

The layout is the brainchild of Tony Musgrave and was built with assistance from Roly Hamblin. It features the station and surrounding area looking towards the Clifton suspension bridge in the final years of passenger operation.

The layout is not of traditional construction, but instead uses an innovative foam-based material for strength and durability.

The river width, suspension bridge and Portway width were all measued then scaled down to create an accurate representation of one of Brunel's finest bridges and its surroundings.

If the model looks familiar its because it has already featured in Railway Modeller and is scheduled to appear in the June 2018 edition of Model Rail magazine.

The branch line was used heavily by the local power station to bring in coal trains along with Albright and Wilson, who used the line to transfer phosphorus for the match industry.

If you look closely you’ll see rock climbers on the face of the Avon Gorge and the remains of the Clifton Rocks Railway on the North bank of the River Avon below the bridge.

Meticulous planning went into the development of this iconic location, and to illustrate this you might be interested to know that Tony acquired actual mud from the banks of the river to get the colour match just right! Also of note are the scratch build barrel style canopies on both platforms.