Locomotive engineering was a vital industry in Bristol from the
late 1830s to the 1950s. Henbury, built at a Bristol company called
Peckett's and joined a large fleet of steam locomotives at work in
the main part of Bristol docks at Avonmouth in 1937.
When diesel engines took over in the Sixties Henbury was
withdrawn from service and was restored to good condition. After
several years' of neglect she began to give brake-van rides, and
she took part in the opening ceremony of the Bristol Industrial
Museum in 1978.
In the early 1980s Henbury returned to her first home, a
locomotive shed at Avonmouth Docks. Here she had a complete
overhaul, including a repainting - green with a yellow and black
lining - similar to the livery once used by the Port of Bristol's
steam locomotive fleet.
Since then, Henbury has not only made railway history as the
first preserved steam locomotive to pull freight for British
Railways, but has also pulled hundreds of thousands of visitors
along the quayside with help from her companion Portbury.