History
Coal mining and iron smelting had been carried out on a small scale in South Wales for some centuries before the arrival of railways. Both industries grew significantly during the industrial revolution, particularly as coal-derived coke could replace charcoal in the smelting process. The availability of coal, iron ore and limestone at the heads of the South Wales valleys led to a number of ironworks being founded there between 1750 and 1800, including the Cyfarthfa, Plymouth and Dowlais works in the Merthyr Tydfil area.
Canals were built along several of the valleys, to bring the iron down to the coast for shipping elsewhere. The Glamorganshire Canal, authorised in 1790, ran from Merthyr Tydfil to Cardiff, a distance of 25 miles. The canal company were authorised to build tramroads from the canal to connect with nearby industries, and various foundries and quarries operated their own tramroads.
On 10 February 1804, a young engineer, Richard Trevithick, built a steam locomotive at Penydarren Ironworks near Merthyr Tydfil and drove the world's first steam hauled train along the Merthyr Tramroad from the ironworks to the canal basin at Abercynon. Ten tons of iron and 70 persons were transported nine miles. The cast iron plateway track, built to carry iron in horse-drawn trams or wagons from Penydarren and Dowlais to Abercynon, proved too weak to carry his heavy locomotive, and it was converted to a stationary engine instead.
Disputes between the Glamorganshire Canal Company and ironmasters led to proposals for a 'dram road' to Cardiff as early as 1798. Congestion on the canal increased as traffic boomed, and the appeal of a quicker railway route remained. In 1835 Anthony Hill, owner of the Plymouth Iron Works, asked his friend Isambard Kingdom Brunel, to estimate the cost of building a railway from Merthyr to Cardiff and to Bute Docks. Brunel's estimate was £190,649. Local industrialists held a meeting, chaired by John Josiah Guest, at the Castle Inn in Merthyr, to discuss the issue, and decided to request Parliamentary permission to form a company to build the railway.
Read more about this topic: Taff Vale Railway
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