History
Joseph Treffry's first transport constructions in Cornwall were not tramways, but rather Par Harbour and the Par Canal that connected the harbour to Pontsmill at the foot of the Luxulyan Valley. A narrow gauge cable hauled incline railway connected Pontsmill with his Fowey Consols mine, one of the deepest, richest and most important of the Cornish copper mines, situated to the east of Pontsmill. Other inclines to the mine followed, and it is likely the various mine areas were linked by horse drawn tram lines. The mine was worked out and its associated lines closed by 1865.
Treffry died in 1850, but his tramways continued to run. By the 1870s they were one of the few significant horse hauled lines left in the country. The Cornwall Minerals Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament on 21 July 1873 to acquire the lines, connect them together and make them suitable for operation by steam locomotive.
Read more about this topic: Treffry Tramways
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