Carmarthenshire Railway or Tramroad
The Carmarthenshire Railway or Tramroad was a horse-worked plateway built in South Wales in 1803.
Overview | |
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Headquarters | Llanelli |
Locale | Wales |
Dates of operation | 1803–1844 |
Successor | Llanelly and Mynydd Mawr Railway |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft (1,219 mm) |
Length | 11.5 mi (18.5 km) |
History
editCarmarthenshire Railway or Tramroad Company Act 1802 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act for making and maintaining a Railway or Tramroad, from or from near a certain Place called The Flats, in the Parish of Llanelly, in the County of Carmarthen, to or near to certain Lime Rocks, called Castell-y-Garreg, in the Parish of Llanfihangel-Aberbythich, in the said County; and for making and maintaining a Dock or Bason at the Termination of the said Railway or Tramroad, at or near the said Place called The Flats. |
Citation | 42 Geo. 3. c. lxxx |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 3 June 1802 |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
Carmarthenshire Railway or Tramroad Company Act 1834 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
Citation | 4 & 5 Will. 4. c. lxx |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 27 June 1834 |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
The Carmarthenshire Railway or Tramroad was authorised under an act of Parliament, the Carmarthenshire Railway or Tramroad Company Act 1802 (42 Geo. 3. c. lxxx), of 3 June 1802 – the first granted for a public railway in Wales – to acquire the existing Carmarthenshire Dock at Llanelly and its feeder tramroad built by Alexander Raby by 1799,[1] thus incidentally becoming the world's first dock-owning public railway company.[2] The first 1.5 mi (2.4 km) from Cwmddyche ironworks down to the sea was open in May 1803 – the first stretch of public railway in use in Britain[1] – and construction ceased in 1805 when the line had reached Gorslas. The engineer was named James Barnes and the gauge was approximately 4 ft (1,219 mm).[1]
The line ceased to operate in or before 1844 and portions of its course were utilised by the Llanelly and Mynydd Mawr Railway, opened in 1881.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Price, M.R.C. (1992). The Llanelly & Mynydd Mawr Railway. Oxford: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-423-7.
- ^ Balkwill, Richard; Marshall, John (1993). The Guinness Book of Railway Facts and Feats (6th ed.). Enfield: Guinness Publishing. ISBN 0-85112-707-X.