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WHY
WAS IT BUILT?
At first it carried materials to build the canal, which opened in
1797. We know this because, on the 21st of November 1792,
Nicholas Blannin's brother, John, had a contract to supply stone
from Caerleon for the building of the canal. Later it carried:
· coal
to the quay at Caerleon to be loaded onto ships,
· raw
materials to the Tin plate works at Ponthir
· raw
materials to the Caerleon Forge
(just outside Caerleon on the Ponthir Road)
· finished
products from the Ponthir and Caerleon Works to the Quayside at
Caerleon
WHAT DID IT LOOK LIKE?
It was one of the first 'railways' in the country - certainly
in the area. The term 'railway' referred to the use of iron
rails; previously wooden rails had been used, this system being
known as a 'wagon road'. Originally it was a 'plateway'
- with rails 4 feet long (approx 1.25 m), 'L' shaped in
cross section, fastened to stone sleepers by means of spikes driven
into wooden plugs fixed in holes in the stones. The stone sleepers
were roughly circular in shape and weighed approximately 1cwt (50
kg). |
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These
illustrations come from the excellent book "Portraits
of the Past" by Chris Barber and Michael Blackmore, published
by Blorenge Books of Abergavenny.
Though not the Caerleon Tramroad, the picture to the right clearly
shows a plateway and demonstrates how the wheels rolled on the horizontal
surface of the track. |
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| Right,
an actual section of rail from the Caerleon Tramroad. As far as
we know, this is the very first photo of the track to appear ANYWHERE.
Notice the wear. This was a problem, caused by the wheel resting
on the horizontal surface rather than being supported by a flange. |
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| This
section of rail was discovered by Mr Michael Fry who lives in Tram
Road, Caerleon. He came across it while rebuilding part of his house.
It had been employed as a lintel above a window. |
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The
tramroad probably underwent several reconstructions and may well
have later had rails which resembled those in use on modern railways.
However, there was no compulsion for the use of a standardised type
of rail or gauge as this tramroad did not connect with any other.
Wagons were pulled by horses. Often, trains of wagons were pulled
by teams of horses. This saved on labour costs as only one man was
needed to lead the team. |
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Above: Photo
of the Little Eaton Tramroad, Derby, 1908.
Click here for more superb illustrations
of this tramroad.
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Left: Tramwheel in track showing how the rail wore down. (Forest of Dean Heritage Centre) Below: Stone sleepers still in situ - Forest of Dean |
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The hunt is now on for stone sleepers from Caerleon's Tramroad. |
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