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WHAT
DID IT COST TO BUILD?
Tramroads cost upwards of £1000 a mile to construct (approximately
£80 000 today's value) so a cost of six to twelve thousand pounds
for the complete track seems a fair estimate (up to a million pounds
today's money).
HOW WAS IT OPERATED?
The ledgers for the
Ponthir Works show that in 1834 it had its own trams (known locally
as drams) - 39 to be exact - five for tin, twenty-four for coal
and ten for iron. The works also had six horses for pulling the
trams - Jolly, Boxer, Norman, Shaper, Bright and Spinker. It seems
likely that other businesses along the tramroad also kept their
own trams and horses.
It was necessary to have a strict set of rules for the use of the
track to ensure its smooth running, especially as, for much of the
route, there was probably just a single track. As yet no rules for
the Caerleon Tramroad have come to light, but rules such as these
applied to other tramroads and probably applied here:
· Wagons
should have no less than 4 wheels.
· Loaded
trams were not to weigh more than 2 tons unless the load was in
one piece. (Later; stronger tracks meant that heavier loads could
be carried).
· Speed
was not to exceed 4 miles per hour.
· When
loaded and empty 'trains' (or to use the correct term 'gangs')
met, the loaded one had priority. When both were loaded (or both
unloaded) the first to reach the passing post had priority.
· Travelling
was not allowed at night or on Sundays or public holidays.
· No
driver was to block the tramroad for more than fifteen minutes.
In the case of a breakdown, if a faulty tram could not be repaired
in that time it had to be removed from the track. |
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| Right,
newspaper cutting, January 1st 1838. Coal carried from Cwmbran
Colliery to the Wharf at Caerleon by the Tram Road. |
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WHEN
AND WHY DID IT CLOSE?
In 1874 the Pontypool, Caerleon and Newport (PC&N) Railway opened.
For much of the route North of the Ponthir Works the tramroad disappeared
under its tracks. Indeed, the PC&N was given powers to acquire
the Caerleon Tramroad. South of the Ponthir Works, the tramroad
seems to have continued operating for some time at least - the new
railway following a different route. In fact, just north of the
Caerleon Forge where the bridge
was built to carry the road across the railway line, a bridge was
also built over the tramroad. (The mill leat also ran under the
road at this point.) |
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