The Monmouth Railway, also known as the Monmouth Tramroad, was a horse-drawn gauge plateway. It ran for about from Howler's Slade, east of Coleford, in Gloucestershire and Monmouth; there were two branches from other mineral sites. It was intended to bring the mineral products, coal and iron ore, of the Forest of Dean to Monmouth, and to a wharf alongside the River Wye.
It was opened from 1812 and for some time was the only railway at Monmouth. From 1853 technologically superior edge railways were built serving the area, and the Monmouth Railway declined and became dormant. It finally closed in the 1870s. It was purchased by the Coleford Railway, which used part of its alignment to build its line from Monmouth to Coleford, which opened in 1883.
Some fragments of bridge structures and a short tunnel survive at present, and part of the route can be surmised from aerial photographs.
Background The Forest of Dean had long been a productive source of minerals, but the difficult terrain and the poor quality of the road network made transportation to market expensive. Coal deposits were located at Howler's Slade, near Cannop Hill east of Coleford, and there were numerous other coal pits, iron ore deposits and stone quarries in the area. Primitive tramroads had been made in many locations in the Forest for short distance transport, generally reserved to the exclusive use of the mine operators.John Meredith, The Iron Industry of the Forest of Dean, The History Press, Stroud, 2006,
Monmouth was five miles west of the Forest of Dean, but the poor transport facilities kept the price of coal in the town high. In 1802, a 2-ton wagon load cost upwards of 28 shillings. 10 wagons and carts and 300 horses and mules were constantly in use bringing coal to the town in 1802.Charles Heath, Historical and Descriptive Accounts of the Ancient and Present State of the Town of Monmouth, published by Charles Heath, Monmouth, 1804
In 1807 and again in 1808, a railway or tramroad connection was proposed, and at the end of 1808 a wagon ferry at Redbrook was suggested.H W Paar, The Great Western Railway in Dean: a History of the Railways of the Forest of Dean: part Two, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, second edition 1971,
In September 1809, an engineer, Astley Bowdler, presented plans for a railway; his estimate for the construction was £20,384, including land acquisition.
In the Forest of Dean, special rights of mineral extraction were reserved for Free Miners, but this had the effect of preventing large scale investment by external companies. However, in 1808 David Mushet, a Scottish metallurgist, became involved. Thomas Halford was the owner of ironworks at Whitecliff, and he brought Mushet in to improve the quality of the iron produced there.Ralph Anstis, Man of Iron, Man of Steel: The Lives of David and Robert Mushet, Albion House, Coleford, 1997,
The improved quality stimulated demand for local iron ore and coal, and emphasised the poor quality of the transport facilities locally, and Mushet was involved in the promotion of the railway as an aid to the efficiency of the metal industry.
In 1821, Monmouth had a population of some 4,200 and, apart from being an important centre for a large country district, had several iron-foundries and paper-mills within a few miles.
The Monmouth Railway authorised
On 24 May 1810, a public tramroad, the Monmouth Railway, was authorised by Parliament in the (50 Geo. 3. c. cxxiii); its capital was £22,000 with borrowing powers of £6,000. The line was to be a "railway or tramroad" from Howler Slade to the May Hill district of Monmouth, on the east side of the River Wye, across from the central part of the town. The line was to run near Coleford, Newland and Redbrook to reach Monmouth. An extension was authorised to reach the Nag's Head Inn in the town centre near Dixon Gate; this would cross the Wye Bridge at Monmouth, or alternatively reach the town by "passing the river itself by a boat". Several branches were authorised; as well as short connections to mines and quarries close to the proposed main line, there was a longer southward branch from Broadwell Lane End to Darkhill, and northward to New Thatch pit. In addition there was to be another crossing of the River Wye at Newland to Pool Dee in Penallt parish. This last, and the river crossing in Monmouth, were not built.B M Handley and R Dingwall, The Wye Valley Railway and the Coleford Branch, Oakwood Press, Usk, 1982 reprinted 2000, Joseph Priestley, Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals and Railways of Great Britain, Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green, London, 1831J J Davis, The Railways of Monmouth, in the Railway Magazine, September 1952
The line was to be a toll road, in which the track was provided by the company, and common carriers could run their horse-drawn vehicles on it for a toll charge. The tolls were laid down in the act, and 6d per mile was chargeable "for every Carriage conveying passengers". This is one of the earliest authorising acts in which passenger conveyance is identified, although there is no evidence that passengers were carried on a regular basis. It was built as a plateway, in which horse-drawn wagons with plain wheels ran on L-section flanged cast-iron rails; the track gauge was 3 ft 6in. There was a self-acting incline at Poolway, near Coleford, and another on a branch line, descending to the river bank at Redbrook. As the dominant traffic was minerals coming down from the hills, loaded wagons descending could haul empty wagons going up.
Horse operation required as far as possible a steady downward gradient (except at the inclines), while smooth curvature was unimportant. Major earthworks were avoided as far as possible, although a short tunnel was built near Newland. Following contours, the line made some considerable loops and diversions in order to maintain the gentle downgrade.
The order of construction was stipulated in the act; first the connection between the pits within the forest was to be completed. Then the connection to Wyesham, near Monmouth was to be made. Finally the extension to May Hill, in effect the Monmouth terminal, could be built.
The principal freight to be carried to Monmouth was coal, clay and lime, although tinworks were also connected.
Opening The opening day for the first part of the line, the Forest section, was 17 August 1812:
On Monday last 17th August, the Rail-road from the Forest of Dean to Monmouth was opened. A great number of waggons, laden with coal, lime, paving-stone, and other productions of the forest, followed a procession of thousands of people, accompanied by flags and a band of music. A numerous company afterwards met at the Beaufort Arms Inn, where a most excellent dinner was provided on the occasion.Gloucester Journal, 24 August 1812, quoted in Paar, GWR in Dean
Some references quote an opening date of 1816 or 1817;Cadw website: Upper Redbrook Fieldscape at http://www.ggat.org.uk/cadw/historic_landscape/wye_valley/english/wyevalley_015.htm this may refer to the opening of certain branches, although the eastern branch, to Howler's Slade, did not open until 1852.
The facility to transport heavy materials encouraged local production, and in 1818 Mushet developed Darkhill Ironworks, which became a large operation. The southward branch of the Monmouth Railway penetrated as far as Darkhill.
Operation Little is recorded about the operation of the Monmouth Railway. As a horse-operated plateway, and with two self-acting inclines on the line, it was overtaken by technological progress as edge railways came to be commonplace. The prospectus for the South Wales Railway issued in 1844 showed that the future included long distance locomotive-operated railways.Prospectus, in the Monmouthshire Merlin, 15 June 1844 The South Wales Railway was opened in stages from 1850.E T MacDermot, History of the Western Railway, volume I part II, published by the Great Western Railway, London, 1927
After 1850, the usual load on the Howler's Slade—Monmouth line consisted of six wagons, drawn by six horses, under the control of four men. On downhill stretches drags, or shoes chained to the frame, were used to sledge the wheels.
There was a two-way traffic in a variety of goods, including bricks. Coleford had a population of about 1,800. A directory of 1830 mentioned that coals were brought from the Forest to Monmouth 'by means of a railroad, and sold at reasonable prices', and the line was used largely for minerals and heavy products.
The terminal at May Hill served the town of Monmouth, but minerals destined for the main part of the town had to be carted across the Wye Bridge. The descent to the riverside at Redbrook was intended to reach the tinworks there, but there was a wharf for traffic destined for river transport.
Coleford, Monmouth, Usk and Pontypool Railway
Coleford was the most important industrial centre in the Forest of Dean, (the "capital" of the forest, although strictly speaking just outside its boundary) and on 20 August 1853 the Coleford, Monmouth, Usk and Pontypool Railway was authorised by the Coleford, Monmouth, Usk and Pontypool Railway Act 1853 (16 & 17 Vict. c. ccxvii), with the intention of conveying iron ore to the ironworks of South Wales. Coleford would be reached by taking over the Monmouth Railway and converting it to locomotive operation.
The sale of the portion of the Monmouth Railway between Coleford and Monmouth, took place on 4 February 1853, for £11,060. For the time being the Monmouth Railway management continued to operate the line.
The CMU&PR opened its line from Little Mill, near Pontypool to Usk on 2 June 1856, and onward to Monmouth Troy station on 12 October 1857. Troy station was on the south side of the town and a mile from the May Hill terminal of the Monmouth Railway. It reached Troy on 12 October 1857.Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith, Branch Line to Monmouth, Middleton Press, Midhurst, 2008, James Page, Forgotten Railways: South Wales, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1979,
The CMU&PR still wished to reach Coleford, but the cost of conversion of the Monmouth Railway was for some time beyond its means, and a gap remained across the River Wye at Monmouth. The gap did nothing to encourage through traffic between the two systems, and as a horse-drawn toll plateway, the Monmouth Railway was already technologically obsolescent. Edge railways were carrying the mineral products to market, although it was not until 1872 that the Severn and Wye Railway reached Coleford and served the Darkhill ironworks.
The CMU&PR saw that its only chance of becoming profitable was securing the transport of iron ore from the forest, and this would not happen while the two systems, the former Monmouth Railway and the CMU&PR main line were disconnected. It was decided in September 1858 to extend the CMU&PR over the River Wye and down the valley for about two miles to Redbrook, and to make a transfer point there. Thus a considerable viaduct over the Wye at Monmouth would be undertaken. At a board meeting in December 1858, the decision was taken to provide wrought-iron tramway plates on the Monmouth Railway section, adequate for locomotives. Joseph Firbank was the contractor selected to build the bridge, and in January 1860 the board resolved that they would convert the tramroad to an edge railway, and flatten the worst of the curves for locomotive operation.
In November 1860 the decision was taken to convert the tramroad to a railway as far as Cherry Orchard, near Newland. In February 1861 the viaduct was reported to have been completed and the extension across the Wye to an interchange point at Wyesham was opened on 1 July 1861. The Monmouth Railway line was at a higher level and minerals were tipped down into CPMU&R wagons. It is doubtful if any serious work was done to improve the tramroad as, in August 1863, it was resolved to return 'the tramplates at Monmouth' to the suppliers.