page_title: Monmouth Railway
section_title: The Monmouth Railway authorised
hierarchical_section_title: Monmouth Railway / The Monmouth Railway authorised
caption_attribution_description: English: System map of the Monmouth Railway, Great Britain, in 1817
context_page_description: The Monmouth Railway, also known as the Monmouth Tramroad, was a horse-drawn plateway of 3 ft 6in gauge. It ran for about 5 miles from Howler's Slade, east of Coleford, in Gloucestershire and Monmouth; there were two branches from other mineral sites. It was intended to bring mineral products of the Forest of Dean to Monmouth, and to the works 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.
context_section_description: On 24 May 1810 a public tramroad, the Monmouth Railway, was authorised by Parliament; 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.
  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.
caption: Monmouth rly
exif: {}