Hay Railway

The Hay Railway was an narrow gauge horse-drawn tramway in the district surrounding Hay-on-Wye in Brecknockshire, Wales. The railway connected Eardisley in Herefordshire, England, with Brecon in Wales. The Brecon terminus was Watton Wharf on the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal.

Monument in Brecon.

Parliamentary authorisation, construction and opening

The railway received parliamentary authorisation on 25 May 1811. Construction of its winding 24-mile long route took nearly five years and the line was opened on 7 May 1816.[1] The tramway was built to a gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm). The railway adopted the use of cast iron 'L'-shaped tramroad plates in its construction. The vertical portions of the two plates were positioned inside the wheels of the tramway wagons and the plates were spiked to stone blocks for stability. The size of the stones, and their spacing, was such that the horses could operate unimpeded.[2]

Operation of the railway

From 1 May 1820, the Hay Railway was joined at its Eardisley terminus, in an end on junction, by the Kington Tramway. Together, the two lines totalled 36 miles in length, comprising the longest continuous plateway to be completed in the United Kingdom.[3]

The Hay railway operated through rural areas on the borders of England and Wales and was built to transport goods and freight. Passengers were not carried on any official basis.

The Hay Railway was absorbed into the Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway in 1860 and the line was converted to standard gauge[4] for operation by steam locomotives.

References
Notes
  1. Awdry 1990, p. 80
  2. Simmons 1997, pp. 134–135
  3. Simmons 1997, p. 134
  4. Baughan 1980, p. 205
Bibliography
  • Awdry, Christopher (1990), Encyclopedia of British Railway Companies, Patrick Stephens Ltd, ISBN 1-85260-508-1
  • Baughan, Peter E. (1980). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 11 North and Mid Wales (1st ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7850-3. OCLC 6823219.
  • Baughan, Peter E. (1991). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 11 North and Mid Wales (2nd ed.). Nairn: David St John Thomas. ISBN 0-9465-3759-3. OCLC 26361284.
  • Simmons, Jack, ed. (1997), British Railway History, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-211697-5


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