The Archaeology of an Early Railway System: The Brecon Forest Tramroads

Stephen Hughes

Jan 1990 · Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales

About this ebook

 The structures discovered on the Brecon Forest Tramroads
illustrate the beginnings of modern railway practice. This first detailed
archaeological study of a railway illuminates parallels located elsewhere in
Britain. Developments that were to be of world importance. Did iron railway
bridges exist before George Stephenson? This book shows that such bridges were
built in south Wales thirty years before the construction of Stephenson's
Gaunless Viaduct on the Stockton and Darlington Railway and explains where to
see these bridges today. Numerous stone viaducts, bridges and causeways were
built over gorges. Monumental building detail existed years before the Euston
Arch. Even the foundations of American Industrial might were laid here.

• Preface


• Introduction


• The Planning and
  Construction of the Railways


• The Use and Local Impact
  of the Railways


• The Engineering of the
  Lines


• Rolling Stock, Buildings
  and Equipment


• The Railway Route


• Bibliography and
  Abbreviations


• Appendices


• Early Railway Sites in
  Wales


• Index

About the author

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales has a leading national role in developing and promoting understanding of the archaeological, built and maritime heritage of Wales, as the originator, curator and supplier of authoritative information for individual, corporate and governmental decision makers, researchers, and the general public