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| Although not usually associated with the colliery area of Wales, Pembrokeshire can lay claim to one of the early railways constructed specially to serve the coalmining industry. On June 1st 1829, the Saundersfoot Railway was authorised from the anthracite collieries at Thomas Chapel to the harbour at Saundersfoot, a distance of 4 and three quarter miles. In addition to the main line there was to be a branch one mile in length along the coast from the harbour to Wisemans Bridge, and a somewhat shorter branch to a point near Saundersfoot known as the Ridgeway. |
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As the industrial revolution made iron more widely available, it began to be used on the railways; initially in the early 1700s as a protection for the wooden rails. At this time, most mines were developed close to waterways to allow for ease of transportation. This frustrated those who owned inland coal seams but were unable to exploit them.
In 1789, an English engineer, William Jessop, designed the first iron rails for use with flanged wheels on a coal-hauling railway in Loughborough. The iron system spread quickly; some built privately, but increasingly being built by public canal companies under canal Acts, to feed into their waterways. This was followed by stand-alone public railways, built under powers created by railway Acts. These began to carry a variety of goods, and were able to span longer distances, thanks to the harder-wearing iron rail.
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