Toggle navigation
News
Latest
Queries
Articles
Slideshows
On this day
Locations
Companies
Contributors
Maps
Slideshows
On this day
Locations
Companies
Maps
More
Queries
Articles
Slideshows
On this day
Locations
Companies
Contributors
Maps
Hall^s Tramroad
All photographs of this railway in date order.
![I loved the Oakdale coal trains when I lived in Gwent. The 56's made dramatic noises going downhill or up, and the tramroad converted to a railway had curves, tunnels, disused stations, the lot. This dramatic view (notice the offset platforms, one to the right of the loco') was taken in the final year of operations. The trackbed has been cut by a new road.<br><br>[Ken Strachan /06/1989]](/images/25000/25879.jpg "Woodfieldside")
![This is where the Pontypool to Neath line crossed Hall's Tramroad (later known as the Oakdale Colliery branch) on the level. For 25 years since my first visit, I had assumed that someone had half-inched the signal box ground floor on the way home from the pub, but apparently it was always this low; being built on the side of an embankment. It looked a lot better when the windows were visible: the cladding is to deter vandals.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 31/05/2010]](/images/33000/33437.jpg "Penar Junction")
![Every abutment tells a story. Just North-West of the current Risca station on the Ebbw Vale line is one end of the former Risca Long Bridge. It was originally built as part of a tramway, but later replaced by an embankment around 1905 to allow easement of curves. I was told by a local resident that the demolition contractor was paid one pound per arch - that is £32 - to demolish the bridge; but was allowed to keep the stone, which he used to build a terrace of houses nearby. Sadly, he paid for this deal with the loss of one eye in an accident during the demolition. Notice the number of drains in the abutment - I counted eight!<br><br>[Ken Strachan 13/08/2011]](/images/35000/35725.jpg "Risca")
