Neath and Tennant Canals Trust

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the 13th, 14 and 15th July, were spent among the works of Mr. Guest.

My intention was to observe the workings of  the trams and tram roads.

I shall now endevour to describe the processes without any reference to the order in which I saw them.

The trams and tram-roads are a most important means of conveyance in the works. They are carried over the ground, into the mountains and above canals and rivers and down steep declivities; and they ensure a good road in every situation. There are more than 50 miles of tram-roads in the Dowlais works only. The trams, from which the road takes its name, are small wagons, sometimes of wood and sometimes of iron, which run on four low cast-iron wheels. There are no shafts or traces to them, but a strong bar runs down the middle, at each end of which a large hole is made. Iron loops about two foot long are made use of to connect from hole to hole and thus 20 or 30 tams are joined together in a few moments without too much trouble. Horses are attached to them by a pair of shifting shafts which hook into the holes before-mentioned; or sometimes they are made fast simply by a chain. The tram-roads are formed of plates of iron about 2 feet or 30 inches ling, 3 inches wide and of sufficient thickness to bear the weight and jolting trams of the trams. A ledge is raised on one side of them as a guide to the wheels. When laid down, spars of wood or stones are placed in the earth at such distances that the end of the tram irons may rest upon them and then they are arranged end to end in two lines, distant from each other so that they may fit the wheels of the trams; they are retained in their places by spikes passing through holes in the end of each piece. In consequence of the unalterable nature of this road, and its excellence, a number of trams may be moved along it by a very small force and as the coal and ironstone lay in higher positions than the furnaces, the furnaces higher than the refineries and those still above the level of the road and canal, almost all the loaded trams have to descend only, and merely empty ones to ascend. The descent down one hill is performed by means of a cylinder instead of horses, in consequence of the inclination being very great.

Two tram-roads are laid down and at the top of the hill, a cylinder or drum is elevated, extending across the two, and about 15 feet in diameter. Two chains each the length of the hill ( about 300 yards ), are wound round this drum in opposite directions. At the time I saw it used, one of these was unwound and extending down the hill across rollers placed at equal distances was attached to two trams laden with haematite, that were to come up. The other chain which was rolled round the cylinder was made fast to two trams, one of them filled with coal and the other laden with bar iron; then, by levels, the laden trams were forced over the top of the hill onto the inclined part, and by their weight began to descend and raise the other two. The motion was moderated by means of a bowed piece of wood, drawn tight against one edge of the cylinder by a windlass; and thus the one pair of trams were lowered and the other pair raised in a very expeditious manner. The descending trams carried more than six tons weight; the ascending trams contained much less. Only a few days ago, an empty tram was drawn up with some much force, as to be thrown over the cylinder and destroy part of the framing; and a few months since, one was thrown by the violence of a careless ascent, between two windows through the wall of a house opposite and broke it down.