Hay Railway

The Hay Railway was a 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.



Parliamentary authorisation, construction and opening
The railway was authorised by the  (51 Geo. 3. c. cxxii) 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. The tramway was built to a gauge of. 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.

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.

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 by virtue of the  (23 & 24 Vict. c. clxxix) and the line was converted to standard gauge for operation by steam locomotives.