Coleford, Monmouth, Usk & Pontypool Railway

Coleford, Monmouth, Usk & Pontypool Railway

The 256-yard Usk Tunnel in 2008, now a public footpath.
Locale	Monmouthshire
Dates of operation	1856–1955 (section to ROF Glascoed remained open until 1993)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	16 miles (26 km)

The Coleford, Monmouth, Usk & Pontypool Railway (CMU&PR) was a standard gauge railway of 16 miles (26 km) which ran from Monmouth to Little Mill, near Pontypool in Monmouthshire, Wales. It was intended to convey the mineral products of the Forest of Dean to the ironworks of South Wales, by connecting to the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway at Little Mill, near Pontypool; that company was making the onward connection over its Taff Vale Extension line. The CMU&PR intended to acquire the Monmouth Railway, actually a horse-operated plateway, and convert it to locomotive operation.

The CMU&PR completed its own line from Little Mill to Monmouth, but financial difficulties forced a halt there. The Company decided against conversion of the Monmouth Railway, and in 1861 built a connecting line from its Monmouth station to an interchange wharf at Wyesham, leaving the Monmouth Railway unaltered.

The mineral traffic was not as lucrative as had been hoped, and the company struggled financially, and in 1861 leased its line to the West Midland Railway, which had been formed by the merger of the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway with other lines, and the West Midland Company itself soon amalgamated with the Great Western Railway, taking the CMU&PR lease with it.

The line was never busy, and passenger services were withdrawn in 1955. A limited goods service was retained for a period at Usk, and it was only the Royal Ordnance Factory at Glascoed that kept part of the CMU&PR system in operation until complete closure in 1993.

On 2 January 1854 the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway opened its main line. It was a north-south trunk route from Hereford, in fact connecting with the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company near Pontypool for the final approach to Newport. It was observed that an extensive and productive agricultural region lay nearby, east of the NA&HR route and the idea formed that a line from Monmouth through Raglan and Usk would be advantageous.

Building on that notion, attention was drawn to Coleford, considered one of the most important mineral-producing locations in the Forest of Dean. A railway line connecting Coleford through Monmouth to Pontypool would be able to convey iron ore and coal to the smelters of South Wales, specifically to Nantyglo. The ironmaster Crawshay Bailey was a prime mover in bringing the idea to fruition; it took shape as the Coleford, Monmouth, Usk and Pontypool Railway.