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The Coleford, Monmouth, Usk & Pontypool Railway (abbreviated CMU&PR) was a standard gauge railway of which ran between Monmouth to Pontypool in Monmouthshire, Wales. It was completed in 1857, passenger services were withdrawn in 1955. ==History== The line was constructed opened 1856 and 1857 with the principal aim of carrying iron ore from the Forest of Dean to furnaces near Nantyglo. It was authorised under an Act of Parliament dated 20 August 1853, to operate from a junction with the Newport, Abergavenny & Hereford Railway, near Pontypool, to Coleford, Gloucestershire, with a branch to serve the gas works at Monmouth. Diverging at Little Mill Junction, two miles north west of Pontypool Road railway station, the line ran to Monmouth Troy railway station. The Monmouth Viaduct was built over the River Wye in an attempt to reach Coleford in the Forest of Dean, but following the purchase of the line by GWR the scheme was abandoned.〔V. Mitchell and K. Smith, ''Branch Line to Monmouth'', 2008, ISBN 978-1-906008-20-8〕 The link to Coleford was later completed by the GWR and opened as the Coleford Railway in 1883.〔 The four miles from Little Mill Junction to Usk were opened on 2 June 1856, and the 12 miles onwards to Monmouth Troy opened on 12 October 1857. At first the company worked its line with engines hired from the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway, before coming under the control of the GWR.〔 From 1940 ROF Glascoed which produced munitions for the armed services was served by the line with a branch and two small halts. When the line officially closed the factory continued to be served by rail along the eastern section of the line until 1993. The overgrown track from Little Mill Junction to what is now BAE Systems factory remains in situ but is completely impassable.〔 The line was closed on 30 May 1955 due to a train drivers strike and was never reopened. Its closure was originally planned for June 1955, but because of the strike the last service was run 28 May when the national strike began.〔 A Stephenson Locomotive Society special ran along the line exactly 100 years from opening on 12 October 1957.〔B. M. Handley and R. Dingwall, ''The Wye Valley Railway and the Coleford Branch'', 1982, ISBN 0-85361-530-6〕〔Stanley C Jenkins, ''The Ross, Monmouth and Pontypool Road Line'', revised second edition 2009, ISBN 978-0-85361-692-4〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Coleford, Monmouth, Usk and Pontypool Railway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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