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Walnut Tree Viaduct was a railway viaduct located above the southern edge of the village of Taffs Well, South Wales. Originally built to carry the Barry Railway across a narrow gorge through which the River Taff, Taff Vale Railway and Cardiff Railway passed, it was deconstructed in 1969, leaving only two of the support columns visible from the A470 road. ==Background== (詳細はIndustrial Revolution, and the mass-extraction of coal from South Wales, there was a resultant growth in construction of railways into the South Wales Coalfield. The Taff Vale Railway so monopolised the trade of shipping coal to Cardiff Docks, that mine owners were desperate for competitor railway companies to both improve speeds of shipping, provide access to new markets, and hence reduce shipping rates. The first section of the Taff Vale Railway (TVR) to move iron from Merthyr Tydfil to Cardiff Docks opened in 1840, and included Taffs Well railway station. Following 1858, the Rhymney Railway (RR) had connected with the TVR , south of Taffs Well station at Walnut Tree Junction, a name given to the northern area of Radyr village. Almost two miles further south, Radyr station was situated, followed by Penarth Junction, later renamed Radyr Junction. However, by 1880 the TVR and RVR were so congested with coal traffic, that a group of coal mine owners, iron makers and industrialists led by David Davies of Ocean Collieries, who had all suffered from the capacity and monopoly issues created by two companies: *Taff Vale Railway: which provided the dominant rail infrastructure. Capacity issues were particularly dominant after Pontypridd railway station, where down loaded trains and up return empty wagons were restricted to a single double track route, which could not be expanded due to the geographic challenges of the valley *Cardiff Docks: which having been developed by Lord Bute, were sufficient to serve his coal-exporting needs, but did not have sufficient capacity to cope with new mine developments In light of the geographic restrictions of the valley south of Pontypridd, Davies proposed development of a secondary route which terminated at Barry, where a dock infrastructure could be developed without the mud flat or tidal restrictions which gave Cardiff's Tiger Bay its name. This would create a competitive edge to the development, and due to being later developed to a more easily accessible docks, a resultant efficiency advantage over Cardiff. The Barry Dock and Railway Bill was introduced in the 1883 Parliamentary session but was defeated by opposition, particularly from the Bute Docks and Taff Vale Railway. The Bill was introduced again the following year and the Barry Dock and Railway Company Act was passed on 14 August 1884 for the construction of a dock between Barry and Barry Island. The name was changed to the Barry Railway Company by an Act of 5 August 1891. 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「Walnut Tree Viaduct」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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