A walk, just a short distance to the nearby park gates, but I walk more quickly than previously. Considering yesterday’s reflection on my blog entries I am moving swiftly on (no pun intended)………..
I am reading W.W. Tasker’s book Railways in the Sirhowy Valley. The title is a bit misleading as the book is hopelessly lopsided, relying on much anecdotal evidence based on his father’s experiences working for the LNWR (London and North Western Railway) and its successor company, the LMS (London, Midland and Scottish) and illustrated with Tasker’s own photographs. He makes little mention of the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company’s (TIC) quite extensive mineral line at the top end of the valley or the interaction between the two companies. Many questions remain unanswered.
Mineral traffic in general merits only a one page mention and even then the emphasis is on mixed goods operations rather than the massive coal (and, at first, iron) transport operation. The interaction between the mainline railway and the coal company is interesting considering the sheer amount of material to be handled and the fact that they were a customer of each other.
My next reading on the subject will be to get hold of J.M. Dunn’s reflections of his career on the railways in the area – but his book is unambiguously titled as being autobiographical.
Forget the Rules 