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Tours > Wales > Penydarren
Penydarren (Pen Uh Darren)
Now part of the borough of Merthyr Tydfil, Penydarren was originally a Roman fort dating from the first century though very little remains of the fort to be seen today. It was here, however, in 1804, that the very first steam locomotive to run on rails made its journey between Merthyr and Abercynon. The locomotive, built by Cornishman Richard Trevithick, hauled a five-wagon load of 10 tons of iron and 70 persons for nine miles at a speed of five miles per hour.
Earlier in the year, Trevithick had carried passengers in a steam carriage at Cambrone in England, but had run out of steam going up hill. A locomotive was needed to run on iron rails, and Mr Samuel Humfray, the owner of the Merthyr Iron Works, suggested that Trevithick build a steam locomotive to carry his product down a nine-mile track to Navigation House, Abercynon. The steam engine, aptly named Catch-me-Who-Can, ushered in a new exciting age in the history of transportation. The Penydarren Works later made rails for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway as well as cables for Telford's Menai Bridge.
Next Stop: The Southeast
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