The Croesor Tramway was a Welsh, 2 ft narrow gauge railway line built to carry slate from the Croesor slate mines to Porthmadog. It was built in 1864 without an Act of Parliament and was operated using horse power.
Moelwyn Mawr is a mountain in Snowdonia, North Wales and forms part of the Moelwynion. Its summit overlooks the Vale of Ffestiniog and has views in all directions.
The Gorseddau Junction and Portmadoc Railway is a defunct Welsh tramway.
The Hendre-Ddu Tramway was a 2 ft narrow gauge industrial railway built in 1867 in Mid-Wales to connect the Hendre-Ddu slate quarry to Aberangell station on the Mawddwy Railway. It consisted of a main line 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) long and several branch lines and spurs serving other quarries, local farms and the timber industry.
Narrow-gauge railways were used extensively in the slate industry of Great Britain, especially in Wales. Many quarries had internal tramways, some using many dozens of miles of track. Others had private lines that stretched from the quarry to transhipment points on local railways, rivers, roads or coastal ports.
The Cedryn Quarry Tramway was an industrial narrow gauge railway that connected the slate quarries at Cedryn and Cwm Eigiau to the quays at Dolgarrog in the Conwy valley.
Croesor quarry is a large underground slate mine in North Wales which was served by Croesor Tramway. Small scale quarrying began in the 1846, and by 1861, there were two companies in operation. They amalgamated in 1865, a year after the quarry was connected to the newly opened Croesor Tramway. Much money was invested in development work, but volumes of useful slate produced were small, amounting to just 226 tons in 1868. Access to the underground workings was by a single adit, and the surface mill was powered by two water wheels. A change of ownership in 1875 did little to improve the profitability of the quarry, and it closed in 1878 or 1882.
Rhosydd quarry was a slate quarry in the Moelwyn mountains, northeast of Porthmadog in North Wales.
The Blaen y Cwm quarry was a slate quarry located east of Blaenau Ffestiniog in Wales. It was first worked in some time between 1813 and 1818 and sporadically after that until 1914. The quarry was connected to the Ffestiniog Railway at Duffws Station via the Rhiwbach Tramway.
Conglog quarry was a small enterprise situated to the north-west of Tanygrisiau, near Blaenau Ffestiniog in Wales. It was overshadowed by the much bigger Rhosydd quarry a little further to the west. It was active from 1854 to 1910, and was operated by an individual, two partnerships and four separate companies over this period.
Wrysgan quarry was a slate quarry near the village of Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Festiniog, North Wales. It was worked intermittently from the 1830s, and was worked continuously from c.1850 until 1946. Wrysgan was an underground slate quarry, which was located on a small inaccessible site, some 1,390 feet (420 m) above sea level, to the west of Cwmorthin.
Moelwyn quarry is a defunct slate quarry located to the south of the village of Tanygrisiau, north Wales. Some initial prospecting was carried out in the 1820s and again in the 1840s, but it was 1860 before a company was formed, and chambers were excavated. The quarry was never a financial success, and operated sporadically until its demise in 1897. Despite the poor results, a spectacular series of seven inclines were constructed, to enable slates to reach the Ffestiniog Railway. The quarry was hampered by lack of a good water supply, and the mill was constructed between inclines 4 and 5, where water could be obtained from Llyn Stwlan. As in many quarries, barracks were provided, but these were occupied by whole families, living on the mountain, rather than used as lodgings for the quarrymen during the working week. Even in its remote location, there was still a concern for education, with basic literacy classes being run in the 1860s.
Parc Quarry was a compact underground slate quarry in the Croesor Valley, Gwynedd, North Wales. It was connected to the Croesor Tramway, which ran through the valley. The quarry concentrated on producing specialist slate products, rather than roofing slates, and was managed for much of the time by the innovator Moses Kellow. It operated for about 50 years, from 1870 to 1920.
The Abercwmeiddaw quarry was a slate quarry that operated between the 1840s and 1938. It was located at Corris Uchaf about 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Machynlleth, in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. The quarry was connected to the Corris Railway via the Upper Corris Tramway which carried its products to the Cambrian Railways at Machynlleth for distribution.
Cambergi quarry was a slate quarry in Cwm Hengae, west of Aberllefenni in North Wales. It operated between 1873 and about 1895.
Rhiw-goch quarry was a slate quarry that was worked from the 1860s to 1908. It stands on the north side of the Afon Lledr, on the opposite side of the valley from Pont-y-Pant railway station.
The Penmachno quarry was a slate quarry near Cwm Penmachno, Conwy, North Wales. It was directly below the Rhiwbach Quarry. It was worked between 1818 and 1962.
The Cambrian quarry was a slate quarry, located to the west of Glyn Ceiriog in Denbighshire, North Wales. There was some small-scale extraction of slate from the 17th century, but commercial extraction began in 1857, and the scale of operation increased from 1873, when the Glyn Valley Tramway opened, providing an easier route to market for the output of the quarry. Production after 1938 was on a reduced scale, and the quarry closed in the winter of 1946/47, mainly due to a lack of workers.
Bwlch y Slaters quarry is a slate quarry near Blaenau Ffestiniog, in Gwynedd, North Wales.
Hugh Beaver Roberts was a solicitor, originally based in Bangor, Caernarfonshire who became an entrepreneur involved in the construction of narrow gauge railways and the ownership of slate quarries in North Wales during the second half of the 19th century.
