Editing Cardiff Railway (section)

==Bute Docks==
[[File:Cardiffrly.png|thumb|System map of the Cardiff Railway in 1911]]

Already in the 18th century, it was obvious that some improved means was needed to convey coal mined in the South Wales Valleys to wharves on the [[Bristol Channel]]. For many of the pits, Cardiff was the nearest and most convenient location, and in 1790 the [[Glamorganshire Canal]] opened from Navigation House ([[Abercynon]]) to Cardiff.<ref name = hadfield>Charles Hadfield, ''The Canals of South Wales and the Border'', David & Charles, Newton Abbot, second edition 1957, {{ISBN|0 7153 4027 1}}</ref>

This represented huge progress, but the canal had 49 locks and did not directly reach the majority of the mineral sites. As iron smelting developed on an industrial scale, the demands of that industry too soon outstripped the transport facilities available.

The first large dock opened in Cardiff on 9 October 1839; it was named the Bute Dock after Lord Bute who was the principal owner. From 8 October 1840 the Taff Vale Railway opened, in stages, from [[Merthyr]] to the Bute Dock, later connecting in pits in the [[Rhondda]] and elsewhere. The [[Rhymney Railway]] too opened its line from the upper part of the valleys, also reaching the Bute Dock.<ref name = mountford>Eric R Mountford, ''The Cardiff Railway'', Oakwood Press, Headington, 1987, {{ISBN|0 85361 347 8}}</ref><ref name = tvr>D S M Barrie, ''The Taff Vale Railway'', Oakwood Press, Tisbury, second edition 1950 reprinted 1982</ref>

In 1850 the [[South Wales Railway]] opened part of its main line; instead of bringing down minerals from the upper part of the valleys, the South Wales Railway was a trunk line, conceived to connect London (through the developing network of the [[Great Western Railway]]) with [[Milford Haven Waterway|Milford Haven]], and from there to generate a transatlantic shipping connection. The South Wales Railway also required a dock connection in Cardiff, for minerals it brought there from along its own line, and this demand put yet further strain on the docks. A second dock was built, and as the Bute East Dock, it opened on 20 July 1855; the original Bute Dock was renamed the Bute West Dock.<ref name = baughan>D S M Barrie, revised Peter Baughan, ''A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 12: South Wales'', David St John Thomas, Nairn, 1994, {{ISBN|0 946537 69 0}}</ref>

From these years there was continual feuding between the Taff Vale Railway and the Rhymney Railway.<ref name = kidner>R W Kidner, ''The Rhymney Railway'', The Oakwood Press, Headington, 1995, {{ISBN|0 85361 463 6}}</ref> Finally on 7 October 1871 the [[London and North Western Railway]] secured access to the docks by virtue of running powers over the Rhymney Railway.<ref name = mountford/>