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Trevithick's Penydarren locomotive
Full size, live steam, conjectural reconstruction of Richard Trevithick’s Penydarren locomotive built at Penydarren Ironworks, Merthyr Tydfil, 1804, and which ran on the plateway track of the Merthyr Tramroad (4ft 4in gauge over the flanges of the tramplates). The reconstruction was built by Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales in 1981.
The original made the first authenticated journey in the world by a steam locomotive in 1804 when it hauled a trainload of ten tons of iron and a large number of passengers from Merthyr Tudful down to Abercynon. That epic journey paved the way for the evolution of steam haulage on Britain's railways. To commemorate the historic event, the Museum constructed a full-scale live-steam replica of the locomotive in 1982. (Source: Welsh Industrial & Maritime Museum Guidebook, 1984).
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