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Info on the Coalbrookdale Company
[[File:The hearth of the Old Furnace at Coalbrookdale - geograph.org.uk - 571129.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The Darby furnace at Coalbrookdale]]Coalbrookdale is a village in the Ironbridge Gorge. It was the site of the furnace where Abraham Darby first smelted iron ore using "coking coal", a major factor in the start of the Industrial Revolution. The furnace is now preserved as part of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum.<refname=IGT>Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust</ref>
==The Coalbrookdale Company==The Coalbrookdale Company was formed by Abraham Darby I in 1709 when he acquired the lease to the Coalbrookdale furnace. In 1768 his grandson Abraham Darby III began to produce the first cast-iron rails for railways, and in 1778 began casting parts for the world's first cast-iron bridge at Ironbridge which opened in 1780.<ref name=SH>[http://shropshirehistory.com/iron/coalbrookdale.htm Shropshire History]</ref> In 1802 the Company made the high pressure boiler and engine for one of Richard Trevithick’s early locomotives, a predecessor of [[Catch Me Who Can]].<ref name=SH/> It also built a number of its own standard gauge steam locomotives of which Number 5, built in 1865, is preserved as an exhibit in Enginuity, one of the Ironbridge Gorge Museums based at the Coalbrookdale site.<ref name=IGT/> The Coalbrookdale Company was responsible for the manufacture of the ironwork of [[Victoria Bridge]] which was built between 1859 and 1861. It had previously produced the ironwork for [[Brooksmouth Bridge]], built in 1828, which can be seen from the SVR near [[Borle Viaduct]]. The 39ft diameter waterwheel wheel at [[Daniel's Mill]] was also cast by the Company circa 1855. ==Railways associated with Coalbrookdale==[[File:Coalbrookdale Station.JPG|thumb|300px|right|Coalbrookdale Station]]Coalbrookdale is situated on the opposite bank of the [[River Severn]] from the Severn Valley Railway and was served by a station on the GWR's Wellington to Craven Arms Branch which crossed the Severn Valley Branch at [[Buildwas]]. [[Albert Edward Bridge]] provided the river crossing between Buildwas and Coalbrookdale.
The [[The Severn Valley Railway under GWR/BR ownership#Before construction: 1845-1858|first plans for the Severn Valley Railway]] proposed that the north end of the line should proceed towards Coalbrookdale. However following public meetings in October 1852, a route towards [[Shrewsbury]] was ultimately built instead.<ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Marshall (1989)]] pp. 21-22.</ref>
