Perpendicular Publics: Contesting Infrastructure at Early Eighteenth-Century Rail Crossings

Eighteenth-century Britain experienced massive growth in its transportation networks. As turnpikes, canals, and railways extended throughout the realm, they inevitably crossed one another. Each crossing compelled Britons to decide how different forms of traffic would share space. This chapter shows how writings occasioned by crossing disputes conceived infrastructure not as an unthought material strata – as it is often construed today – but as a call to weigh and prioritize different amenities. The chapter focuses specifically on one contested crossing in early eighteenth-century South Wales where a coal tram crossed the king’s highway. This intersection spurred an exchange of pamphlets between those who characterized the tram tracks as a public nuisance, and those who regarded them as a public work that employed artisans, distributed carbon fuel, and generated customs revenue. At stake in these writings is the question of whether privately owned freight conduits advanced or undercut the public good.