Railways The easternmost part of Coalport was, at one time, served by two railway stations: • was a
terminus of a
London and North Western Railway branch from ; it is sited on the northern river bank. • was a through station on the
Severn Valley Railway on the southern bank, operated by the
Great Western Railway. The line is now part of the
Severn Way waymarked walk; the station building is a private residence. Two converted ex-
British Railways coaches have been placed between the platforms to provide holiday accommodation.
Canal The
Coalport Canal runs through the village and greatly aided the settlement's development. The
Hay Inclined Plane was completed in 1793 and is one of the country's major industrial monuments and the best preserved and most spectacular of its kind. It enabled canal barges and
narrowboats to be transferred from the bottom of the Severn gorge to the top, up a 1 in 4 gradient on wheeled cradles, operated by a team of just four men. It was the equivalent of 27
canal locks and could transport six barges per hour in this fashion, an operation that would have taken over three hours using a traditional lock system. The canal was eventually superseded by rail transport and fell into neglect, silting up and becoming overgrown; it was infilled in the 1920s. It was not until the late 1970s that it was partially restored, with further restoration in the 1990s. The
Hay Inclined Plane is now part of the
Blists Hill museum, part of the
Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust that operates
Blists Hill Victorian Town, just half a mile up the hill. ==Tar tunnel==