The Carmarthenshire Tramroad or Railway dates from 1802; a horse-powered 4ft (1219mm) -gauge plateway, it was planned to open up the coalfield to the north of Llanelli. Trains were running on part of the line by 1803; it commenced operations before the Surrey Iron Railway and is thus the earliest operating public railway in Britain. The railway reached Gors-las, to the east of Cross Hands, but was not completed to its intended destination - limestone quarries around Castell-y-graig to the west of Llandybie. It never achieved the results expected; by 1830 most of it was derelict and it closed in 1844, although the southernmost section continued to carry some coal to the Carmarthenshire Dock (nprn 34193) at Llanelli.
in 1883 a new company, the Llanelly and Mynydd Mawr Railway (nprn 411059) rebuilt the line as far as New Cross Hands Colliery (nprn 33409) as a standard-gauge locomotive railway, departing from the original alignment in a few locations. The northernmost section of the tramroad between Cross Hands and Gors-las, about 800m, was not included in the reconstruction and was abandoned. The last section closed in 1989.
B.A.Malaws, RCAHMW, 14 June 2010.