Volume Nine - Pre-Victorian to the present day - even more aspects - Penarth Dock and Tidal Harbour - Handbook - 1893 . . .

The Dock has direct railway connection, for passenger traffic, with every part of the Kingdom. Penarth Dock Station is close to the Dock itself, and is served by numerous well-appointed trains running to and from Cardiff in about ten minutes, and calling at the Great Western Company's Station there, from which fast trains run direct without change of carriage, to Bristol, London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Swansea, and all principal places on and beyond the Company's lines. The Taff Vale Company's main line trains (some of which start from and terminate at Penarth), run in connection with the London and North Western Company's trains to and from Merthyr.

By means of the Riverside Branch at Cardiff, which is now being updated for passenger traffic, trains will shortly run direct between Penarth and Cardiff Docks and Exchange, performing the journey in about a quarter of an hour. Penarth Dock may also be reached by omnibus from Cardiff, and by Ferry direct from the landing stage at the Bute Docks.

Penarth Dock has an area of 23 acres exclusive of the Basin of three acres. There are 16 high level tips (14 on the Dock and two in the Basin), some of which are double or twin tips, and three have recently been re-constructed with moveable shoots, rising to a maximum length of 45 feet, whereby steamers of the largest class can be bunkered light and take their Cargo without interruption, whatever the level of water may be. All the tips are worked by hydraulic power, and each is capable of shipping upwards of 300 tons per hour. All tips are fitted with double screens, and every provision has been made for shipping Coal with the minimum of breakage. The tips are also equipped with counter-balancing weights, so that the wagons may, when necessary, be suspended in the butt of the shoot for any length of time, thereby enabling the Coal to be shipped with less breakage than at any other Docks.

Penarth Dock being under the shelter of Penarth Head, vessels are exceptionally secure against risks, and may be moved from side to side, and from berth to berth, in safety in almost all weathers. The Dock is approached directly from the Bristol Channel, and being a tidal Dock, the gates can all be thrown open from sea to Dock, thereby enabling vessels entering to proceed direct to the tips or cranes without the delay of locking from Basin to Dock, and commence loading or discharging forthwith.