1840 The state builds an ironworks downstreamŠtát stavia železiareň pod mestom

In 1840 the decision was taken to build an ironworks a few kilometres down the valley at Podbrezová, to roll rails for the new railways. The site was chosen for what the valley already had: iron ore in the hills, charcoal from the forests and water to drive the wheels. Technical problems and money delayed it for years, and the first rails were only rolled in July 1854. From then on the Hron valley had two economies — the old one of cattle and rafts, and a state factory.V roku 1840 padlo rozhodnutie postaviť pár kilometrov nižšie v doline, v Podbrezovej, železiareň na valcovanie koľajníc pre nové železnice. Miesto vybrali pre to, čo dolina už mala: železnú rudu v kopcoch, drevené uhlie z lesov a vodu na pohon kolies. Technické problémy a peniaze stavbu na roky zdržali a prvé koľajnice sa vyvalcovali až v júli 1854. Odvtedy malo Pohronie dve ekonomiky — starú, dobytkársku a pltnícku, a štátnu továreň.