Wagonway
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A wagonway was a method of railway transportation that preceded the steam locomotive and used horses to haul wagons. The terms plateway and tramway were also used. The advantage of wagonways was that
Benjamin Outram's Little Eaton Gangway in July 1908 with the last train of loaded coal wagons arriving.
Minecart shown in De re metallica (1556). The guide pin fits in a groove between two wooden planks.
Minecart from 16th century, found in Transylvania
A replica of a "Little Eaton Tramway" wagon; the tracks are plateways
Plateway
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A plateway is an early kind of railway, tramway or wagonway, where the rails are made from cast iron. They were mainly used for about 50 years up to 1830, though some continued later.
Wagonway
…railway, or horse-drawn railroad) was a method of railway transportation that preceded the steam locomotive and used horses to haul wagons. The terms plateway and tramway were also used. The advantage of wagonways was that far heavier loads could be transported with the same power compared to horse haulage…
A reconstructed section of flangeway track as used by Richard Trevithick's pioneering locomotives at Coalbrookdale and Merthyr