Editing Wagonway (section)

== Wooden rails ==

[[File:Mining cart.jpg|thumb|left|[[Minecart]] shown in ''[[De Re Metallica]]'' (1556). The guide pin fits in a groove between two wooden planks.]]
Such an operation was illustrated in Germany in 1556 by [[Georgius Agricola]] (image left) in his work [[De re metallica]].<ref>{{cite book| first=Georgius| last=Agricola| edition=Hoover translation| title=[[De re metallica]]| year=1913| page=156}}</ref> This line used "Hund" carts with unflanged wheels running on wooden planks and a vertical pin on the truck fitting into the gap between the planks to keep it going the right way. The miners called the wagons ''Hunde'' ("dogs") from the noise they made on the tracks.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lee |first=Charles E. |title=The Evolution of Railways |edition=2 |year=1943 |publisher=Railway Gazette |location=London |page=16 |oclc=1591369}}</ref>

[[File:Berlin Technikmuseum Holzbahn.jpg|thumb|[[Minecart]] from 16th century, found in [[Transylvania]]]]
Around 1568, [[Germans|German]] [[mining|miners]] working in the [[Society of Mines Royal|Mines Royal]] near [[Keswick, Cumbria|Keswick]] used such a system. Archaeological work at the Mines Royal site at Caldbeck in the English Lake District confirmed the use of "''hunds''".<ref>{{cite book| first1=Warren| last1=Allison| first2=Samuel| last2=Murphy| first3=Richard| last3=Smith| chapter=An Early Railway in the German Mines of Caldbeck| editor-first=G.| editor-last=Boyes| title=Early Railways 4: Papers from the 4th International Early Railways Conference 2008| publisher=Six Martlets| location=Sudbury| year=2010| pages=52–69}}</ref><ref name="timeline"/>

In 1604, [[Huntingdon Beaumont]] completed the [[Wollaton Wagonway]], built to transport [[coal]] from the mines at [[Strelley, Nottinghamshire|Strelley]] to [[Wollaton]] Lane End, just west of [[Nottingham]], [[England]]. Wagonways have been discovered between [[Broseley]] and [[Jackfield]] in [[Shropshire]] from 1605, used by James Clifford to transport coal from his mines in Broseley to the Severn River. It has been suggested that these are somewhat older than that at Wollaton.<ref name="timeline">{{cite web |title=Time line for early railway developments & Wollaton Waggonway associated dates|url=http://www.stephensonloco.org.uk/time_line.htm|date=15 October 2007|publisher=Stephenson Locomotive Society & Waggonway Research Circle|access-date=1 September 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| first=Peter| last=King| chapter=The First Shropshire Railways| editor-first=G.| editor-last=Boyes| title=Early Railways 4: Papers from the 4th International Early Railways Conference 2008| publisher=Six Martlets| location=Sudbury| year=2010| pages=70–84}}</ref> 

In [[1610]], [[Huntingdon Beaumont|Huntingdon]] introduced wooden waggonways as a form of coal transport in [[Northumberland|South East Northumberland]], waggons with one horse were used to carry coals from the local pits to the port on the [[River Blyth, Northumberland|River Blyth]]. From [[1692]] to [[1709]], the Plessey Waggonway was constructed from [[Plessey Woods Country Park|Plessey]] to [[Blyth, Northumberland|Blyth]], following the route of Plessey Road, where it derives its name. It was constructed of a double-line of [[beech]] rails on [[oak]] sleepers. The waggons had wooden wheels with nails driven into them to reduce wear and tear.<ref>{{Cite book |title=THE STORY OF BLYTH: A SHORT HISTORY |date=c. 1957 |publisher=McCall's Bookshop |location=Blyth, Northumberland |language=English}}</ref>

The [[Middleton Railway]] in [[Leeds]], which was built in 1758 as a wagonway, later became the world's first operational railway (other than funiculars), albeit in an upgraded form. In 1764, the first railway in America was built in [[Lewiston, New York]] as a wagonway.<ref name=Porter>{{cite book| last=Porter |first=Peter |title=Landmarks of the Niagara Frontier |publisher=Privately printed |year=1914 | oclc= 1044424468}}</ref>

Wagonways improved coal transport by allowing one horse to deliver between {{convert|10|and|13|LT|t ST|1|lk=on}} of [[coal]] per run{{mdash}} an approximate fourfold increase. Wagonways were usually designed to carry the fully loaded wagons downhill to a [[canal]] or boat dock and then return the empty wagons back to the mine.