Editing Wagonway (section)

=== Plateways, flangeways ===
{{main|Plateway}}
[[File:Little Eaton Tramway Replica Wagon small.jpg|thumb|right|A replica of a "Little Eaton Tramway" wagon, the tracks are plateways]]
A later system involved [[Cross section (geometry)|L-shaped]] [[Rail profile#Flanged rail|iron rails or plates]], each {{convert|3|ft|mm|abbr=on|0}} long and {{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} wide, having on the inner side an upright ledge or flange, {{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} high at the centre and tapering to {{convert|2|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} at the ends, for the purpose of keeping the flat wheels on the track. Subsequently, to increase strength, a similar flange might be added below the rail.<ref name=EB1911/> Wooden [[Railroad tie|sleepers]] continued to be used{{mdash}}the rails were secured by [[Rail spike|spikes]] passing through the extremities{{mdash}}but, circa 1793, [[Rock (geology)|stone blocks]] began to be used, an innovation associated with [[Benjamin Outram]], although he was not the originator. This type of rail was known as the plate-rail, tramway-plate or way-plate, names that are preserved in the modern term "[[platelayer]]" applied to the workers who lay and maintain the [[permanent way]].<ref name=EB1911/> The wheels of flangeway wagons were plain, but they could not operate on ordinary roads as the narrow rims would dig into the surface.