Tramway (industrial)

Tramways are lightly laid railways, sometimes with the wagons or carriages moved without locomotives. Because individual tramway infrastructure is not intended to carry the weight of typical standard-gauge railway equipment, the tramways over which they operate may be built from less substantial materials. Tramways can exist in many forms; sometimes just tracks temporarily placed on the ground to transport materials around a factory, mine or quarry. Many, if not most, use narrow-gauge railway technology. The trains can be manually pushed by hand, pulled by animals (especially horses and mules), cable hauled by a stationary engine, or use small, light locomotives.

The term is not in use in North America but in common use in the United Kingdom, and elsewhere, where British Railway terminology and practices had large influences on management practices, terminology, and railway cultures such as Australia, New Zealand, and those parts of Asia that consulted with British experts when undergoing modernization. In New Zealand, they are commonly known as Bush tramways, while in parts of Australia where American experts were influential, the term is less common. Bush tramways generally did not carry passengers, although staff would often use them, either officially or unofficially—and are often not intended to be permanent.

History

The term was originally applied to wagons running on primitive tracks in early England and Europe. The name seems to date from around 1517 and to be derived from an English dialect word for the shaft of a wheelbarrow—in turn from Low German , meaning a beam.Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (On line accessed 27 Oct 2007)

The tracks themselves were sometimes known as gangways, dating from before the 12th century, being usually simply planks laid upon the ground literally "going road". In south Wales and Somerset the term "dramway" is also used, with vehicles being called drams.

The alternative term is "wagonway" (and wainway or waggonway) which originally consisted of horses, equipment and tracks which were used for hauling wagons.

Usually the wheels would be guided along grooves. In time, to combat wear, the timber would be reinforced with an iron strip covering. This developed to use "L"-shaped steel plates, the track then being known as a plateway.

An alternative appeared, the so-called "edge-rail" where the wagons were guided by having the wheels flanged instead of running in grooves. Since these rails were raised above the ground they were less likely to be blocked by debris, but they obstructed other traffic. They were, however, the forerunners of the modern railway.

These early lines were built to transport minerals from quarries and mines to canal wharves. From about 1830, more extensive trunk railways appeared, becoming faster, heavier and more sophisticated and, for safety reasons, the requirements placed on them by Parliament became more and more stringent. See rail tracks.

These restrictions were excessive for the small mineral lines and it became possible in the United Kingdom for them to be categorised as Light railways subject to certain provisos laid down by the Light Railways Act 1896.

Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom the term tramway became the term for passenger vehicles (a tram) that ran on tracks in the public highway, sharing with other road users.1901: Standing Orders, House of Lords, Priv. bills 7 "In these orders ... 'Tramway' means a tramway laid along a street or road; the term 'tramroad' means a tramway laid elsewhere than along a street or road." From Oxford English Dictionary On-line (Second Ed 1989) Initially horse-drawn, they were developed to use electric power from an overhead line. A development of the tramway in the United Kingdom dispensed with tracks, but retained electric power from overhead wires; it was the trolleybus.

In 2000 the CarGoTram began operating as a cargo tram for the Volkswagen factory in Dresden, Germany.

See also

* Barlow rail
* British narrow gauge railways
* Broome Tramway
* Decauville
* Forest railway
* Iron rails
* Mine railway
* Narrow-gauge railways in Australia
* Plateway
* Rail profile
* Tramway track
* List of tramways in Queensland

References

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Industrial railways
Tram transport