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== Metal rails ==

Until the beginning of the [[Industrial Revolution]], rails were made of wood, were a few inches wide and were fastened end to end, on logs of wood or "[[Railroad tie|sleepers]]", placed crosswise at intervals of two or three feet. In time, it became common to cover them with a thin flat sheathing or "plating" of iron, in order to add to their life<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Railways |volume=21 |pages=819–820 |first=Hugh Munro |last=Ross}}</ref> and reduce friction. This caused more wear on the wooden rollers of the wagons and towards the middle of the 18th century, led to the introduction of iron wheels. However, the iron sheathing was not strong enough to resist buckling under the passage of the loaded wagons, so rails made wholly of iron were invented.<ref name=EB1911/>

<!-- {{convert}} does not always give a happy level of precision in the next few paras, 1mm is too fine & 10mm too coarse -->
In 1760, the [[Coalbrookdale]] Iron Works began to reinforce their wooden-railed tramway with iron bars,<ref name="PMEM1844">{{cite magazine| title=Historical Notes on Railways| magazine=The Practical Mechanic and Engineers Magazine| date=November 1844| pages=57–60}}</ref> which were found to facilitate passage and diminish expenses. As a result, in 1767, they began to make [[cast iron]] rails. These were probably {{convert|6|ft||sigfig=4|abbr=on|round=5}} long, with four projecting ears or lugs {{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on|round=5}} by {{convert|3+3/4|in|mm|0|abbr=on}} to enable them to be fixed to the sleepers. The rails were {{convert|3+3/4|in|mm|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} wide and {{convert|1+1/4|in|mm|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} thick. Later, descriptions also refer to rails {{convert|3|ft|mm|sigfig=3|abbr=on|round=5}} long and only {{convert|2|in|mm|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lewis|first=Michael Jonathan Taunton|title=Early Wooden Railways|year=1970|publisher=Routledge & K. Paul|location=London|isbn=0-7100-6674-0|oclc=138270|pages= 160–65}}</ref>

=== 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 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.

=== Edgeways ===
[[File:Cromford and High Peak Railway cast-iron fishbelly rail.png|thumb|Cast iron fishbelly edge rail manufactured by Outram at the [[Butterley Company]] ironworks for the [[Cromford and High Peak Railway]] (1831). These are smooth edgerails for wheels with flanges.]]
Another form of rail, the [[edge rail (rail profile)|edge rail]], was first used by [[William Jessop]] on a line that was opened as part of the [[Charnwood Forest Canal]] between [[Loughborough]] and [[Nanpantan]] in [[Leicestershire]] in 1789.<ref name=EB1911/> This line was originally designed as a plateway on the Outram system, but objections were raised to laying rails with upstanding ledges or flanges on the [[turnpike trust|turnpike]]. This difficulty was overcome by paving or "causewaying" the road up to the level of the top of the flanges.<ref name=EB1911/> In 1790, Jessop and his partner Outram began to manufacture edge-rails. Another example of the edge rail application was the [[Lake Lock Rail Road]] in the [[West Riding of Yorkshire|West Riding]] of [[Yorkshire]] (now [[West Yorkshire]]) used primarily for coal transport. The railway charged a toll and opened for traffic in 1798, making it the world's oldest public railway. The route started at Lake Lock, [[Stanley, West Yorkshire|Stanley]], on the [[Aire & Calder Navigation]], running from [[Wakefield]] to [[Outwood, West Yorkshire|Outwood]], a distance of approximately {{convert|3|mi|km|1}}. Edge-rails (with a side rack) were used on the nearby [[Middleton Railway|Middleton-Leeds rack railway]] (a length of this rail is on display in [[Leeds City Museum]]). The wheels of an edgeway have flanges, like modern railways and tramways. Causewaying is also done on modern [[level crossing]]s and tramways.

These two systems of constructing iron railways continued to exist until the early 19th century.<ref name=EB1911/> In most parts of England the plate-rail was preferred.<ref name=EB1911/> Plate-rails were used on the [[Surrey Iron Railway]] (SIR), from [[Wandsworth]] to [[West Croydon station|West Croydon]].<ref name=EB1911/> The SIR was sanctioned by Parliament in 1801 and finished in 1803.<ref name=EB1911/> Like the Lake Lock Rail Road, the SIR was available to the public on payment of tolls; previous lines had all been private and reserved exclusively for the use of their owners.<ref name=EB1911/> Since it was used by individual operators, vehicles would vary greatly in wheel spacing ([[Rail gauge|gauge]]) and the plate rail coped better. In South [[Wales]] again, where in 1811 the railways were connected with canals, collieries, ironworks, and copper works, and had a total length of nearly {{convert|150|mi|km|0}},<ref name="PMEM1844"/> the plateway was almost universal.<ref name=EB1911/> But in the North of England and in Scotland the edge-rail was held in greater favor, and soon its superiority was generally established.<ref name=EB1911/> Wheels tended to bind against the flange of the plate rail and mud and stones would build up.

[[File:Chpr rail.jpg|thumb|Lengths of fishbelly rail on stone support blocks. These are edgerails for wheels with flanges.]]
The manufacture of the rails themselves was gradually improved.<ref name=EB1911/> By making them in longer lengths, the number of joints per mile was reduced.<ref name=EB1911/> Joints were always the weakest part of the line.<ref name=EB1911/> Another advance was the substitution of wrought iron for cast iron, though that material did not gain wide adoption until after the patent for an improved method of rolling rails was granted in 1820 to [[John Birkinshaw]], of the [[Bedlington Ironworks]].<ref name=EB1911/> His rails were wedge-shaped in section, much wider at the top than at the bottom, with the intermediate portion or web thinner still. He recommended that they be made {{convert|18|ft|m|2|abbr=on}} long, suggesting that several might be welded together end to end to form considerable lengths. They were supported on sleepers by chairs at intervals of {{convert|3|ft|mm|sigfig=3|abbr=on|round=5}}, and were fish-bellied between the support points. As used by [[George Stephenson]] on the [[Stockton and Darlington Railway|Stockton & Darlington]], and [[Canterbury and Whitstable Railway|Canterbury & Whitstable]] lines, they weighed {{convert|28|lb/yd|kg/m|1|abbr=on}}.<ref name=EB1911/> On the [[Liverpool and Manchester Railway]] they were usually {{convert|12|or|15|ft|m|2|abbr=on}} long and weighed {{convert|35|lb/yd|kg/m|1|abbr=on}} and were fastened by iron wedges to chairs weighing {{convert|15|or|17|lb|kg|1|abbr=on}} each. The chairs were in turn fixed to the sleepers by two iron spikes, half-round wooden cross sleepers employed on embankments and stone blocks {{convert|20|in|mm|0|abbr=on}} square by {{convert|10|in|mm|0|abbr=on}} deep in cuttings. The fish-bellied rails were found to break near the chairs and starting in 1834, they were gradually replaced with [[Rail profile#Vignoles rail|parallel rails]] weighing {{convert|50|lb/yd|kg/m|1|abbr=on}}.<ref name=EB1911/>