Wagonways

Roads of rails called Wagonways were being used in Germany as early as 1550. | The flange was a groove that allowed the wheels to better grip the rail, this was an important design that carried over to later locomotives. | By 1776, iron had replaced the wood in the rails and wheels on the carts. | Thirteen years later, Englishman, William Jessup designed the first wagons with flanged wheels. | These primitive railed roads consisted of wooden rails over which horse-drawn wagons or carts moved with greater ease than over dirt roads. Wagonways were the beginnings of modern railroads.