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Tram-road.

A road in which the track for the wheels is made of timbers, flat stones, or iron, while the horse-track between is left sufficiently rough for the feet of the horses.

One was laid down in 1602 in the neighborhood of Newcastle by Beaumont, and was in use in 1676. It is not likely that they would be disused until superseded by railways. They are described by Roger North in 1676 as being rails of wood grooved to form tracks for the wheels which traversed therein.

An iron tram-road was laid between Wandsworth and Croydon, in England, in 1802.

A flagstone tram-road was laid in the Commercial Road. London, before 1829. On it the merchandise of the East and West India Docks was transported to the city of London.

Iron railways were laid down by Carr at Sheffield, 1776, and by the Coalbrookdale Iron Company in 1786. See Railway.

Matthews's stone tram-way (English) has stones 4 feet 2 inches in length, 14 inches wide at base, If inches at top, and 10 inches deep. He proposed several mortise and tenon joints, shown in the illustration, to give mutual vertical and lateral support.

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