for transporting goods--initially bulky and heavy items, particularly mined stone, ores and coal--from one point to another, most often to a dockside to be loaded onto ships. These early wagonways used a single point-to-point track, and when operators had to move a truck to another wagonway, they did so by hand. The lack of switching technology seriously limited the weight of any loaded wagon combination.

The first railway switches were in fact wagon turnplates or sliding rails.