Evolution of the Railway 20 1 



holds some of the hay a few inches in front of the horse so 

 that the animal, stretching forward to get the hay, draws 

 along the waggon more readily.) Buddie explains that the 

 waggon is " conducted or drove by a single man, called the 

 Waggon-man, whose most common action on the road is, 

 inticing the horse forward with a bit of hay in his hand, 

 which he supplies from under his arm, a quantity of hay 

 sufficient for a day being kept in the Hay-poke," that is, 

 in a receptacle at the back of the waggon. Suspended over 

 one of the hind wheels is a " convoy," or brake, formed of 

 a curved and strong-looking piece of wood (described in the 

 text as alder- wood), which is attached at one end to the 

 waggon, and held in a loop at the other. " Its use," says 

 Buddie, "is to regulate the motion of the waggon down the 

 sides of the hills (called by the waggon men runs) making 

 it uniform. . . . The waggon-man, taking the end out of the 

 loop, lets it down upon the wheel, and, placing himself astride 

 upon the end, with one foot on the waggon-soal he presses 

 more or less, according to the declivity of the run ; the Convoy 

 acting at that time as a leaver." 



Buddie further says : " Waggon men, in going down very 

 steep Runs, commonly take their horses from before, and 

 fasten them behind their waggons, 1 as they would inevitably 

 be killed was the convoy to break (which frequently happens) 

 or any other accident occasion these waggons to run amain. 

 Nor is this fatal consequence attendant only on the horses, 

 but the drivers often receive broken bones, bruises, and 

 frequently the most excruciating deaths. Indeed, in some 

 places, a most humane custom is established, which is, when 

 any waggon-man loses his horse, the other Waggon-men go 

 a Gait for the poor sufferer, which is little out of their profits, 

 and purchase him another horse." 



About 1750, according to Nicholas Wood, cast-iron wheels 

 were introduced ; but in 1765 wooden wheels were still 

 mostly used at the back of the waggon, to allow of the convoy 

 getting a better grip when the waggon was going, by its own 



1 Not only was it a case of the cart going before the horse, on a 

 descending road, but in some instances there was attached to the waggon 

 a sort of horse- trolley on which the animal itself could ride down-hill, and 

 thus reserve its strength for taking back the empty waggon on a second 

 pair of rails alongside. 



