or Tram Rails A railway for tram-carts or waggons, originally made of wooden rails Iron rails were first laid down in 1738, but apparently were called dram-roads (Greek, dram-ein, to run) We are told there were waggons called drams (or trams) Benjamin Outram, in 1800, used stone rails at Little Eaton, Derbyshire; but the similarity between tram and Outram is a mere coincidence Perhaps he was the cause of the word dram being changed to tram, but even this is doubtful (See Rees' Cyclopaedia ) Trams are a kind of sledge on which coals are brought from the place where they are hewn to the shaft A tram has four wheels, but a sledge is without wheels - Brand: History of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, vcl ii p 681 n (1789)