Engineers and Mechanics Encyclopedia 1839: Railways: Mr. Carr of Sheffield
The introduction of cast-iron plates, having an upright ledge, was originally effected by Mr. Carr, at the Sheffield colliery, about the year 1776.
These were at first called plate-rails, but are now usually distinguished by the term tram-plates, from the circumstance of their being used for trains or waggons to roll upon. The form of these, as used in the under-ground colliery at Sheffield, belonging to the duke of Norfolk, is delineated in the following figures. Fig. 1 being a plan, and Fig. 2 a transverse section of Fig. 1, through the dotted line a-b; c-c are the plates, 6 feet long, of the sectional shape shown at c-c, Fig. 2; at each end of the rails holes were cast, through which stout nails were driven into the sleepers d-d-d, made of wood, in the first instance, and afterwards of blocks of stone, by Barnes, Outram, and others.
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