Cable railways are railways with very steep gradients and use stationary engines to haul the wagons up and down the hills. They are slow, but do the job.

Examples

• Cromford and High Peak Railway opened in 18xx with grades up to 1 in 8.

• Liverpool and Manchester Railway
  • Opened with cable haulage down 1 in 48 grade to dockside.
  • Designed with for cable haulage up and down 1 in 100 grades at Rainhill just in case locomotive haulage was impracticable. Rainhill Trials showed that locomotive could handle 1 in 100 gradients.