In 1869, the Stanton Ironworks took a lease on ironstone-rich land to the east of Wellingborough, near Finedonhill Farm.
They began quarrying, initially carting the ore by road to sidings on the Midland Railway near the Wellingborough Loco Shed.
In 1875, a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge horse-hauled tramway was laid to connect the quarries with the sidings.
The first pits were exhausted by 1884, and the tramway was extended north across Sidegate Lane to access new quarries.
Clark purchased a secondhand steam locomotive and ran trains over the lower section of the rope-hauled tramway.