From the pit head to the canals, horse-drawn wagonways had been constructed and steam engines were seen as no more than a noisy and dangerous novelty.

This makes Brunton's idea seem more reasonable, given that the Butterley Company were faced with a gradient of 1 in 50 between its Limestone quarry at Crich to the Cromford Canal at Amber Wharf, some 1.25 miles (2.01 km) away.

[2] The historical record is scanty but it seems that the Steam Horse operated successfully for an unknown period.

[3] During 1814 and 1815 it hauled loads up a 1 in 36 gradient at 3 miles per hour (4.8 km/h), but the colliery owners were not happy with it.

On 31 July 1815,[1] during a demonstration, the new wrought iron boiler exploded, killing thirteen spectators and injuring several others.