Editing Benjamin Outram (section)

===Established canal and railway engineer===
[[File:Little Eaton Tramway Replica Wagon small.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A replica of a "Little Eaton Tramway" wagon]]
This was the beginning of the ironworks, '[[Benjamin Outram & Company]]' which began trading in 1790. The following year William Jessop and John Wright, a Nottingham banker, also became partners. Starting with a nominal capital of £6000, Outram was the only partner active in the management of the company, assisted by his younger brother, Joseph. Over time the business expanded to include a limestone quarry, limekilns, collieries and ironstone pits.<ref>{{cite book| last=Schofield| first=R.B.| year=2000| title=Benjamin Outram 1764–1805: an engineering biography| location=Cardiff| publisher=Merton Priory| isbn=1-898937-42-7}}</ref>

Outram became a leading advocate in the construction of tramways using L-section rails, which along with the wagons were manufactured at his Butterley Ironworks. His first tramway was a line slightly over {{convert|1|mi|km}} in length, built to carry limestone from quarries at [[Crich]] to Bullbridge Wharf on the [[Cromford Canal]], for use by his works.

In 1792 he became engineer for the [[Nottingham Canal]] and in 1793 the [[Derby Canal]], working in the meantime on the [[Nutbrook Canal]].

One of his major works was the {{convert|44|ft|m}} long single-span Holmes [[Navigable aqueduct|Aqueduct]] on the Derby Canal, which opened in February 1796 and was one of the first cast-iron aqueducts. It was cast by Benjamin Outram & Company and predated [[Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct]], [[Thomas Telford|Thomas Telford's]] longer aqueduct on the [[Shrewsbury Canal]] at [[Longdon-on-Tern]] by one month. It proved troublesome and needed substantial remedial work in 1802, 1812 and 1930, eventually being demolished in 1971.

[[File:Wagonway.jpg|thumb|right|The Little Eaton Gangway]]
An important extension to the Derby Canal was the [[Little Eaton Gangway]], a feeder for the [[Derby Canal]] built on the pattern of that at Crich. Such tramways became an important part of his later canals. A common misconception is that the word "tramway" comes from Outram's surname but the word actually derives from the Low German word "traam" meaning "a beam" (of a wheelbarrow).<ref name=Liberman>{{Citation| title=a Story of the Word Tram| date=5 August 2009| url=http://blog.oup.com/2009/08/tram/| publisher=A. Liberman| accessdate=29 May 2011}}</ref> Outram always referred to tramways as railways.

Outram was the consulting engineer for the construction of the [[Huddersfield Narrow Canal]], which included the pioneering [[Standedge Tunnels|Standedge Canal Tunnel]]. In 1794 he was the engineer for the [[Peak Forest Canal]],<ref name=Jimshead/> which included the [[Marple Aqueduct]]. The climb from [[Buxworth|Bugsworth]] was negotiated by the {{convert|6|mi|km}} [[Peak Forest Tramway]]. Stodhart Tunnel on this tramway is believed to be the first railway tunnel in Derbyshire. In 1796 he reported on the extra funds needed to complete construction of the [[Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal]].<ref name=Jimshead>{{Citation| title=Waterways Engineers and Surveyors Benjamin Outram 1764| url=http://www.jim-shead.com/waterways/people.php?wpage=PE122| publisher=Jim Shead| accessdate=26 August 2008}}</ref> In 1798, he was retained to complete the final section of the [[Ashton Canal]] which included the [[Store Street Aqueduct]], among the first to solve the problem of [[skew arch]]es.

Outram also built railways for the [[Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal]] such as the [[Ticknall]] Tramway and was asked to advise on railways for the [[Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal]]. He predicted within a few years of their introduction that railways would become the principal mode of transport. In 1799 he wrote, while building the [[Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal]] railway at four-foot two-inch gauge, "it appears that many hogsheads and packages require carriages . . . wider than those at Derby and Crich" and "it seems desirable that all extensive railways should be of the same width and that width should be sufficient to suit all the purposes of trade".

His sudden death, leaving no will, led to considerable confusion in resolving the company's affairs, moreover certain investments had not yet started to yield income, and it was not until 1815 that the company's affairs and liabilities with his wife and family were settled.