 In its final form, the railroad used separate "loaded" and "light" tracks.In the gravity railway part, unpowered trains ran by gravity to the bottom of a grade manned by a brakeman operating a muscle powered hand-brake to control speed of descent, to the loading chutes.After being emptied, they were attached to a cable wound on large winch wheels (similar to a ski lift) and hauled up a short, steep inclined planes by a stationary steam engine.