The Haytor Tramway was constructed to carry the granite the to the canal, which involved a falling vertical interval of to the basin of the Stover Canal. Its form was a close relative of a plateway, where longitudinal L-shaped metal plates were used to support and guide the wheels of wagons. In the Haytor case, the "plates" were cut from granite blocks; the upstand guided the wheels of the wagons. As the wagons had plain wheels without flanges, they could be manouevred at the terminals without the need for sidings and points.