Until 1698, it had always been animals or humans pulling the rail carts in the mines. Now, the Swedish engineer Christopher Polhem built a mechanical device that relieved oxen, horses, and miners. The ore-filled wagons were dragged out of the mine by water power.

The ore track in Humboberg's iron mine in Dalarna was a complicated construction. The power came from a water wheel driven by water from a dam. The movement of the wheel was transferred via a rod linkage - a device with movable, guiding rods suspended from poles.

In the mine, the power was used to pull up ore carts, so-called mine dogs, from a sloping shaft. This was, as far as is known, the first time in the world that mechanical power was used to drive vehicles on rails.

Caption: Drawing of the lifting mechanism in Humboberg. A scale model of the facility is located at Norrbärke Hembygdsförening in Smedjebacken.