Billy is totally un-sprung, neither are the wagons & their couplings. The experience would be pretty violent for those used to taking a ride somewhere on the back of a cart drawn by a horse. Where Billy & the later Wylam Dilly beat a horse is that the iron-horse does not need to draw breath so often and it will not collapse exhausted on a scorching hot day. Thus you would need to change horses Mind-you the crew would probably relish the chance to cool off in a nearby pond. It all depends on how cheap it is to feed the iron horse vs the four-legged beast. These replicas do cheat in one fundamental respect in that they are constructed to run on standard gauge track and can be taken anywhere. It would be interesting to see how much of a load Billy and Elephant could pull from a standing start.
