Horsecar

This article is about equine-powered railcars. For the type of stock car used to transport racehorses, seeStock car (rail) § Specialized applications.

The first horsecar inManchester, New Hampshire,dating from 1877, and on display about 1908.

Ahorsecar,horse-drawn tram,horse-drawn streetcar(U.S.), orhorse-drawn railway(historical), is ananimal-powered(usuallyhorse)tramor streetcar.

Summary

TheSwansea and Mumbles Railwayran the world's first passenger tram service in 1807

The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form ofpublicrail transport,which developed out ofindustrial haulage routesthat had long been in existence, and from theomnibusroutes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s,using the newly improved iron or steel rail or 'tramway'. They were local versions of thestagecoachlines and picked up and dropped off passengers on a regular route, without the need to be pre-hired. Horsecars on tramlines were an improvement over the omnibus, because the lowrolling resistanceof metal wheels onironorsteelrails(usuallygroovedfrom 1852 on) allowed the animals to haul a greater load for a given effort than the omnibus, and gave a smoother ride. The horse-drawn streetcar combined the low cost, flexibility, and safety of animal power with the efficiency, smoothness, and all-weather capability of a rail track. Animal power at the time was seen as safer than steam power in that early locomotives frequently suffered fromboiler explosions.Rails were seen as all-weather because streets of the time might be poorly paved, or not paved at all, allowing wagon wheels to sink in mud during rain or snow.

History

Canada

In 1861,Toronto Street Railwayhorsecars replaced horse-drawn omnibuses as a public transit mode inToronto.Electric streetcars later replaced the horsecars between 1892 and 1894. The Toronto Street Railway created Toronto's unique broad gauge of4 ft10+7⁄8in(1,495 mm). The streets were unpaved, and astep railwas employed. The horsecars had flanged wheels and ran on the upper level of the step. Ordinary wagons and carriages ran on the broad lower step inside. This necessitated a wider gauge. This broadToronto gaugeis still used today by theToronto streetcar systemand three lines of theToronto subway.TheMetropolitan Street Railwayoperated a horsecar line in then-suburbanNorth Torontofrom 1885 until the line was electrified in 1890; this horsecar line also used Toronto gauge.

India

Main article:Trams in India

The first horse-drawn trams in India ran a 2.4-mile (3.9 km) distance betweenSealdahand Armenian Ghat Street on 24 February 1873. The service was discontinued on 20 November of that year.The Calcutta Tramway Company was formed and registered in London on 22 December 1880. Metre-gauge horse-drawn tram tracks were laid from Sealdah to Armenian Ghat via Bowbazar Street, Dalhousie Square and Strand Road. The route was inaugurated byViceroy Riponon 1 November 1880.In 1882, steam locomotives were deployed experimentally to haul tram cars. By the end of the 19th century the company owned 166 tram cars, 1000 horses, seven steam locomotives and 19 miles of tram tracks.In 1900, electrification of the tramway and reconstruction of its tracks to4 ft8+1⁄2in(1,435 mm) (standard gauge) began.In 1902, the first electric tramcar in India ran fromEsplanadetoKidderporeon 27 March and on 14 June from Esplanade toKalighat.

The Bombay Tramway Company was set up in 1873. After a contract was signed between the Bombay Tramway Company, the municipality and the Stearns and Kitteredge company, the Bombay Presidency enacted the Bombay Tramways Act, 1874 licensing the company to run a horsecar tram service in the city.On 9 May 1874 the first horse-drawn carriage made its début in the city, plying theColaba–PydhoneviaCrawford Market,andBori BundertoPydhonieviaKalbadeviroutes. The initial fare was threeannas(15paisepre-decimalisation), and no tickets were issued. As the service became increasingly popular, the fare was reduced to two annas (10 pre-decimalisation paise). Later that year, tickets were issued to curb increasing ticket-less travel.Stearns and Kitteredge reportedly had a stable of 1,360 horses over the lifetime of the service.

United Kingdom

London Tramways two-horse tram, about 1890.

The first tram services in the world were started by theSwansea and Mumbles RailwayinWales,using specially designed carriages on an existing tramline built forhorse-drawn freight dandies.Fare-paying passengers were carried on a line betweenOystermouth,MumblesandSwansea Docksfrom 1807. TheGloucester and Cheltenham Tramroad(1809) carried passengers although its main purpose was freight.

In spite of its early start, it took many years for horse-drawn streetcars to become widely acceptable across Britain; the AmericanGeorge Francis Trainfirst introduced them toBirkenhead Corporation Tramways' predecessor inBirkenheadin 1860 but was jailed for "breaking and injuring" the highway when he next tried to lay the first tram tracks on the roads ofLondon.An1870 Act of Parliamentovercame these legal obstacles by defining responsibilities and for the next three decades manylocal tramway companieswere founded, using horse-drawn carriages, until replaced bycable,steam or electric traction. Many companies adopted a design of a partly encloseddouble-deckercarriage hauled by two horses. The last horse-drawn tram was retired from London in 1915. Horses continued to be used for light shunting well into the 20th century. The last horse used for shunting on British Railways was retired on21 February 1967inNewmarket, Suffolk.

United States

In theUnited Statesthe very first streetcar appeared in New Orleans in 1832, operated by thePontchartrain RailroadCompany, followed by those in 1832 on theNew York and Harlem RailroadinNew York City.The latter cars were designed byJohn StephensonofNew Rochelle, New York,and constructed at hiscompanyin New York City. The earliest streetcars used horses and sometimes mules, usually two as a team, to haul the cars. Rarely, other animals were tried, including humans in emergency circumstances. By the mid-1880s, there were 415 street railway companies in the US operating over 6,000 miles (9,700 km) of track and carrying 188 million passengers per year using horsecars. By 1890 New Yorkers took 297 horsecar rides per capita per year. The average street car horse had a life expectancy of about two years.

Elsewhere

Several horsecar lines still operate in the Yucatán, like this one atHacienda San Nicolás Dzoyaxché.

The first horse-drawn rail cars on theContinental Europewere operated from 1828 by theČeské Budějovice - Linz railway.Europe saw a proliferation of horsecar use for new tram services from the mid-1860s, withmany townsbuilding new networks.

Tropical plantations (for products such ashenequenandbananas) made extensive use of animal-powered trams for both passengers and freight, often employing theDecauvillenarrow-gaugeportable track system. In some cases these systems were very extensive and evolved intointerurbantram networks (as in theYucatan,which sported over 3,000 kilometers (1,900 mi) of such lines). Surviving examples may be found in bothBraziland the Yucatán,and some examples in the latter still use horsecars.

Decline

Problems with horsecars included the fact that any given animal could only work so many hours on a given day, had to be housed, groomed, fed and cared for day in and day out, and produced prodigious amounts of manure,which the streetcar company was charged with storing and then disposing. Since a typical horse pulled a streetcar for about a dozen miles (19 km) a day and worked for four or five hours, many systems needed ten or more horses in stable for each horsecar.

Horsecars were largely replaced by electric-poweredstreetcarsfollowing the invention byFrank J. Spragueof an overhead trolley system on streetcars for collecting electricity fromoverhead wires.His spring-loadedtrolley poleused a wheel to travel along the wire. In late 1887 and early 1888, using his trolley system, Sprague installed the first successful large electric street railway system inRichmond, Virginia. Long a transportation obstacle, the hills of Richmond included grades of over 10%, and were an excellent proving ground for acceptance of the new technology in other cities. Within a year, the economy of electric power had replaced more costly horsecars in many cities. By 1889, 110 electric railways incorporating Sprague's equipment had been begun or planned on several continents.

Many large metropolitan lines lasted well into the early twentieth century.New York Cityhad a regular horsecar service on theBleecker Street Lineuntil its closure in 1917.Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,had its Sarah Street line drawn by horses until 1923. The last regular mule-drawn cars in the US ran inSulphur Rock, Arkansas,until 1926 and were commemorated by aU.S. postage stampissued in 1983. Toronto's horse-drawn streetcar operations ended in 1891.In other countries animal-powered tram services often continued well into the 20th century; the last mule tram service inMexico Cityended in 1932, and a mule tram inCelaya, Mexico,survived until 1954.

Operational horsecars

A few original horsecar lines have survived or have been revived as tourist attractions, and in recent years several replica horsecar lines have been built. Below is a list of locations around the world with operational horsecars that are open to the public.

Location	Image	Coordinates	Location	Country	Track gauge	Year originally built	Notes
Cuzamá Cenote Tours		20.719964°N 89.383439°W/20.719964; -89.383439(Cuzamá Cenote Tours)	Cuzamá Municipality,Yucatán	Mexico	500 mm(19+3⁄4in)	After 1875	Two competing horsecar services use the same stretch of track leading to thecenotes,with one service originating from a branch ending in the southern outskirts ofCuzamá,and the other from a branch ending a short distance further south in Chunkanán.
Döbeln Tramway		51.119467°N 13.119690°E/51.119467; 13.119690(Döbeln Tramway)	Döbeln,Saxony	Germany	1,000 mm(3 ft3+3⁄8in)metre gauge	1892
Douglas Bay Horse Tramway		54.167378°N 4.460777°W/54.167378; -4.460777(Douglas Bay Horse Tramway)	Douglas	Isle of Man	3 ft(914 mm)	1876
Ghora Tram		31.450257°N 73.563902°E/31.450257; 73.563902(Ghora Tram)	Ghangha Pur,Punjab	Pakistan	2 ft(610 mm)	1898
Hacienda San Nicolás Dzoyaxché		20.788693°N 89.590334°W/20.788693; -89.590334(Hacienda San Nicolás Dzoyaxché)	Mérida Municipality,Yucatán	Mexico	500 mm(19+3⁄4in)	After 1875
Hacienda Sotuta de Peón		20.742847°N 89.573903°W/20.742847; -89.573903(Hacienda Sotuta de Peón)	Tecoh Municipality,Yucatán	Mexico	500 mm(19+3⁄4in)	After 1875
Historical Village of Hokkaido		43.044230°N 141.499428°E/43.044230; 141.499428(Historical Village of Hokkaido)	Sapporo,Hokkaido	Japan	2 ft 6 in(762 mm)	1983
Horse-Drawn Streetcars (Disneyland Park (Paris))		48.871276°N 2.779073°E/48.871276; 2.779073(Horse-Drawn Streetcars (Disneyland Park (Paris)))	Marne-la-Vallée,Île-de-France	France	3 ft(914 mm)	1992	Located inDisneyland Paris.
Kerschbaum Horse-Drawn Railway		48.584936°N 14.470366°E/48.584936; 14.470366(Pferdeeisenbahn (Kerschbaum))	Rainbach im Mühlkreis,Upper Austria	Austria	1,106 mm(3 ft7+1⁄2in)	1828	Reconstructed portion of theBudweis-Linz-GmundenHorse Railway, the first railway line inContinental Europeto carry passengers.
Koiwai Farm		39.753788°N 141.020163°E/39.753788; 141.020163(Koiwai Farm)	Shizukuishi,Iwate	Japan	3 ft(914 mm)	1904
Main Street Vehicles (Disneyland)		33.810506°N 117.919564°W/33.810506; -117.919564(Main Street Vehicles (Disneyland))	Anaheim,California	US	3 ft(914 mm)	1955	Located in theDisneyland Resort.
Main Street Vehicles (Magic Kingdom)		28.417105°N 81.581644°W/28.417105; -81.581644(Main Street Vehicles (Magic Kingdom))	Bay Lake,Florida	US	3 ft(914 mm)	1971	Located inWalt Disney World.
Mrozy Horse Tram		52.162412°N 21.806021°E/52.162412; 21.806021(Mrozy Horse Tram)	Mrozy,Masovian Voivodeship	Poland	1,000 mm(3 ft3+3⁄8in)metre gauge	1908
Rösslitram		47.223456°N 8.822244°E/47.223456; 8.822244(Rösslitram)	Rapperswil,St. Gallen	Switzerland	2 ft(610 mm)	1962	Located inKnie's Kinderzoo.
Spiekeroog Museum Horse-Drawn Tram		53.769413°N 7.689123°E/53.769413; 7.689123(Spiekeroog Museum Horse-Drawn Tram)	Spiekeroog,Lower Saxony	Germany	1,000 mm(3 ft3+3⁄8in)metre gauge	1885
Victor Harbor Horse Drawn Tram		35.556095°S 138.624294°E/-35.556095; 138.624294(Victor Harbor Horse Drawn Tram)	Victor Harbor,South Australia	Australia	5 ft 3 in(1,600 mm)	1864

See also

• Cable car (railway)
• Carville (San Francisco)
• Dandy waggon
• Hay Railway
• List of horse-drawn railways
• Omaha Horse Railway
• Rail transport in Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
• Slate waggon
• Trolley (horse-drawn)
• Wagonway(horse-drawn railways)

External links

• The oldest surviving horse drawn tramway operating in Douglas on the Isle of Man

• Colombia's horsecar history and restoration processArchived2018-06-30 at theWayback Machine
• History of Columbus, Ohio horsecar lines from 1863 to 1892
• Pennsylvania Trolley Museum
• Reader's Companion to American History, Public Transportation: the Horsecar
• Trolleys: The Cars That Built Our Citiesby Transit Gloria MundiArchived2021-02-11 at theWayback Machine