Horse-drawn railway

Horse-drawn railways were used before the advent of steam locomotive traction, which gradually superseded them in most instances.

Examples

Examples include:

1800

• Swansea and Mumbles Railway (1804–1877) ; later electrified ^[1][2]

• Leiper Railroad (1810–1828)
• Brinore Tramroad (1814–1861)
• Blaafarveværket (c. 1820s), Norway
• Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway (1823–1888, 1860) 4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm) gauge
• Stockton and Darlington Railway operated with both horses and engines for a while. (1825–1833)
• Granite Railroad (1826–1871) 1,524 mm (5 ft)
• France (1827– ) Saint-Étienne to Andrézieux Railway
• Czech rail records (1828–) 1,106 mm (3 ft 7 ¹⁄₂ in) gauge
• Port Arthur, Tasmania Tramway (1836– ) convict (human) powered
• Festiniog Railway (1836–1863)^[3]
• Patent (1838–1844) G. Peppercorne^[4]
• Leith and Musselburg Tramway(1841– )^[5]

1850

• Fintona Railway, Ireland (1853–1957) 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) gauge.^[6]

• Goolwa Port Elliot Railway (1854–); used up to 16 horses^[7] 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) gauge

• Newquay Railway (1855–) clay mining

• Nelson, New Zealand (1861-____)^[8]

• Dun Mountain Railway (1861–1901) 914 mm (3 ft)

• Wallaroo (port) to Moonta (mines) - tramway (1862–1890+)^[9][10]

• Port Macdonnell to Mount Gambier - proposal ^[11]

• Omaha Horse Railway (1867– )

• Port Wakefield Railway (1870–1876) 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge. Converted to locomotive haulage.

• Narracoorte to Lacepede Bay (1871) 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)

• Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia, Chile (1873–1876) - mule-drawn - 762 mm (2 ft 6 in)

• Port Broughton (1876–1926) always isolated; 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)

• Namaqualand Railway 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge opened 1876; steam followed quickly.

• Kailan - Lutai Canal (1878–1881) ; mule-drawn for coal ^[12]

1880

• Horse Tramways in Fiji (1884–) 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge and 610 mm (2 ft) gauge. Some assisted by manpower. Cane tramways.

• McKenzie Creek Tramway, Horsham, Victoria - Shire-operated, 8 km long - (1887–1925)
• Nasik (1889–193x)
• Bärschwil gypsum railway (1894–1952)
• 1905–1941 Welshpool Jetty line 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge

• Finton Tramway, Ireland 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) (????-1957)^[13]
• Kingston (port) Naracoorte^[14]

• Gawler^[15]

• Moonta^[16]

Proposed

The Governor of New South Wales and the Railways Engineer John Whitton fought a long battle in the 1860s over the introduction of horse-drawn railways and the narrow gauge, at least for lightly used branch lines; neither were never introduced. Comparative costs were prepared.^[17]

Gauge

In a debate in the South Australian Parliament in 1876, it was observed that while the wider 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) and 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) gauges allowed for 2 horses side by side, the narrower 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge did not.^[18]

Horse shunting

Horses continued to be used for light shunting well into the 20th century.

Horses have several advantages for this purpose:^[19]

• cheap
• could easily move from track to track
• no warm-up time like a steam locomotive
• they can learn to obey instructions

Disadvantages of horses include:

• they may be spooked and bolt.
• they may trip and fall and get injured or killed.

See also

• Rail gauge^[20]
• Rail transport in South Australia
• Corduroy road

References