Horse-drawn railway

File:Namaqualand Railway mule train.jpg

Namaqualand Railway mule train, c. 1876

Horse-drawn railways were used before the advent of steam locomotive traction, which gradually superseded them in most instances.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
• 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)
• Patent (1838–1844) G. Peppercorne
• Leith and Musselburgh Tramway(1841– )

1850

• Fintona Railway, Ireland (1853–1957) 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) gauge.
• Goolwa Port Elliot Railway (1854–); used up to 16 horses 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) gauge
• Newquay Railway (1855–) clay mining
• Nelson, New Zealand (1861-____)
• Dun Mountain Railway (1861–1901) 914 mm (3 ft)
• Wallaroo (port) to Moonta (mines) – tramway (1862–1890+)
• Port Macdonnell to Mount Gambier – proposal
• 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) ; locomotives proposed in 1906
• Namaqualand Railway 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge opened 1869-1876; steam followed gradually.
• Kailan – Lutai Canal (1878–1881) ; mule-drawn for coal

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 Tramway (1889–193x)
• Bärschwil gypsum railway (1894–1952)
• 1905–1941 Welshpool Jetty line 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge

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• Finton Tramway, Ireland 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) (????-1957)
• Kingston (port) Naracoorte
• Gawler
• Moonta

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.

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.

Horse shunting

Horses continued to be used for light shunting well into the 20th century. Charlie, the last horse used for shunting on British Railways, was retired on 21 February 1967, at Newmarket, Suffolk.

Horses have several advantages for this purpose:

• 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
• Rail transport in South Australia
• Corduroy road