Victor Harbor Tram

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The horse-drawn tram with a heavy Clydesdale draft horse
View of the 630 meter long wooden bridge from Granite Island
Route on the island, in the background the long wooden bridge
The horse tram on the pier to Granite Island
A deck seat car in detail

The Victor Harbor Tram ( English : Victor Harbor Horse Drawn Tram or Victor Harbor Horse Tram ) is a broad-gauge horse tram in Victor Harbor in the Australian state of South Australia . It was originally in operation from 1894 to 1956 and was reopened in 1986 with replicas of the original vehicles on the largely preserved old route . It is one of the few remaining horse trams in the world and is still in daily use.

history

The railway was opened in 1894 with a gauge of 1,600 millimeters ( Irish gauge ) to connect downtown Victor Harbor via a pier with Granite Island in the southeast. There are still some upstream jetties there , so that reliable and comfortable public transport was required. In the British - Victorian style of the time, the tram was equipped with large two - axle deck seat cars that were pulled by one (or rarely two) horses .

After more than half a century of successful operation, the tram was shut down in 1956 after shipping to Granite Island lost its importance and passenger numbers declined. This made the Victor Harbor Horse Drawn Tram, with 62 years of operation, one of the longest-lived horse trams ever, but in the 1950s, despite its consistently good condition, looked out of date. While the horses were sold and the vehicles scrapped, the old route including the Vignole rails was largely preserved.

In the late 1970s, a possible reopening as a tourist attraction was discussed for the first time. Voices also increased who wanted to see the horse-drawn tramway, which used to be nationally known, as a local landmark and regular public transport back in operation. After years of negotiations, the city of Victor Harbor finally agreed when private investors also took part in the project to reactivate the tram, so that the tram could be reopened after 30 years.

Since September 1986 it has been operating with exact replicas of the original vehicles from the visitor information center in the center of Victor Harbor over the 630-meter-long wooden pier called the “ Causeway ” to nearby Granite Island, about half of the drive being made up of the pier. On vehicles four deck passenger coaches are present, each from one of the existing eight heavy Clydesdale - cold-blooded animals are drawn.

See also

Web links

Commons : Victor Harbor Horse Drawn Tram  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Victor Harbor Horse Tram , GG Harris, Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin , May 1972, pp. 97-101 ff.
  2. ^ Victor Harbor Horse Trams Return , Kim Bird, Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin , September 1986, pp. 207-211 ff.

Coordinates: 35 ° 33 ′ 38.2 ″  S , 138 ° 37 ′ 39.7 ″  E