Horses switching cars

Very interesting.  I learned something new today.  Thanks FIREWOOD.

Haven't seen a photo, but I would bet that the small grain elevators around here ended up using horses a few times to pull the boxcars forward when loading wheat.  I do have photos of them using tractors to do that now.

Kent in SD

That was interesting, thanks for posting. 

A horse switcher from Cadillac, MI. 

http://www.wexfordcountyhistor...otos/?gal=19&ts=

Firewood - Nice thread!  I think the folks on the Switcher Saturday thread will enjoy your photos and video.  Tomorrow is the SS two year anniversary your topic would be welcomed there for sure!  

Thanks for sharing!

Horse team moving a boxcar in Lawrence, Mass.

http://chace.athm.org/singleDisplay.php?kv=4048

Great idea for a topic, Firewood.  I hope others will find additional information and photos to post.  The horse in the video looked really well cared for.

TRRR

This is a GREAT thread!  Thanks Firewood!  I own a small farm in central NJ.  I named it All Aboard Farm because of the carriage horses I own and my love of model trains.  I learned something new when I saw the first photo of the 1 horse power switcher.  It made my day!

Ultimately the iron horse replaced the horse, bitter sweat for me.  But I can honestly say I never get tired of being around the horses or seeing live steam whenever I have the opportunity.  My place is located between the Black River and Western Railroad and the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad.  Both run steam.  Some nights when I am feeding the horses I can hear the steam whistle from old #40.  It's a neat feeling to when you think this is what it was like 100 years ago.

Tony

Tony_V posted:

This is a GREAT thread!  Thanks Firewood!  I own a small farm in central NJ.  I named it All Aboard Farm because of the carriage horses I own and my love of model trains.  I learned something new when I saw the first photo of the 1 horse power switcher.  It made my day!

Ultimately the iron horse replaced the horse, bitter sweat for me.  But I can honestly say I never get tired of being around the horses or seeing live steam whenever I have the opportunity.  My place is located between the Black River and Western Railroad and the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad.  Both run steam.  Some nights when I am feeding the horses I can hear the steam whistle from old #40.  It's a neat feeling to when you think this is what it was like 100 years ago.

Tony

I'm glad you're enjoying it! I grew up among my area's last horse ploughmen, but there were still a lot of horse loggers around. Charlie the shunting horse himself retired in 1967 (!)

http://s866.photobucket.com/us...20h54m23s94.png.html

These steel 4-wheel cars were usually around 16 tons loaded.

A three-horse multiple unit on a Centerville, CA narrow gauge mixed train. I think we can actually get away with calling it a lash-up.....   http://www.nilesdepot.org/centerville/horsecar.html

Quite a common thing in California, apparently: http://www.santacruztrains.com...ks-cpw-junction.html

When a mule train was a train - South Africa, 1870s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...ilway_mule_train.jpg

A one horsepower switcher. There's a prototype for everything.

We probably shouldn't forget the horse logging lines.

From the Sierra Nevada Logging Museum: 

And sometimes we see the opposite....from 2011: 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-13437279

Something like the old joke where a man is waiting by the elevator with a horse. Another guy walks up and says, "Surely you're not taking that horse up in the elevator!" to which the other guy sez, "For sure! The stairs will kill him!"

I thought this thread was about a horse who moved from the Pullman to the dining car.

Arthur P. Bloom posted:

I thought this thread was about a horse who moved from the Pullman to the dining car.

Might have been the one that passed on through to the bar car, but that's a horse of a different color.

Superb topic!  Love that Charlie the Shunting Horse lasted until 1967!!!

Now, If I get a horse puppet for my hand, which does a fair amount of switching on my pike.....

CRUEL