"Rapid Transit in San Diego": An original 1886 horse-drawn trolley and its driver participate in a parade celebrating the groundbreaking of the Panama-California Exposition Center in 1911.

A horsecar was an animal-powered streetcar (or tram). Image File history File links Size of this preview: 581 × 400 pixelsFull resolution (581 × 400 pixel, file size: 55 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)Rapid Transit in San Diego, 1886--Original Car and Driver Panama-California Exposition Ground-breaking parade, 1911. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 581 × 400 pixelsFull resolution (581 × 400 pixel, file size: 55 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)Rapid Transit in San Diego, 1886--Original Car and Driver Panama-California Exposition Ground-breaking parade, 1911. ... The Panama-California Exposition was an exposition held in San Diego, California between January 1, 1915 and January 1, 1917. ... A CLRV Streetcar in the City of Toronto. ...

In the United States, during the 19th century, one of the earliest form of public transit to develop was the omnibus. These were local version of the stagecoach lines, and picked up and dropped off passengers on a regular route and without the need to be pre-hired. The omnibus was an improvement over walking. In the United States of America, transit describes local area common carrier passenger transportation configured to provide scheduled service on fixed routes on a non-reservation basis. ... An articulated bus operated by the CTA in Chicago, Illinois, USA. A Go North East Bus parked in a lay-by in Tyne and Wear, England A bus is a large road vehicle intended to carry numerous persons in addition to the driver and sometimes a conductor. ... Stagecoach in Switzerland A stagecoach is a type of four-wheeled enclosed passenger and/or mail coach, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, widely used before the introduction of railway transport. ...

The first streetcar lines used horsecars and were an improvement over transportation by omnibus. One of the advantages was the low rolling resistance of metal wheels on iron or steel rails (usually grooved from 1852 on), allowing the animals to haul a greater load for a given effort over the omnibus. 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 right-of-way. Rolling resistance, sometimes called rolling friction, is the resistance that occurs when an object (e. ... Rail tracks. ... Light rail tracks with concrete railroad ties. ... A CLRV Streetcar in the City of Toronto. ...

Some of the earliest streetcars appeared in Baltimore, Maryland in 1828 and in New York City in 1832. These streetcars used horses and sometimes mules to haul the cars, usually two as a team. Rarely, other animals were tried, including humans in emergency circumstances. By the mid 1880s, there were 415 street railway companies in the United States operating over 6000 miles of track and carrying 188 million passengers per year using horsecars. Nickname: Monument City, Charm City, Mob Town[1][2], B-more Motto: The Greatest City in America,[3] Get in on it. ... New York, NY redirects here. ...

A horsecar in Długi Targ (Long Market) Gdańsk, Poland.

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 of. Since a typical horse pulled a streetcar for perhaps a dozen miles a day and worked for four or five hours, many systems needed ten or more horses in stable for each horsecar. Image File history File links Gdansk_tramwaj_konny. ... Image File history File links Gdansk_tramwaj_konny. ... Gdańsk (IPA: ; German: , Kashubian: , Late Latin: ; older English Dantzig; also other languages) is Polands sixth-largest city, and also her principal seaport and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. ...

Horsecars were largely replaced by electric-powered streetcars following the invention by Frank J. Sprague of an overhead trolley system on streetcars for collecting electricity from overhead wires. His spring-loaded trolley pole used 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 in Richmond, Virginia. A CLRV Streetcar in the City of Toronto. ... Frank Julian Sprague (1857-1934) American inventor, Father of Electric Traction Frank Julian Sprague (1857–1934) was an American naval officer and inventor who contributed to the development of the electric motor, electric railways, and electric elevators. ... An electric multiple unit pulling into Tile Hill station; Coventry, England. ... Trolley poles are usually tapered cylindrical poles of wood or metal, used to transfer electricity from a live overhead wire to the control and propulsion equipment of a trolley car, tram or trolley bus. ... Nickname: Motto: Sic Itur Ad Astra (Thus do we reach the stars) Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia Coordinates: Country United States State Virginia County Independent City Government  - Mayor L. Douglas Wilder (I) Area  - City 62. ...

A busy horsecar hub at Dam Square in Amsterdam, circa 1900.

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. By the turn of the century, there were almost no horsecars left in the USA. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1293x946, 1128 KB) Amsterdam: Paleis op de Dam, Palace on the Dam, between 1890 and 1900. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1293x946, 1128 KB) Amsterdam: Paleis op de Dam, Palace on the Dam, between 1890 and 1900. ... National Monument, with the Hotel Krasnapolsky in the right background. ... Nickname: Motto: Heldhaftig, Vastberaden, Barmhartig (Valiant, Determined, Compassionate) Location of Amsterdam Coordinates: Country Netherlands Province North Holland Government  - Mayor Simon McAndrew (PvdA)  - Aldermen Lodewijk Asscher Hennah Buyne Carolien Gehrels Tjeerd Herrema Maarten van Poelgeest Marijke Vos  - Secretary Erik Gerritsen Area [1][2]  - City 219 km²  (84. ...

A horse tram in Douglas, Isle Of Man. The man standing on the stepboard is the conductor, who collects the fares.

Pittsburgh, PA had the last horsecar line in the US in regular service, where the Sarah Street line lasted until 1923. Other large metropolitan lines lasted well into the beginning of the twentieth century. Even New York City had regular horsecar service on the Bleecker Street Line until its closing in 1917. Toronto's horse drawn streetcar operations ended in 1891. In less developed countries, animal power tram service often continued well into the 20th century, for example, the last mule tram service in Mexico City ended in 1932, and a mule-powered line in Celaya, Mexico survived until 1954 [1]. The Douglas Bay Horse Tramway still operates as a tourist attraction in Douglas, Isle of Man, near a heritage steam railway and electric trams. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 571 pixelsFull resolution (1250 × 892 pixel, file size: 412 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A horse tram in Douglas, Isle Of Man. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 571 pixelsFull resolution (1250 × 892 pixel, file size: 412 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A horse tram in Douglas, Isle Of Man. ... New York, NY redirects here. ... The Bleecker Street Line was a public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, United States, running mostly along Bleecker Street, Crosby Street, and Lafayette Street from the West 14th Street Ferry in Chelsea to the Fulton Ferry in the Financial District. ... Nickname: Ciudad de los Palacios Location of Mexico City in central Mexico Coordinates: Country Mexico Federal entity Federal District Boroughs The 16 delegaciones Founded (as Tenochtitlan) c. ... Celaya is a city in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located at 20°52′N 100°82′W. It is the third most populous city in the state, with an estimated population of about 382,958 in 2000. ... The Douglas Bay Horse Tramway is a horse-drawn tramway located in the town of Douglas on the Isle of Man. ... Location within the British Isles Douglas (Doolish in Manx) is the capital of the Isle of Man (Ellan Vannin) and its largest town. ...

Replica horsecar lines are in operation at all Disney theme parks except Tokyo and Hong Kong as part of the parks' Main Street, U.S.A. "themed land". The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. ... Tokyo Disneyland ) is one of two theme parks in the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, near Tokyo. ... Main Street, USA, at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World Main Street, U.S.A. is the welcoming and entrance area of the many Disney Magic Kingdom-style parks around the world. ...

Plantation Animal Tramways

Tropical plantations (for products such as henequen and bananas) made extensive use of animal powered trams for both passengers and freight, often employing the Decauville narrow gauge portable track system, in some cases these systems were very extensive and evolved into interurban tram networks (as in the Yucatan, which sported over 3,000 kilometers of such lines). Surviving examples may be found in both the Yucatan [2] and Brazil [3]. Binomial name Agave fourcroydes Lem. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Name plate of the Decauville company Paul Decauville (1846-1922) was a French pioneer in light railways. ... Narrow-gauge railways are railroads (railways) with track spaced at less than the standard gauge of 4 ft 8 in (1. ... An interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a streetcar line running between urban areas or from urban to rural areas. ... The Yucatán Peninsula separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico. ...

External links

• "Douglas Bay Tramway on the Isle of Man"
• Trolleys: The Cars That Built Our Cities by Transit Gloria Mundi
• Reader's Companion to American History, Public Transportation: the Horsecar
• Colombia's horsecar history and restoration process
• History of Columbus, Ohio horsecar lines from 1863 to 1892
• "Pennsylvania Trolley Museum"