SC Rewind: Horse Transport (Pt. 2)

In this week's Rewind, Robert Smith turns the clock back many years and discusses the evolution of horse hauling vehicles and modes of transporting horses. He has also included a number of old photos of vehicles from days gone by. This is the second and concluding edition of a two-part story.

Today's Rewind is again about horse hauling vehicles but with more emphasis on commercial vehicles including movement by railcar and later truck transport.

Horses shown getting ready for rail shipment in the early days.

For many years horses were moved about by means of rail cars and even by steamship. This was a difficult and sometimes cumbersome way of transporting horses as well as being time consuming but it was the best means available. Handlers frequently rode on the rail cars with the horses and that of course was quite an experience. I recall talking to the late Mervin Kirkness about his experiences riding the rails with horses and equipment all the way from Manitoba to tracks in Quebec. He said that the grooms had mattresses in place but seldom had a smooth enough ride to ever use them.

An old time scene showing horses being staged for rail shipment. These vehicles were quite small and compact and each one included a loading ramp which was an improvement from the very early versions. (Photo courtesy of Museum Of The Horse)

In researching for this story I read another story about the railcar days and how difficult it was to get food while travelling long distances with infrequent stops. The following passage was written by Ken McCarr in the Harness Horsemagazine in a 1971 article.

"The inability to get to restaurants during the freight rides caused some of the grooms to be resourceful. On one instant there is a remembrance of a groom jumping out of the door with a handful of straw. He lit it and then reached in for a frying pan in which he had broken two eggs. This was just a whistle stop so he had to work in a hurry and he held the frying pan over the fire until the train started and then ran for his car with his eggs, which were ready to eat."

The following is an excerpt from an article published in Jan. 1978 in Hoof Beats authored by Joe Goldstein:

The Grand Circuit got underway in 1873 and at this time the race horses were still most often driven from race point to race point. Only a few horses, belonging to the very wealthy, were shipped then by rail. Shortly afterwards, when railroad shipment had become thoroughly organized and rates reduced, a Master of Transportation was appointed by the Grand Circuit Stewards, whose duty it was to superintend the shipments, sometimes by special train, "along the line," throughout the season.
The advent of the motor truck ended this, as its greater flexibility as a vehicle, together with the fact that no precise timetables were necessary, made its use preferable. The first shipment of harness horses by truck is believed to have been made in 1910 for a short run in Ohio. Now our racing stock is trucked — or vanned — from ocean to ocean and air-transport has been introduced.
However, all but the longest journeys are now made by motor van or the "possum bellies" as the horsemen call the cavernous trailers which haul their race horses. The horse trailer has the obvious superiority in convenience and accessibility to sales, racetracks, and training centers. It also has been a safer form of transportation than rail. In the early days of railroading many accidents occurred in which the careers of some of the best horses in training were ended. This was the fate of Lady Thorn (2:18 1/4) when she was the "Queen of the Turf" in 1870. Lack of reasonable sanitation facilities on freight and express cars also cost the lives of many through the contraction of contagious diseases. Among these victims was Hamburg Belle (2:01 1/4).

An ad for Strang Transport operating out of Brooklyn, N.Y. This gentleman who owned standardbreds was believed to be among the first people to offer commercial hauling of horses

It is not known for sure who developed the first horse van. Bill Strang, the late Brooklyn horseman, who owned the first Hambletonian winner, Guy McKinney and the 1951 Kentucky Futurity winner Ford Hanover, believes he was the originator of the motor van for horses. Strang was in the furniture business in Brooklyn and he recalls utilizing a furniture van, by the addition of stalls, for transporting horses before anyone else.

The above ad dates back to the early days of horse transportation. Was there always someone named "Smith" who got involved in just about everything?

A Great Picture And Story

The above photo was taken during Grand Circuit Week in 1934 at Thorncliffe Park in Toronto. This was a huge event for Canadian harness racing. Many U.S. Stables shipped in for the meeting, mainly by rail. A smaller number of Canadian horses competed as well, most traveled by truck or trailer. The unit shown above belonged to Dr. W.N. Meldrum a medical doctor from Norwich, Ont. At that time the Meldrum stable included a number of top performing individuals topped by Dillon Mc and Sir Esme, both U.S. bred and brought to Canada.

On the left is Norman Meldrum, head trainer for his father's outfit and on the right is "Mose" Farrell, a barber from Norwich. Legend has it that times were extremely tough and barbering in Norwich was not a lucrative occupation at that time so Mr. Farrell headed to Toronto for the week and ended up cutting many heads for the princely sum of 10 cents each, considering himself very fortunate. While the trailer was used for transporting the horses, once on site it was swept and hosed out and converted to living quarters for members of the Meldrum contingent. I am not an old car buff but I would love to know what kind of car that is in the picture.

I am indebted to Leon Siple who supplied this picture from his father's collection and also for telling me the story.

Modern Day Vehicles

In the two Rewinds dedicated to looking at the evolution of horse hauling vehicles, photographs of the progress made in the last 100+ years has been in evidence. Below I will show what might be considered a few very modern vehicles. I would like to thank Pat at Doyle Transport located in Dundas Ontario for supplying these great photos.

Here is an early vehicle from the fleet of Doyle Transport (Courtesy of Doyle Transport)

This streamlined rig is owned and operated by Doyle Transport of Dundas Ont. and contains just about all of the "bells and whistles" available in the latest horse hauling vehicles (Courtesy of Doyle Transport)

Quote For The Week: "Worry is the dark room where negatives develop."

Who Is It?

Can you name this well-known horseman? I can almost smell that stogie!

Whose horse truck is it?

Can you identify this horse truck that was used for many years by a well-known harness racing family in Ontario? Photo taken in 1958. Members of this family are still hauling horses but have undoubtedly replaced this vehicle.