Bart Bear's Blog

Here's a tram with a difference. Back in the days before electricity most trams were hauled by horses. This one still works that way. It runs between Victor Harbour and Granite Island in South Australia. I always wanted to drive a horse so I got talking with the driver and the cute conductor. They let me be back brakeman on the way over to Granite Island. It is really difficult to turn the brake handle while you are sitting on it, but I had to manage it because if the tram went too fast on one of the gentle down slopes it would run into the rear of the horse. I did such a good job of it that they let me drive on the way back to Victor. This was even harder as I had to work the front brake and handle the reins as well. At least on trams you don't have to steer, particularly as the horse, called Tom, had done the trip so many times that he just plodded along between the tracks and trusted the brakemen to keep the tram from clobbering him. Most of the passengers didn't even realize that they were in the hands of a skillful small bear.

Labels: South Australia, tram