Horse trams in Adelaide

Horse trams in Adelaide

Horse tram no. 18 of the Adelaide & Suburban Tramway Company, now at the Tramway Museum, St Kilda. Built by the John Stephenson Company of New York, it was one of the first trams ordered for Adelaide's new services.
Operation
LocaleAdelaide, South Australia
StatusKey dates:
  • 1878–1907: Owned by private companies.
  • 1907: Assets of most companies sold to SA Government.
  • 1907–1917: Municipal Tramways Trust starts up; runs horse trams while electrifying between 1909 and 1917.
  • 1914: MTT's horse tram services cease except for the isolated Port Adelaide lines.
  • 1917: Last MTT horse tram service ceases at Port Adelaide.
Routes
Adelaide's horse tramway routes at their maximum extent, in the 1900s (click map to enlarge).
Operator(s)
  • Until 1907: private companies
    (11 eventually)
  • 1907–1917: Municipal Tramways Trust while electrification was introduced
Infrastructure
Track gauge1435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in),
except one line of 1600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Propulsion system(s)Usually two horses, sometimes three
Depot(s)19 company depots
Stock162 cars and 1056 horses in 1907
Statistics
Track length (total)119 km (74 mi) by 1901; double track nearer the city, mainly single with passing loops further out.

This article – one of several about Adelaide’s tramways – covers the three decades before the 1910s when horses provided the motive power for all trams over a 74 miles (120 kilometres) network. Links to an overview and other articles are in the following panel.

Links to other articles
about trams in Adelaide
The article you are reading concerns horse trams in South Australia's capital city.

The overview article about Adelaide's trams is Trams  in Adelaide.

Other articles are:

A related article is Tramway Museum, St Kilda. The museum's collection, much of it operational, includes almost every type of tram that ran in Adelaide in the 20th century.