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| Frank Rowsome, Trolley car Treasury, Bonanza Books, 1956 |
The Ontario and San Antonio Heights street railway line near San Bernardino, California ran uphill, so once the top of the hill was reached, the mule team was loaded on their own trailer for the ride back down. I wonder how much training that took. I suspect food was involved.
6 comments:
Mr. G, would it be okay for me to post an alternative caption here? It is purely fictional and mildly funny (I hope). It runs to 170 words and contains bad language. Thanks for the swell photograph.
James
Sure! Go ahead!
Thank you. Here goes, then.
Evolution of the Modern Trolley Car (1948), p. 168
" ... [S]everal versions of the O.&S.A.'s trolley were built as 'rolling research-and-development workshops.' Development of the Model 18, shown here, was abandoned following a public outcry that arose when the prototype was tested on city streets. Citizens commended O.&S.A. for its gestures toward the humane treatment of mules, but noted angrily that no provision had been made for preventing the animals from getting rained on. O.&S.A. director Guy de Grootie finessed the company's response, noting that the tests had, anyway, revealed a fundamental design flaw: 'Well who is supposed to pull the fucking trolley, then, eh?' he wrote in the Toronto Globe and Mule. 'The customers? I fucking think not. The mules? Shit. They prefer to remain on their little platform. The buggers ran away when invited to pitch in.'"
...
"Note that at more than 2,700km from the terminal to the end of the line, the Ontario & San Antonio offered what was in its time the longest single-fare international commute that a person could undertake via public transport."
And now for the rest of the story....
The obituary for the mule Sanky on the front page of the Ontario Daily Report of 6 February 1914 was under the headline, “Mule, Figure in Early History of Ontario, is Dead.” It mentioned that in 1895, Sanky and his partner Moody were sold to farmer C.B. Adams in San Antonio Heights after the inauguration of the electric tram had made them obsolete. Ranch work was apparently far below their dignity and when hitched to a harrow, they persistently refused to budge, and coaxing and force were equally without effect. The farmer had to motivate them by attaching a bell from the old rail car to his harrow. With the familiar signal, the mules started valiantly up the orchard, but at the head of the orchard, Moody and Sanky persisted in attempting to climb onto the harrow for the downward journey, said the obituary. It took weeks before the pair could be trained to plow in both directions.
Though the original plan was to run from Ontario Canada, logistics (one way mules) soon dictated that some R&D be done to move Ontario nearer to San antonio Heights. The Ontario Model Colony development was established in 1882 by the Canadian engineer George Chaffey and his brothers William and Charles. (Wikipedia). They named the settlement after their home province of Ontario.
Youall are brilliant! (Me too, of course; perhaps most of all.)
James
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