Historical train question

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know about 19th century "cattle travel" on trains? I mean, if one was traveling by train but wanted to take a horse along, how would that work? Where would all the gear be stowed? Did the trains stop to water/feed the horses? Were there "stalls" in there, or just all the horses put together?

[wjstix]

Some railroads did have horse cars - essentially baggage cars with larger doors - with stalls inside. Generally the only horses that rode that way were racehorses, because it was rather expensive.

Here in Minnesota at the start of logging season (i.e. beginning of winter) a train would collect loggers and their work horses and take them together to the logging camp. The horses rode in stock cars, generally I don't think the trip was long enough to have to stop for food or water, but I'm sure if need by they could. (Many loggers were farmers in the summer, and by taking their workhorses with them to the logging camp, they could get a much better paying job as a teamster rather than a general logger.) 

Generally if you were say a cowboy going from one job to another and it was far enough you had to travel by train (rather than by your horse) you would sell your horse and take your saddle with you to the new job. But then, most cowboys didn't own their own horses.  

[Lost World]

The answer to your question is the baggage car, pretty much. Like the previous responder said, only racehorses or other valuable livestock traveled in special horse cars, and there were very few of those around in the nineteenth century...Reason being that horse racing was still a very localized sport at the time--most racehorses were walked or ridden to other tracks, which usually weren't far away. So in the nineteenth century it would have been the baggage car, or a cattle car if multiple horses were being shipped in one train. In the latter case they would have to have been fed and watered at specific intervals, probably during water stops.

[West Coast S]

Back in the day, the Pacific Electric moved horsecars to and from the Santa Anita racetrack, boxmotors or steeple cab electrics were the normal power, but leased SP steam was not uncommon during motive power shortages. SP simply reclassified these cars as three door baggage cars when no longer needed for horse service, many survived into the seventies on the maintaince of way rosters, Likewise the Santa Fe forwarded cars to Del Mar.

Dave

[Lost World]

Google C&O, horse, car.  This will take you to an article written three years ago in the C&O HS magazine about the C&O's horse cars and the way valuable animals were shipped in the mid-20th century.

[passengerfan]

 Not only did race horses travel in specially eqquipped Baggage cars but prize bulls often traveled by train for breeding purposes. Prize Bulls were treated like royalty by the Railroads as they were more costly to ship then race horses as they required more care in route.Today only the Bull semen is shipped by Plane.