Horse-drawn railways. Horsepower in the past: the history of horse-drawn transport Horse road

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Horse (horse-drawn city railway) - a type of public transport that was widely used before the transition of the railway to steam, thermal, electric or cable traction. The most common area of ​​use for horse-drawn vehicles was urban transport; thus, the horsecar was the predecessor of the electric tram.

The horse-drawn carriage was an open or more often closed carriage, sometimes double-decker with an open top (imperial). The carriage was pulled along the rail tracks by a pair of horses driven by a coachman. In places where the horse-drawn lines crossed steep slopes, postilions (usually teenage boys) waited for the crews, who harnessed another 1-2 pairs of horses and helped them overcome the difficult place, then unharnessed additional horses on a flat area.

History of appearance and development

But the horse-drawn carriage did not survive in this form for long, since it soon became clear that for transportation over long distances, horse-drawn traction was slower, and the composition of the train was very limited. Therefore, the steam locomotive replaced horses on the railways quickly and everywhere.

see also

  • The Douglas Horse Tram is the last operating horse-drawn tram line in the world (operating until autumn 2015)

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Literature

  • Lev Uspensky. Notes of an old Petersburger. Lenizdat: 1970. (chapter “Horse Horse”).
  • Oleg Ushakov-Bogaevsky. City on the Midnight Grass Publishing House "GID" 2011 chapter "City Transport of Novocherkassk".

Links

  • Aleksushin G.V.

Excerpt characterizing Conca

The hussar cornet Zherkov at one time in St. Petersburg belonged to that violent society led by Dolokhov. Abroad, Zherkov met Dolokhov as a soldier, but did not consider it necessary to recognize him. Now, after Kutuzov’s conversation with the demoted man, he turned to him with the joy of an old friend:
- Dear friend, how are you? - he said at the sound of the song, matching the step of his horse with the step of the company.
- I am like? - Dolokhov answered coldly, - as you see.
The lively song gave particular significance to the tone of cheeky gaiety with which Zherkov spoke and the deliberate coldness of Dolokhov’s answers.
- Well, how do you get along with your boss? – asked Zherkov.
- Nothing, good people. How did you get into the headquarters?
- Seconded, on duty.
They were silent.
“She released a falcon from her right sleeve,” said the song, involuntarily arousing a cheerful, cheerful feeling. Their conversation would probably have been different if they had not spoken to the sound of a song.
– Is it true that the Austrians were beaten? – asked Dolokhov.
“The devil knows them,” they say.
“I’m glad,” Dolokhov answered briefly and clearly, as the song required.
“Well, come to us in the evening, you’ll pawn the Pharaoh,” said Zherkov.
– Or do you have a lot of money?
- Come.
- It is forbidden. I made a vow. I don’t drink or gamble until they make it.
- Well, on to the first thing...
- We'll see there.
Again they were silent.
“You come in if you need anything, everyone at headquarters will help...” said Zherkov.
Dolokhov grinned.
- You better not worry. I won’t ask for anything I need, I’ll take it myself.
- Well, I’m so...
- Well, so am I.
- Goodbye.
- Be healthy…
... and high and far,
On the home side...
Zherkov touched his spurs to the horse, which, getting excited, kicked three times, not knowing which one to start with, managed and galloped off, overtaking the company and catching up with the carriage, also to the beat of the song.

Returning from the review, Kutuzov, accompanied by the Austrian general, went into his office and, calling the adjutant, ordered to be given some papers related to the state of the arriving troops, and letters received from Archduke Ferdinand, who commanded the advanced army. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky entered the commander-in-chief's office with the required papers. Kutuzov and an Austrian member of the Gofkriegsrat sat in front of the plan laid out on the table.
“Ah...” said Kutuzov, looking back at Bolkonsky, as if with this word he was inviting the adjutant to wait, and continued the conversation he had begun in French.
“I’m just saying one thing, General,” Kutuzov said with a pleasant grace of expression and intonation, which forced you to listen carefully to every leisurely spoken word. It was clear that Kutuzov himself enjoyed listening to himself. “I only say one thing, General, that if the matter depended on my personal desire, then the will of His Majesty Emperor Franz would have been fulfilled long ago.” I would have joined the Archduke long ago. And believe my honor that for me personally to transfer the highest command of the army to a more knowledgeable and skilled general than me, of which Austria is so abundant, and to relinquish all this heavy responsibility would be a joy for me personally. But circumstances are stronger than us, General.
And Kutuzov smiled with an expression as if he was saying: “You have every right not to believe me, and even I don’t care at all whether you believe me or not, but you have no reason to tell me this. And that’s the whole point.”
The Austrian general looked dissatisfied, but could not help but respond to Kutuzov in the same tone.
“On the contrary,” he said in a grumpy and angry tone, so contrary to the flattering meaning of the words he spoke, “on the contrary, your Excellency’s participation in the common cause is highly valued by His Majesty; but we believe that the present slowdown deprives the glorious Russian troops and their commanders-in-chief of the laurels that they are accustomed to reaping in battles,” he finished his apparently prepared phrase.
Kutuzov bowed without changing his smile.
“And I am so convinced and, based on the last letter with which His Highness Archduke Ferdinand honored me, I assume that the Austrian troops, under the command of such a skillful assistant as General Mack, have now won a decisive victory and no longer need our help,” said Kutuzov.
The general frowned. Although there was no positive news about the defeat of the Austrians, there were too many circumstances that confirmed the general unfavorable rumors; and therefore Kutuzov’s assumption about the victory of the Austrians was very similar to ridicule. But Kutuzov smiled meekly, still with the same expression, which said that he had the right to assume this. Indeed, the last letter he received from Mac's army informed him of the victory and the most advantageous strategic position of the army.
“Give me this letter here,” said Kutuzov, turning to Prince Andrei. - If you please see. - And Kutuzov, with a mocking smile at the ends of his lips, read in German to the Austrian general the following passage from a letter from Archduke Ferdinand: “Wir haben vollkommen zusammengehaltene Krafte, nahe an 70,000 Mann, um den Feind, wenn er den Lech passirte, angreifen und schlagen zu konnen. Wir konnen, da wir Meister von Ulm sind, den Vortheil, auch von beiden Uferien der Donau Meister zu bleiben, nicht verlieren; mithin auch jeden Augenblick, wenn der Feind den Lech nicht passirte, die Donau ubersetzen, uns auf seine Communikations Linie werfen, die Donau unterhalb repassiren und dem Feinde, wenn er sich gegen unsere treue Allirte mit ganzer Macht wenden wollte, seine Absicht alabald vereitelien. Wir werden auf solche Weise den Zeitpunkt, wo die Kaiserlich Ruseische Armee ausgerustet sein wird, muthig entgegenharren, und sodann leicht gemeinschaftlich die Moglichkeit finden, dem Feinde das Schicksal zuzubereiten, so er verdient.” [We have quite concentrated forces, about 70,000 people, so that we can attack and defeat the enemy if he crosses Lech. Since we already own Ulm, we can retain the benefit of command of both banks of the Danube, therefore, every minute, if the enemy does not cross the Lech, cross the Danube, rush to his communication line, and below cross the Danube back to the enemy, if he decides to turn all his power on our faithful allies, prevent his intention from being fulfilled. Thus, we will cheerfully await the time when the imperial Russian army is completely ready, and then together we will easily find the opportunity to prepare for the enemy the fate he deserves.”]

The year of the appearance of public passenger transport in Moscow should be considered 1847, when the movement of ten-seater summer and winter carriages along 4 radial lines and one diametrical was opened. From Red Square it became possible to travel by carriage to the Smolensky market, Pokrovsky (now Elektrozavodsky) bridge. Rogozhskaya and Krestovskaya outposts. Along the center line it was possible to travel in carriages from the Kaluga Gate through the city center to the Tverskaya Zastava.

Muscovites began to colloquially call the crews plying in predetermined directions “rulers.” By this time the city already had about 337 thousand inhabitants and there was a need to organize public transport. The Moscow Line Society, created in 1850, began to solve the problem of serving passengers more efficiently.

The line accommodated 10-14 people, there were 4-5 benches. They were wider than ordinary carriages, had a roof against the rain, and were usually pulled by 3-4 horses.

Demand creates supply. The line "fishing" was quite widely developed for those times. By 1870, there were already 22 line owners, and they operated in 10 directions. This was great progress for that time and, nevertheless, Muscovites were not happy with their lines even then. In one of the reports of the city council in 1873 the following was written:

“The existing lines, in addition to the inconvenience for passengers, have other equally serious inconveniences, namely: with an excessive width of the harness and frequent stops on the streets, they extremely complicate the movement of carriages; if they are excessively heavy, they spoil the pavements and destroy them so that in the area they exploit, the pavements are constantly in an impossible condition. Finally, the accumulation at the Ilyinsky Gate at the parking lot of up to 200 horses and up to 70 coachmen, even in the dry season, produces dirt and extraordinary uncleanliness."

V. Gilyarovsky wrote no less figuratively about the line:

"At the Ilyinsky Gate, he pointed to a wide square. On it stood dozens of lines with shabby large horses. Ragged coachmen and owners of the lines were fussing. Who bargained with the employers, who seated the passengers: in Ostankino, behind the Krestovskaya outpost, in Petrovsky Park, where the lines made correct flights... There were about two dozen passengers sitting in the line with their backs to each other."

As we see, it was necessary to solve the transport problem in the city more effectively. And, as often happens with us, this was helped by chance, and in 1872 Muscovites finally received the first tram line to horse drawn.

The first passenger line of the horse-drawn tram was opened on June 25 (July 7), 1872. It connected the city center (current Revolution Square) through Trubnaya and Strastnaya Square with the Smolensky (now Belorussky) station square and was intended to serve visitors to the Polytechnic Exhibition, which opened in this is the time in Moscow.

The horse-drawn line was single-track, had a length of 4.5 km with a gauge of 1524 mm, and there were 9 sidings on the line. The line operated 10 double-decker carriages with imperials, accessed by steep spiral staircases. The Imperial did not have a canopy and passengers, sitting on benches, were not protected from snow and rain. Horse-drawn carriages were purchased in England, where they were produced at the Starbeck plant. The peculiarity of this horse-drawn railway line was that it was built by military builders as a temporary one.

About the beginning of the construction of steam and horse-drawn passenger lines from the Polytechnic Exhibition to Petrovsko-Razumovsky, the Moskovskie Vedomosti newspaper for May 27, 1872 reported the following:

" WITH Today, May 26, not far from Moscow, in a field, at a distance of about one mile from the Smolensk railway station, a prayer service was served on the occasion of the start of construction of a new railway section from the Petrovsko-Razumovsky stop to the Smolensk railway station. This new one The site will be connected by a railway to Teatralnaya Square along Tverskaya Street, Tverskoy and Strastnoy Boulevards and along Neglinnaya. The entire length of the steam railway will be about 9 versts, and the iron-horse railway will be about 4.5 versts. This will be a military railway road. It is expected to be built in ten days."

The next day, another newspaper, Russkie Vedomosti, wrote: “From Friday, May 26, the construction and installation of a horse-drawn railway along the streets from the exhibition to the Smolenskaya railway station and Petrovsky Park began. The work is being carried out by soldiers of the 18th Infantry Division ", located in a camp on the Khodynka field. The connecting line of the Nikolaevskaya railway with the Polytechnic Exhibition will be completed by the arrival of the Sovereign Emperor, for which military workers will arrive from St. Petersburg in a few days."

The Military Herald magazine specified: “The work began on May 26... Two regiments of the 18th Infantry Division... were transported by rail.... General leadership was entrusted to the head of troop movements on all railways and waterways of the empire, the retinue of His Majesty Major General Annenkov. Supervision of the work in technical terms was taken over by the communications engineer of the city of Usov... The immediate supervision of the work was undertaken by the communications engineers of the towns Shishkov, Serebryakov, Grachev, Pupyrev , Vorobiev." And although it was built a hundred years ago without trucks or mobile cranes, within a month hundreds of carts removed mountains of sticky clay soil from the streets of Moscow, and a horse-drawn railway stretching 4.5 miles appeared before Muscovites.

At the same time, a steam passenger tram line was built in Moscow from Petrovsko-Razumovsky through the Petrovskaya Academy Park to the Smolensky railway station. Both lines were supposed to cease to exist immediately after the closure of the Polytechnic Exhibition, but history has made its own amendments to the schedule drawn up by people.

Muscovites liked the new public transport: going from the center to the Smolensky station was more convenient and cheaper in a horse-drawn tram than in a cab. The first passenger horse-drawn line continued to operate after the closure of the Polytechnic Exhibition until 1874, and the steam passenger tram line maintained its existence only on the section from Smolensky Station to Petrovsky Park.

This line was operated by Russian entrepreneurs D.N. Guryev and M.D. Novikov, they were the ones who supplied required material for the construction of tracks and carriages.

In the year of the 850th anniversary of the capital, Moscow transport workers celebrated their 125th anniversary, because... 1872 is the year of birth of public transport in the capital.

Society could not stay away from such an important event in city life; the launch of a horse-drawn tram in Moscow aroused the close attention of Muscovites and the press, this is what Russkie Vedomosti wrote on June 27, 1872: “The carriages are very beautiful, and the elegance of their decoration and convenience leave nothing to be desired. The seats are arranged at the top and bottom of the carriages, for a total of 40 people, with 10 people on each bench. The one-way price is 10 kopecks at the bottom and 5 kopecks at the top of the carriage... If necessary, they can be All 10 carriages at the company's disposal were put on the road. The carriages were ordered in England."

And in the issue dated July 2, 1872, Russkie Vedomosti noted: “A few days ago, a new entertainment for Muscovites opened in Moscow - this is a horse-drawn railway. Every time the carriage departs, it attracts a large crowd of spectators, and Muscovites stand and stare for hours to a sight they had never seen before.

The railroad tracks are crowded with people, mostly coming simply out of curiosity, to see how they travel on such roads. However, I am afraid that our horse-drawn railway will continue to serve only for the idle public to ride. The fact is that until now it has not been published anywhere about the place and time of departure of the cars; in addition, if a business person decided to travel from Okhotny Ryad to the Smolenskaya railway station, then he would have to pay 15 kopecks. for an internal seat or 8 kopecks. for the outside, change from car to car twice on Trubnaya Square and at the Strastnoy Monastery. It’s good if he finds a free seat in the next carriage, but if he doesn’t, then go with God according to the old order, in a cab. However, perhaps the road administration founded its enterprise solely for the purpose of providing entertainment to people who have nothing to do. If so, then this goal can be considered completely achieved."

As we see, no sooner had the first tram appeared than the first passengers immediately noticed “major shortcomings” in the service. But with what interest and love it was noted! No, truly, the more they love, the more they scold!

The problem of public transport in Moscow was becoming more and more acute, and long before the opening of the first experimental horse-drawn railway line for the Polytechnic Exhibition, the Moscow City Duma considered a whole series of construction projects and, on this basis, developed detailed conditions for the construction of horse-drawn railways in Moscow and on April 28, 1872, held an auction to which all applicants for the horse-drawn railway concession were admitted. As a result of the auction, the concession was granted to Count Uvarov and Co.

However, as often happens in Russia, it is possible to build something and solve a very difficult problem faster than to agree on something and get permission. Network construction contract horse-drawn railways in Moscow, the actual state councilor Count Uvarov and Co. managed to conclude only in September 1873. Therefore, construction work began in the spring of 1874 and already on September 1 of this year, the movement of horse-drawn cars along the Petrovskaya Line, running from the Iverskaya Chapel along Neglinnaya Street, through Trubnaya, was opened square, along the boulevards up to the Strastnoy Monastery and further along Tverskaya Street, Petersburg Highway to the Petrovsky Palace. (Now the building of the Zhukovsky Academy)

During the temporary construction of the line for the Polytechnic Exhibition, it was reconstructed into a double-track line, and a new section was completed from Tverskaya Zastava along the Petersburg Highway to the Petrovsky Palace. Simultaneously with the opening of traffic along the Petrovskaya Line, the Miussky horse-drawn railway park was also put into operation.

Here’s how it happened: “On the opening day, at two o’clock in the afternoon, up to two hundred invited people gathered in the building of the railway park on Miusskaya Square, all decorated with flags, and a prayer service with the blessing of water was served by His Grace Archbishop Leonid. The Moscow Governor-General was present at the celebration Prince V.A. Dolgorukov and other leaders and honorable persons of the city of Moscow. After sprinkling the buildings of the horse-drawn railways with holy water, those present went to inspect the stables, and then all the horses purchased so far for hauling carriages were shown past them. has at his disposal quite a sufficient number of horses and some of them are of very good quality.

While the horses were being inspected, ten carriages of the horse-drawn railway were taken out of the barns and harnessed, and all the invitees sat on them. The long train of carriages, decorated with flags, presented a very beautiful sight. From the Tver Triumphal Gate the train went to Petrovsky Park, and from here, switching to another track, headed back to the city. Along all the streets along which the train passed, there were numerous crowds of spectators, right up to the station at the Iversky Gate, where the train stopped.

As far as can be judged from a quick inspection, the horse-drawn railway track of this company is arranged incomparably better than that, which existed in the same direction during our former Polytechnic Exhibition. The carriages are also much more comfortable and beautiful than before. The only inconvenience that caught everyone's eye was the extremely sharp turns, as a result of which several workers stood at such places on the opening day, working together to direct the carriages to the proper track. However, despite this, during the journey from Petrovsky Park to the Iverskaya Chapel, the cars went off the rails several times and only thanks to the presence of numerous workers were they difficult to put back on the track.....

The holiday ended with a luxurious dinner at the house of the road builder P.I. Gubonin, on Tatarskaya Street in Zamoskvorechye, during which numerous toasts were proclaimed...." (Newspaper "Russian Vedomosti" for September 3, 1874)

So the first public transport enterprise was opened, which in the year of the centenary of the electric tram celebrates its 125th anniversary, because it is still a public transport enterprise and today it bears the name: the 4th trolleybus park named after Shchepetilnikov.

In November 1874, the Pokrovskaya line also opened - from Lubyanskaya Square, to Perevednovka and Pokrovsky (now Elektrozavodsky) bridge. Pokrovsky Park was built and opened.

In 1875, the Sretenskaya, Sokolnichya, Nizhegorodskaya, Sofia and Bolotnaya lines were put into operation. A stable park was opened at Bolshaya Lubyanka for the daily change of horses.

During the year of its existence, Moscow's horse-drawn railways transported about 8 million passengers. More than 70 double-decker horse-drawn carriages ran along the lines of the city's horse-drawn roads.

The development of horse-drawn railways required the creation of a special enterprise for operation in the city. So Count Uvarov was forced to establish the “First Society of Horse-Drawn Railways in Moscow”, which arose in October 1875 and contributed to the rapid construction of new lines and parks.

Over five years, the length of the operating lines almost doubled, and in 1891 it was already 45 versts (48.1 km). During this time, lines were built: Arbatskaya (from the center to Plyushchikha and Devichye Pole), Zamoskvoretskaya (from the center to the Serpukhov and Kaluga Gates), Nikitskaya (to the Presnenskaya outpost), to the dacha village of Bogorodskoye, to the Novodevichy Convent, to the Nizhny Novgorod station, to Preobrazhenskaya outpost, to Dorogomilovskaya outpost. In total, by this time Muscovites could ride on 11 horse-drawn lines belonging to the “First Society of Horse-Drawn Railways”, these were the lines:

  1. Petrovskaya Line (Voskresenskaya Square - Strastnoy Monastery - Smolenskaya Station - Petrovsky Palace) with a length of 6.65 km
  2. Nizhegorodsko-Strastnaya (Pokrovskaya Zastava - Taganskaya Square - Ilyinsky Gates of the Passion Monastery) with a length of 6.73 km
  3. Pokrovskaya (Ilyinsky Gate - Earthworks- Gavrikov per. - Vvedenskaya Square) with a length of 7.47 km
  4. Bogorodskaya (Bogorodskoye village - Sokolniki - Ryazansky railway station - Zemlyanoy Val - Ilyinsky Gate) with a length of 9.88 km
  5. Sretensko-Sokolnichya (Sokolniki - Ryazan Station - Sukharev Tower - Sretenka - Ilyinsky Gate) with a length of 6.51 km
  6. Kurskaya (Ilyinsky Gate - Dugout - Rogozhskaya Outpost) with a length of 3.43 km
  7. Boulevard (Strostnoy Monastery - Arbatskaya Square) with a length of 1.30 km
  8. Arbatskaya (Novo-Maiden Convent - Folk Festival - Smolensky Market - Arbat Gate - Ilyin Gate) with a length of 6.63 km
  9. Zamoskvoretskaya (Ilyinsky Gate - Bolotnaya Square - Serpukhov Gate - Kaluga Gate) with a length of 4.70 km
  10. Nikitskaya (Ilyinsky Gate - Nikitsky Gate - Presnenskaya Outpost) with a length of 4.56 km
  11. Dorogomilovskaya (Smolensky market - Borodino bridge - B. Dorogomilovskaya street - Dorogomilovskaya outpost) with a length of 4.72 km

By the time described, the First Society of Horse-drawn Railways managed to introduce and successfully operate 5 horse-drawn parks: Miussky, Sretensky, Pokrovsky, Uvarovsky and Bogorodsky. As of November 1, 1891, all parks had 1,539 horses, 235 passenger horse-drawn carriages, and the average daily output of carriages was 152 units.

The list of professions on horse-drawn railways also looks interesting, for example, coachmen, conductors, seniors, station and traveling controllers, and station wardens worked on the lines; in the parks - horse servants and stable masters, veterinarians, water carriers, carriage masters, blacksmiths, hammerers, mechanics, turners, oilers, joiners, carpenters, painters, manager and his assistants, on the tracks - road masters, bridge builders, track workers, line supervisors , sweepers, switchmen. As we can see, even then the concept of the structure of a passenger transport enterprise appeared: traffic service, track service, operating fleet service. In practice, it still operates today.

The horse-drawn tram, or, as it was called by that time, the “horse tram”, became a natural part of city life, it turned from an exotic form of transport transporting idle people at the Polytechnic Exhibition into a necessary necessity, it was used by the overwhelming number of the so-called “less wealthy” "Residents of Moscow.

With the advent of public transport in the city, road injuries also appeared as a natural appendage of such a useful activity.

The first accident, or as we say today: “traffic accident,” occurred just one day after the launch of the Petrovskaya Line on September 3, 1874. A worker who suffered a leg injury when the horse-drawn train was turning from Petrovsky Boulevard to Strastnaya was taken to the Catherine Hospital. The duty of this worker was to prevent the carriage from derailing during a sharp turn.

The fact that the horse-drawn railway began to acquire importance in the life of the city can be judged by the lively responses with which our fiction and periodicals are so full. After all, it has always been the “barometer of public opinion” in Russia.

Gilyarovsky V.A. in his book "Moscow and Muscovites." : “...I remember the joy of Muscovites when they first laid rails from Tverskaya to Park and ran a horse-drawn car along them..., and then along Sadovaya. Here, passengers were not dropped off at Samotechnaya and Sukharevskaya mountains, as on a line, but stopped a tram and harnessed to the Parsi horses two more horses in front of them, one after the other, with boy postilions. They were called "falator", they galloped up the hill, shouted at the horses, whipped them with the end of the reins and smacked them from the sides with their feet in boots that barely fit in the stirrup. And there were cases when the "falator" fell from the horse. Otherwise the horse would slip and fall, and the "falator" had a foot in a huge boot or, in winter, a felt boot - it was impossible to get it out of the stirrup. Nobody taught them to ride, but straight from the village they put him on a horse - go! And the horses often had broken legs from galloping uphill on the cobbles of the pavement, and were always exhausted and underfed... From six in the morning until twelve at night, the postilions did not change - they would gallop up the mountain, go down and sit on horseback waiting for the carriage...

The horse-drawn carriages were two-story, the lower and upper ones on the roof of the first. It was called "imperial", and its passengers were called three-kopeck imperialists. A narrow spiral staircase led to the imperial building. Women were not allowed there."

A.P. Chekhov in the magazine “Alarm Clock”: “Teacher: “What can you say about the horse-drawn railway?” Student: “The horse-drawn railway, or simply called the horse-drawn road, consists of the interior, the top and the horse-drawn railway rules... The speed is a negative value, occasionally zero and on major holidays two vertices per hour. Passengers do not pay anything for derailment."

Guide to Moscow for 1882:

“The movement of horse-drawn railway carriages or carriages, as they are usually called in Moscow, continues all year round, but only during the day. They run until 12 o’clock and until 1 o’clock in the morning on Sundays and holidays and then only at two points: from the Strastnoy Monastery to Petrovsky Park and from the Ilyinsky Gate to Sokolnichiya Grove. The movement of carriages begins at 8 o'clock in the morning and continues until 8 o'clock in the evening. The time intervals between train departures at crowded stations, such as, for example, between the Passionate Monastery and the Ilyinsky Gate, are 6 minutes, in other places - 8, 12, 20 minutes. The fee for a station inside the car is 5 kopecks, at the top (on the imperial) - 3 kopecks."

The network of horse-drawn railways of the First Society was insufficient to meet the needs of Muscovites for transport; it did not take into account the radial-ring layout of the city; there were practically no lines at all in Zamoskvorechye, a part of the city populated mainly by “commercial people who have the need every day more than once go from your place of residence to the city and back."

And that is why the City Duma on March 15, 1883 decided to agree with the proposal of engineer A.N. Gorchakov on the construction of a second network of horse-drawn railways in the city in the following areas:

  • from Trubnaya Square to Krestovskaya Zastava;
  • from Tsvetnoy Boulevard to Dolgorukovskaya Street:
  • from Strastnoy Monastery to Butyrskaya Zastava;
  • from Okhotny Ryad through Prechistenka to Devichye Pole;
  • from Vasilievskaya sq. near the Kremlin on Pyatnitskaya street. to Danilovskaya Sloboda;
  • from the Serpukhov Gate through B. Kaluzhskaya Street. to Kaluga outpost;
  • from Vasilievskaya sq. along the river embankment Moscow and boulevards, Povarskaya st. to Kudrinskaya Square;
  • from Tsvetnoy Boulevard to food warehouses.

In order to find funds for the construction of horse-drawn railway lines and parks, A.N. Gorchakov, together with the Belgian banker R. Coumont, established a special joint-stock company for the construction and operation of the second network of horse-drawn railways in Moscow.

The joint-stock company "Main Society of Moscow and Russian Horse-drawn Railways", established in Brussels in January 1885, having received under a contract from A. N. Gorchakov all rights and obligations for the construction and operation of the second network of horse-drawn railways in Moscow, in In May 1885, construction began and on July 3, 1885, traffic on the horse-drawn Ekaterininskaya Line opened: from Trubnaya Square along Tsvetnoy Boulevard, Samotechnaya Street. to Suvorovskaya Sq.

Simultaneously with the construction of the lines, the “Second (Belgian) Society,” as the “Main Society of Moscow and Russian Horse-Drawn Railways” began to be called in Moscow, began to build the Andreevsky tram park on Dolgorukovskaya Street (now the territory of the ZINTO plant of the Mosgortrans Group of Companies).

On July 17, 1885, the movement of horse-drawn tram cars opened from the Strastnoy Monastery to Butyrskaya Zastava along the second line: "Dolgorukovskaya", in September 1885 along the Sadovaya and Boulevard lines. A representative of the administrative committee of the "Main Society of Moscow and Russian Horse-Drawn Railways" Emil Cambier, having become the temporary executive director of the society in Moscow, invented for Moscow conditions a new type of covered single-decker carriage with a separate entrance to each class compartment. The production of carriages for Moscow was established at the Odessa Bellino-Fendrich plant. Already in May 1885, the first two types of carriages began to arrive in Moscow from Belgium and Odessa: open - summer; closed - winter. The newspaper "Moskovskie Vedomosti" on June 30, 1885 wrote about this:
“Summer cars are a complete imitation of the same cars introduced on horse-drawn railways in Germany, Belgium and France. These are very elegant cars with through walls without doors, equipped on both sides with longitudinal benches that replace footrests. There are 5 transverse benches in the car , each of which seats 4 passengers. The benches have folding backs that can be easily raised. Passengers sit in the carriage facing forward, when the carriage needs to be given reverse and move the horses to the opposite side for the reverse movement, the backs of the seats recline and at the same time the carriage gets its previous appearance, i.e. Passengers still sit forward facing. If two benches are occupied by friends, you just have to recline the back of one of the benches and passengers will be able to sit facing each other. On both sides of the benches there are platforms for passengers who will find it convenient to ride while standing.
The winter carriage, invented by Mr. Cambier, is a very elegant and comfortable compartment with a side entrance through a single door. This feature of the carriage protects passengers from the draft wind to which they are so often exposed on existing horse-drawn railways. There are 20 seats in the carriage. Next to this closed compartment is a platform closed on three sides and open only on one entrance side for second class passengers, with a fare of 3 kopecks. This platform replaces the upper seats for existing carriages in Moscow, since all carriages on the Second Society railway lines will be single-decker. A completely separate seat has been arranged for the coachman, which represents a new feature: no one except the coachman will need to go through this seat, which eliminates the misfortunes that so often happen on horse-drawn railways due to passengers jumping into the carriages from the front platform or exiting the carriage along it during movements. The newly invented carriages of Cambier were approved by members of the Odessa city administration for Odessa. They were built at the Odessa Bellino-Fenderich plant."

During 1885-87. The "Second Society" built and began to operate the second stage of horse-drawn railway lines. In addition, in 1886-88, the Second Society built two suburban lines with steam traction: from Petrovsky Park along Bashilovka to Petrovsko-Razumovsky and from Kaluzhskaya Zastava to Vorobyovy Gory.

In the spring of 1888, the “Second Society” operated 10 lines of horse-drawn railways: Dolgorukovskaya, Meshchanskaya, Kaluzhskaya, Pyatnitskaya, Prechistenskaya (Embankment), Trubnaya-Dolgorukovskaya, Ustininsko-Trubnaya, Sadovaya I, Sadovaya II, Petrovsky Park and 2 lines with steam traction: Petrovsko-Razumovskaya and Vorobyovskaya. The total length of the Second Society lines was 39.6 km.

The operation of horse-drawn carriages in Moscow gave rise to new challenges for those involved in servicing passengers. Unusual climatic conditions for Belgians winter time in Moscow they demanded to make significant changes to the design of the cars. In winter, carriages began to be used “...with oven heating, for which stoves were installed near the coachman’s area. Only the front half of the carriage is heated - first class, and the rear is a cold platform closed on both the top and sides without seats - second class. At the end points of the line, at the Strastnoy Monastery and at the Butyrskaya Zastava, the cars, in order to move forward in a warm compartment, turn easily with the help of turning circles arranged on the rails, such as are used on railways to turn steam locomotives." (Moscow Gazette, October 23, 1885).

Since 1887, the Second Society has received from Belgium only closed carriages of two types with five and seven windows.

With the improvement of the design of cars and systematic measures taken by the authorities to prevent injuries on horse-drawn railways, the authorities and the Companies themselves were forced to take various preventive measures. Moscow Chief of Police E.K. Yurkovsky, issued the following order for these purposes:

“In open carriages of the 2nd network of horse-drawn railways, passengers are allowed to travel standing, on the side steps of the carriages, which poses a danger to passengers, as was already the case on May 20 when two such carriages collided on Malaya Dmitrovka, where at that time some Passengers standing on the steps were injured.

The Board of the said Company, at my request, made it obligatory for conductors and controllers not to allow passengers to stand on the steps while passing, while conductors are only allowed to stand with right side. Letting the police know about this, I propose that the local police officers make an order so that passengers are not allowed to stand on the side steps of the carriages during the journey, and that the police officers should be given due instructions about this." (Moskovskie Vedomosti, June 9, 1888)

Newspapers of that time show that the life of the city was inextricably linked with public transport, so on August 8, 1887, Moskovskie Vedomosti reported: “horse-drawn railways announced that from 5 o’clock in the morning to the Butyrskaya and Tverskaya outposts, to the Park and Petrovskoye- Razumovskoe will have carriages for people wishing to travel to the northern side of Moscow to observe the solar eclipse."

By the end of 1891, the Second Society operated 11 horse-drawn tram lines: Dolgorukovskaya, Meshchanskaya, Kaluzhskaya, Pyatnitskaya, Sadovnicheskaya, Prechistenskaya, Trubnaya-Dolgorukovskaya, Sadovaya I (Sukharevskaya Tower - Smolensky Market), Sadovaya II (Smolensk Market - Kaluga Gate), Sadovaya III (Kaluga Gate - Taganskaya Square); 2 steam tram lines: Petrovsko-Razumovskaya and Vorobyovskaya.

Sharing the development of public transport in Moscow great importance At the same time, the City Duma did not allow the route network to be monopolized, and this contributed to the rapid development of the horse-drawn railway network. For 6 years, horse lines were operated in the city by the First and Second Companies. Competition in the construction and operation of public passenger transport lines, allowing for the intensification of the construction and commissioning of new lines, or, as we would say today, routes, due to numerous passenger transfers and other inconveniences, caused a negative attitude of Muscovites: there was no direct traffic, there was no unified payment system, etc.

So, for example, passengers traveling from one outskirts to another, especially the northern and southern ones, often had to transfer from the carriages of one Company to the carriages of another and buy tickets twice. Passengers traveling with a transfer along the Garden and Boulevard Rings did the same.

In the fall of 1891, the road networks of the First and Second Horse-Railway Society in Moscow, in accordance with the decision of the City Duma, were combined into one. Connecting switches and tracks were built at the Old Triumphal Gate, at the beginning of Malaya Dmitrovka at the Strastnoy Monastery, on Trubnaya Square, at the Sukharev Tower, the Pokrovsky Gate, and the Serpukhov Gate. Varvarsky Gate, Devichye Pole, on the embankment near the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge.

The route system, the system of tariff stations were unified, and a unified ticket system was introduced. The measures taken to connect the lines and the fare payment system made it possible to start moving cars according to a new schedule, introduce new, more convenient routes and significantly reduce the cost of travel.

All lines were divided into zones; passengers paid 5 kopecks for travel within one zone, and 3 kopecks on the imperial line. for two zones (stations) - 10 kopecks. and 6 kopecks. respectively. Children who did not occupy a seat rode the horse for free. Tickets were sold by the conductor. If a passenger needed to transfer to another line, he warned the conductor about this and purchased a transfer ticket for 5 kopecks, which was valid for an hour. When transferring, the passenger presented this ticket on the other line, on which the conductor made the appropriate mark. On the suburban lines of the steam tram there were traveling conductors who moved back and forth within the zone and “cheated”, as they began to say, passengers.

The movement of horse-drawn carriages was carried out from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and at summer time and on holidays on a number of suburban lines until 2 am. To identify the route of a horse-drawn carriage, special tables began to be hung outside the carriage with the names of the stations where the carriage would proceed. This is how route signs appeared.

Many lines were extremely overloaded, and in many cases there was a danger of overloading the car. And in 1892, on the Bogorodskaya line, conductors began to hang a red flag on cars in which there were no empty seats. This initiative quickly spread to other lines.

The joint operation of the lines of the First and Second Companies gave a significant economic effect, since transfers became profitable for the population, and the transfer ticket made it possible to increase income in December 1891 compared to December 1890 by almost 20.0%.

In December 1893, the Moscow chief police chief, due to frequent cases of passengers falling when jumping into horse-drawn carriages while moving, ordered mandatory stops of carriages on the Sadovaya 1 and Bulvarnaya 1 lines at all sidings. This is how stops appeared on city transport lines in Moscow, except for those zone stations where parking was mandatory. Before this, horse-drawn carriages often ran between stations without stopping, somewhat slowing down at the request of passengers. They had to go forward in the direction of travel so as not to fall.

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, industry and transport began to develop rapidly in Moscow. This in turn created the need for the development of communications and postal traffic. It was then that the idea of ​​using urban horse-drawn railways for postal communication arose. The Moskovskie Vedomosti newspaper wrote on July 21, 1897: “Soon cargo sent from the Moscow Post Office to railway stations, as well as from stations to the Post Office, will be transported by horse-drawn railway. Rails are already being laid in the Post Office yard that will connected to the Boulevard Line running from the Strastnoy Monastery to the Ustinsky Bridge. Initially, the transportation of heavy mail bales by horse-drawn horse from the Post Office to the Ryazan Station, in the courtyard of which rails are now being laid. The movement of mail cars, as we have heard, will occur from 8 a.m. to 7 o'clock in the evening. The construction of tracks and the transportation of postal cargo is taken over by the First Society of Horse-Drawn Railways in Moscow. The connection of the Post Office by rail with the rest of the stations will be carried out gradually." For the purposes of postal traffic, new postal carriages were manufactured in Miussky Park. Mail carriage traffic was opened in the spring of 1899.

On June 7, 1872, the history of the Moscow horse-drawn railway began - and the history of Moscow public transport. Until that time, townspeople walked, hired cabs, or rode (since 1847) in lines - multi-seat carriages for 10-15 people, bulky, inconvenient and irregular. From June 7 to July 7, 1872, in as soon as possible, the first line of horse-drawn railway was built, or, as people began to call it, horse-drawn horse-drawn railways.

Road to the Exhibition

As is often the case in Rus', the first horse-drawn line was laid not so much for one’s own convenience as in order not to lose face in front of foreigners. Preparations for the major Polytechnic Exhibition were in full swing. Important delegations headed by the Sovereign Emperor were expected to attend the opening. Since the rulers not only impeded the movement of carriages, but also destroyed the pavement and contributed to uncleanliness, it was decided to launch a temporary horse-drawn tram line for the opening of the exhibition - so that visitors could easily get to the city center. The horse-drawn railway line connected the Resurrection Gate with the Smolensky (now Belorussky) station. The first newspaper article mistakenly reported that the road would be intended for military purposes and that it would be built in ten days. The journalist’s inaccuracy is due to the fact that the military was building the road - apparently, only they could make it in time for the opening of the Polytechnic Exhibition.

The length of the road was 4.5 miles, and it would have been difficult to lay it in ten days. The builders completed the job in exactly a month, and on July 7 the first horse-drawn line was inaugurated.

Attraction or vehicle?

The horse-drawn railway aroused keen interest among Muscovites and city guests. So alive that its first line existed for two years after the closure of the Polytechnic Exhibition - despite the fact that it was built as a temporary one and had to be dismantled after the Exhibition itself ended.

The press praised the new means of transportation: “The carriages are very beautiful, and in terms of elegance of decoration and convenience they leave nothing to be desired. Seating is arranged at the top and bottom of the carriages, for a total of 40 people, with 10 people on each bench.”

At the same time, it was noted that for Muscovites the horse-drawn horse-drawn car is more of an entertainment than a means of transportation: “The railway carriages are crowded with the public, mostly traveling simply for the sake of curiosity, to see how they travel on such roads,” noted a journalist from “Russian statements."

Fare price

Over 15 years, the total length of tram tracks has increased tenfold. 11 routes appeared, the shortest of which went along the Boulevard Ring, and the longest - from the village of Bogorodskoye in the northeast to the Ilyinsky Gate. Eight more routes were added to them. During rush hours, horsecars departed from the stations every 6-8 minutes.

The fare changed several times: at first, 10 kopecks were charged for a seat on the lower floor of a horse-drawn tram, 15 on the upper floor, then the price dropped to 5 and 3 kopecks, respectively. A little later, differentiated fares were introduced.

The difference in the cost of space on the first and second floors was explained simply: there was no roof upstairs.

Single-deck carriages

In addition to two-story ones, there were also one-story finials in Moscow. Their arrangement is very interesting: “There are 5 transverse benches in the carriage, each of which seats 4 passengers. The benches have folding backs that can be easily raised. Passengers sit in the carriage facing forward, but when the carriage needs to be reversed and the horses need to be moved to the opposite side for the reverse movement, the backs of the seats recline and at the same time the carriage receives its previous appearance, i.e. Passengers still sit forward facing. If two benches are occupied by friends, you just have to recline the back of one of the benches and passengers will be able to sit facing each other. On both sides of the benches there are platforms for passengers who will find it convenient to ride while standing.”

These are the summer carriages. Winter ones were also developed, closed, protecting from draft wind, snow and rain, divided into two classes: the first, costing five kopecks, and the second, three kopecks each.

Differentiated tariffs

By the end of the 19th century, the sprawling network of tram lines was divided into two zones. Travel within one zone still cost five and three kopecks, depending on the chosen place. If the passenger traveled far and had to cross both zones, the price doubled. At the same time, a prototype of the “90 minutes” tariff, currently in force in the Moscow metro, was introduced. It could be called “60 minutes”: having paid for travel on one tram, a person could make any number of transfers within an hour.

Slow and dangerous

With the advent of the electric tram, the popularity of horse-drawn trams has been steadily declining. Although they continue to use it for quite a long time: until 1911, both types of tram coexisted in Moscow.

The first type of regular public transport was not much faster than a pedestrian: average speed horse-drawn speed was 8-10 kilometers per hour. At the same time, on difficult sections, the trams stopped in order to fasten two more horses to the two main horses: only the four of them could lift the cars up the slope. The harnesses were usually driven by peasant boys who worked all day and often fell off their horses from fatigue, or even with the horse.

In general, a horse-drawn horse is a rather dangerous means of transportation. She could run over an unwary passerby, crash into the carriage, the passenger could fall out of her and, at best, get off with bruises.

Chekhov about the horse-drawn horse

“It was built in order to derail every minute and cause shell shock. Inside the carriage there is a vessel with a lead lotion - for the treatment of bruises caused by driving. The top costs three kopecks, and the inside costs a nickel. Tickets are white, yellow, red... The servants are remarkably polite. She says “you” to the ladies and doesn’t scold when they buy a ticket from her. Inside the carriages, smoking and committing outrages (everything except reading the Moscow Leaflet) is not allowed,” - this is how Anton Chekhov described the advantages and disadvantages of the horse-drawn carriage.

Before the advent of electricity in the capital of the empire (the beginning of the 20th century), horse-drawn railways, the so-called horse-drawn railways, reigned on the streets of the city. It was a type of omnibus, which by the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century became the most popular means of mass transportation of people.

In the 1910s there were about thirty lines running through the central part of the city - Nevsky Prospekt, Sadovaya Street and from Admiralteyskaya Square to Nikolaevsky Bridge. Horse horses, of course, did not reach the outskirts. The benefit from this enterprise turned out to be enormous - when the first line appeared in the city, it carried almost a million passengers in just one year. Therefore, a limited liability partnership was organized, which had at its disposal six horse parks, numbering three and a half thousand horses, and serving 26 routes.
There were two types of horse-drawn railway carriages: one- and two-decker. Single-story ones were pulled by one horse. The double-decker carriages had an open upper platform, called an imperial, to which a metal spiral staircase led, and these carriages were pulled by two horses. It was cheaper to go by Imperial. The structure of the upper and lower platforms differed in the location of the benches - on the imperial there was one double-sided bench in the middle and passengers sat with their backs to each other, and at the bottom there were side benches, as they are now in modern trams.


The horse-drawn carriage was serviced by a driver and a conductor, only men, because the work was hard. The conductor sold tickets and gave signals for stops and departures, while the carriage driver drove the horses. Controlling a horse-drawn horse required skill and strength - while moving down the bridge, the slightest mistake was enough and the heavy machine could run over the horses, which would lead to an accident. It was necessary to carefully monitor the progress and, if necessary, immediately pull the handbrake. The counselor also had to scare off passers-by who were driving onto the rails and who were ungainly by hitting the copper bell. If there were steep climbs along the way, then additional horses with their own separate coachman were hitched there. When the carriage went down, the conductor also took part in braking. After the ascent and descent were over, the horses were unhooked and they remained to wait for the next horse-drawn horse that needed their help. At the final stop, the horses were transferred to the other end of the car, a bell with a brake was installed, and they set off on the return journey.
The horse-car rails were very imperfect; grooves for wheels had not yet been invented; the path was paved with cobblestones that ran flush with the rails. Sometimes, especially on turns, the horse-drawn horse rumbled right over the stones, which created a rather unpleasant sensation for the passengers.
In 1907, horse trams began to be replaced by a new technical innovation - trams.

The Konka monument is located on the corner of the 7th line and Sredny Prospekt of Vasilievsky Island, next to the lobby of the Vasileostrovskaya metro station.


Spacious carriages “for everyone” (in Latin - omnibus (“omnibus”)) were the original type of urban public transport. The first omnibus (“Carosses a cinq sous”) appeared in 1662 in Paris. The 8-seater carts traveled along designated lines at certain times.

In 1847, omnibuses (in Russian - public carriages or rulers) appeared in St. Petersburg. Russian lines were 11-14 seat passenger carriages drawn by 2-4 horses.

To communicate with the outskirts of the capital, stagecoaches were used, which were unaffordable for ordinary people. A 2-day salary of a worker at the Putilov plant was used to pay for travel there and back (60 kopecks).

Rulers also appeared in Moscow in the summer of 1847. 1. Their owners counted on good incomes and quickly established transportation for citizens along regular routes. But the future was in horse-drawn cars.

Horse-drawn explanatory dictionary Dahl - “...a horse-drawn railway, a rail track along which carriages are pulled by horses.” The horse-drawn horse appeared after the advent of railways - with horses they wanted to eliminate the seemingly terrible dangers of steam traffic, but retaining the convenience of transporting large loads on rails.

In 1854 in the vicinity St. Petersburg, near Smolenskaya Sloboda, engineer Polezhaev built a horse road from longitudinal wooden beams covered with iron.


It is worth mentioning the projects of the Volga-Don roads and from Krivoy Rog to Yekaterinoslav, which were replaced by steam roads, and the project of D.V. Kanshin for the construction in 1867 of an entire network of long-distance horse roads beyond the Volga, from Samara to Orenburg and beyond. Instead, the Orenburg Steam Railway 2 was built.

Samara horse-drawn horse
According to the City Regulations adopted in 1892, city governments had the right to determine the rates for travel by carriages, horse-drawn railways and other local means of communication; and the right to construct and collect money for maintaining in good condition those under the jurisdiction of public administration: road facilities (streets, squares, pavements, embankments, sidewalks, boulevards).

Almost all horse-drawn railways in Russia were built by foreign joint-stock companies. Samara was no exception. On March 5, 1890, the Samara City Duma and the Belgian Joint Stock Company of Urban and Suburban Roads in Russia, represented by (or under the leadership of) Blumer (Blummer?) and Rubinsky, signed a contract for the construction and operation of a horse-drawn railway in Samara.

The Belgian joint-stock company (in Moscow it is also the 2nd joint-stock company) horse-drawn railway company was the main company in Russia for the construction of horse-drawn railways. In 1885, it took possession of the Moscow horse-drawn railway of engineer Gorchakov, and later took control of other horse-drawn railways in the capitals. IN Nizhny Novgorod there was also a Belgian horse-drawn horse.

According to this agreement, “after making a deposit of 5,000 rubles,” the joint-stock company assumed the obligation, at its own expense, to build and operate a rail track for the transportation of passengers and goods, located according to a plan approved by the Duma.

Rails for horsecars in Russia were used flat and grooved on wooden tracks: “...for country track roads, the Russian inventor I.N. Livchak proposed an original design in which iron-clad wooden rails are laid on a wooden canvas of tightly bound beams with a plank laid on top of the ground.”

The route ran from the Old Cathedral (modern Khlebnaya Square) along Kazanskaya Street. (modern A. Tolstoy), past Aleksandrovsky Square on Voznesenskaya Street. (modern St. Razin), further along Voskresenskaya Street. (modern Pionerskaya), Dvoryanskaya st. (modern Kuibyshevskaya), Panskoy st. (modern Leningradskaya) to Sobornaya street. (modern Molodogvardeyskaya); then along Sobornaya street. to Moskatelnaya st. (modern L. Tolstoy) and from Moskatelnaya street. on the street Samara, Simbirskaya st. (modern Ulyanovskaya) and Sadovaya st. to the Malokansky Garden, - a total length of 5 versts 60 fathoms (about 6.5 km).

Within 5 years from the date of opening of traffic along this line from the Old Cathedral (modern Khlebnaya Square) to Malokansky Garden (modern Lenin Avenue - Pervomaiskaya Street), the joint-stock company was obliged to build a branch from the main line to the railway station. But, if within two years the branch turns out to be unprofitable, the joint-stock company had the right to close it. Passenger carriages under the contract could be nothing more than double-window carriages.


To collect fees from passengers, 3 tariff lines were established: 1st - from the Old Cathedral to Sobornaya Street. near Troitskaya Sq. (from modern Khlebnaya Square to the corner of Leningradskaya and Molodogvardeyskaya streets); 2nd - from this point to the Malokansky Garden (modern corner of Lenin Avenue and Pervomaiskaya Street); 3rd - from st. Samara to the railway station. For travel from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. in first class on each of these lines the fee was 5 kopecks, second class - 3 kopecks. The rest of the time, travel cost twice as much. Uniformed policemen enjoyed free travel on the front platform of the horse-drawn tram.

For the right to construct and use rail tracks, the joint-stock company was obliged to pay to the city’s income annually: in the 1st decade - 1,000 rubles; in the 2nd - 1,500 rubles each; in the 3rd - 2,000 rubles each; in the 4th - 2,500 rubles; in the 5th - 3,000 rubles.

The term of the contract was determined to be 50 years from the date of signing. After this period, the entire network of rail tracks with the property belonging to it became the property of the city free of charge.

On July 10, 1895, traffic on the Samara horse-drawn railway was opened. “The people were hostile to any innovation. When the tram was launched, no one wanted to ride in it. They had to resort to a trick: for several days they carried soldiers from the local garrison along the rails. To attract the public, premiums of 10 - 20 rubles began to be assigned to some ticket numbers.” And gradually the carriages filled with people.

At the same time, double-decker carriages appeared, in which 18 passengers were accommodated in the cabin, and 16 on the “imperial” roof, fenced with handrails. The fare in the cabin was 5 kopecks, and on the “imperial” - 3 kopecks per station. “A horse-drawn carriage with an open imperial, that is, in places on the roof, where narrow spiral staircases led from the front and rear platforms and where only men were allowed, was pulled along the rails by a pair of very poor, skinny horses in blinkers, which were controlled, waving a whip, standing on the front on the platform there was a coachman pulling a bell hanging on the roof using a cord.”

Covered seats in the cabin were considered first class, and those on the “imperial” roof were considered second class. The movement had to begin no later than 8 o'clock in the morning (in summer - no later than 7 o'clock). For late opening of traffic due to the fault of a joint-stock company, the latter was subject to a fine of 5 rubles for each overdue hour, except in cases of snow drifts, blizzards and other valid reasons. The speed of the horse-drawn horse was determined to be no more than 12 km/h. The coachman (counsel) controlled two horses that pulled the tram along the rails. He sat in front of the carriage on a small platform. He usually had reins and a whip in his hands, and a bell nearby to warn pedestrians of danger. The horse-drawn horse made it possible to travel relatively quickly around Samara, especially over long distances, but it had a number of disadvantages: the inability to overcome heavy snow drifts, the need to give the horses periodic rest. The speed of movement did not exceed 6-7 km/h, it was indicated that “...for some time now, from 17 o’clock, the number of cars passing on the line has been reduced from 17 to 10. As a result, there is confusion in the movement. The reduction in the number of carriages at the same time served as a reason for the administration to reduce the already low salaries of conductors. Those conductors whose carriages do not run from 5 p.m. received a daily wage of 60 kopecks instead of 80 kopecks.”

But the most important drawback, according to the city authorities, was the independence of the horse-drawn horse-drawn horse from the municipal treasury. But the city had to abandon the idea of ​​getting a horse-drawn railway in 50 years: already 3 years later, in 1898, the question of replacing the horse-drawn railway with a tram became urgent.

According to information for 1890, the length of horse roads was considered:
in Germany – 1286 km.
in Holland – 592 km.
in Belgium – 404 km.
in France – 508 km.
in England - 343 km.
in Italy – 223 km.
in Austria-Hungary – 222 km.
in Denmark – 61 km.
in Switzerland – 28 km.
in Russia – about 600 km.
in America - 8955.8 km.

Konka (horse-drawn city railway) is a type of public transport that was widely used before the railway was converted to steam, thermal, electric or cable traction. The most common area of ​​use for horse-drawn vehicles was urban transport; thus, the horsecar was the predecessor of the electric tram. This is Wikipedia...
This is the same Wiki article...
Horse-drawn carriages appeared after the advent of railways. Using horses, they wanted to eliminate the dangers of steam traffic that seemed significant at that time and, at the same time, take advantage of the convenience of transporting bulk cargo along rail tracks. Thus, on the first Tsarskoye Selo railway opened in Russia, passengers were initially transported in horse-drawn carriages.
But the horse-drawn carriage did not survive in this form for long, since it soon became clear that for transportation over long distances, horse-drawn traction was slower, and the composition of the train was very limited. Therefore, the steam locomotive replaced horses on the railways quickly and everywhere. https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse Horse
Please read these lines carefully!!!
....the horse-drawn horse appeared after the emergence of railways!!!...
I myself didn’t immediately understand what kind of catch was hidden here! Let's take a look at the city horse racing.













I want to focus your attention on the road itself, and not on the train or the carriages. The rails are laid together with paving stones, thoroughly.





Pay attention to the rails - there are many of them and they branch like on modern tram tracks, these are not arrows, they are just branches!
I'll tell you a little about the rails. The rails are rolled products, and they are complex and of good metal, tram rails are special - they have a special groove to prevent derailment and, most importantly (!!!), it is possible to lay the rails flush with the road surface! This is what we see in the photographs.







Some photographs may have been taken already in the era of the electric tram, so to speak for history. But the fact remains a fact. First, they laid the rails, which are difficult to manufacture, made the carriages, also not a simple product, and then harnessed the horse!
And where are the locomotives that should have been galloping across the open spaces with might and main?
What’s interesting is that horse-drawn carriages are a worldwide phenomenon; there were horse-drawn carriages everywhere, there were rails everywhere, and horses pulled carriages along the rails. Here is the prevalence of horse-drawn railways in the world in 1890 - WIKI: According to information for 1890, the length of horse-drawn railways was:
USA - 8955.8 km.
Germany - 1286 km.
Russia - about 600 km.
Holland - 592 km.
France - 508 km.
Belgium - 404 km.
England - 343 km.
Italy - 223 km.
Austria-Hungary - 222 km.
Denmark - 61 km.
Switzerland - 28 km.

The strange thing here is not the fact of the existence of horse-drawn cars, the strange thing is that in the USA the length of the roads was almost nine thousand kilometers!!!
Once again I want to emphasize - a horse-drawn horse is just a railway where instead of a steam locomotive it is pulled by a horse, everything else is the same as in an ordinary railway!
If you think that a horse-drawn horse is a city transport, then it is not!
.....In 1860, engineer Domantovich built a horse-drawn railway on the streets of St. Petersburg. Mention should be made of the project of the Volga-Don road and the route from Krivoy Rog to Yekaterinoslav, which were replaced by steam roads, and the project of D. V. Kanshin, who in 1867 came up with a proposal to build a whole network of long-distance horse-drawn railways beyond the Volga, starting from Samara to Orenburg and beyond. Instead, the Orenburg Steam Railway was built....
How interesting they write - a steam railway was built, was it built from steam or something, no, of course, from iron rails, it’s just that instead of horses, steam locomotives began to pull carriages along the road!
Let's look at the horse-drawn carriages.



And here are the carriages of the first electric tram.





I want to digress a little and see what happened in the meantime on the SAS railways in 1861 - 1865, at that time the North-South War was going on, many photographs have been preserved that are attributed to this time and this event. I'll take photos that contain railway technology.





The photographs clearly show biaxial wheel sets, complex suspension systems, and the cars are practically modern look. In the last photo the track seems (seems!) very wide to me! A huge number of steam locomotives - and this was in 1861 - 1862? And yet in 1890 in America nine thousand kilometers were driven by horse-drawn horses???
... Over 10 years (1830-1840), the length of railroads in the United States increased from 40 miles to 2,755 miles (4.4 thousand km). And before the start of the Civil War, in 1860, even up to more than 30 thousand miles!
And in 1890, 9000 km on horse-drawn roads, were there not enough steam locomotives?
All this reminds me of this...

This stage of short-term loss of technology and its carriers is very reminiscent of the story with Brunel’s ship and rifled guns that were loaded from the muzzle and had flint ignition of gunpowder instead of cartridges that ran out!