Adventures in Transportation:
An Examination of Drags, Carts,
Wagons and Carriages
Available in the 17th century

Written by Karen Bergstralh

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The intention of this piece is to acquaint the 1632 aficionados with the types of wheeled and non-wheeled land transport available for moving heavy and bulky items. Considering that the up-timers will have a variety of old horse-drawn wagons and a few buggies, I have not limited the scope to things available in the 17th century. I have not covered specialized military transports such as artillery carriages.

Before delving into the subject we need a brief explanation of terms.

The frame is what supports the body, holds the axle(s), and to which the shafts or tongue are fastened. A frame can be as simple as three pieces of a sapling or as complex as the chassis on a car. There are some vehicles where the frame is integrated into the body and others where the body can be removed and the frame used separately.

The wheels can be single piece solid, multi-piece solid, spoked, or dished and spoked. They can turn on axle hubs or be fastened to an axle that turns with the wheel.

The body is the part that carries the load. It can be a couple of lengths of sapling lashed to the frame or some planks of wood, wicker baskets or elaborately carved and gilded wood. Bodies can have no sides, low sides, high sides, or completely enclose the load.

Axles are the means by which the wheels are attached to the frame. The axle may turn with the wheels or the wheels may turn on the axle.

Shafts and tongues (draught bar, pole, or beam) are used to hitch the draft animal to the vehicle.

Running gear consists of an assembly of the frame, axles, wheels, and tongue (or shafts).

Which brings up the terms hitched and yoked. The following definitions of hitched and yoked will be used. Yoked means that the animal(s), typically oxen, are directly attached to the shafts or tongue by a yoke. The yoke(s) may be permanently fastened to the tongue or may be removable. Hitched is used to indicate draft animal(s) that are harnessed, with the harness being attached to the shafts, singletree, and/or tongue by leather straps and/or chains.

The singletree (whippletree or whiffletree) is a short piece of shaped wood with three sets of iron rings and/or hooks that allow a draft animal in regular harness to be hitched to a cart, wagon, or carriage. The singletree allows the animal a better angle of draft (translation: more pulling power) than being directly attached to the tongue. Singletrees are not generally used with shafts.

Lastly there are the terms span, yoke, team, and hitch. A span of oxen consists of a pair of oxen. A span is also often called a yoke of oxen. Two horses or mules might be called a span but more commonly would be called a pair. Team and hitch often are used interchangeably. A team can be any number of draft animals from two upward. The number of draft animals in a team depends upon the job to be done, the size and condition of the animals and custom. The common team in seventeenth-century Europe was eight oxen, mules or horses, although six or ten animal teams were also used. Today the term hitch is most commonly applied to special teams of draft horses such as the Budweiser Clydesdales.

Draft animals

Everything from humans, dogs, goats, reindeer, donkeys, onangers, oxen, and horses has been used as draft animals. The 17th century would find nothing strange about dogs, goats, or even sheep pulling small carts and wagons. In the northern reaches of Sweden and Norway, the Sami still use reindeer to pull sleds. Donkeys and ponies have always been used and are still used for pulling carts and wagons. Oxen would be the preferred 17th century draft animals for heavy loads that did not require speed. Horses and mules move faster and can go longer distances under load than oxen, but cost more.

The price differences between horses, mules, and oxen continued to be a factor well up into the mid 1800s in the U.S. Reports for Santa Fe Trail have a team of six oxen costing two hundred dollars while a team of six horses or mules cost six hundred dollars.

Onangers were among the first draft animals. War chariots pulled by onangers propelled armies in Mesopotamia as early as 6,000 BPE. By the 17th century the use of onangers was long past.

Let's start with consideration of some non-wheeled forms of transportation.

Drags

This means of transporting loads is also called a sledge, slide car, or travois.

A drag consists of a frame made from two shafts hitched to one draft animal with the other ends resting on the ground. The load may rest on anything from a simple set of cross poles to a basket or a wooden body. In its simpler forms, it is readily and quickly made. When there is no body, the load is lashed directly to the frame.

The frame is generally either H-shaped (European drag) or A-shaped (American Indian travois). The H-shaped drag can be attached to the collar of a regular draft harness. The A-shaped drag can be strapped on with a bellyband and chest band or lashed to a saddle.

There are some varieties of drags that use more than one draft animal but the single draft animal version is the most common form.

The use of drags dates from the early Bronze Age and continues up through the twentieth century. Both H- and A-shaped versions were known and used in seventeenth-century Europe. It is possible that some of Grantville's hunters may have used a travois.

Sleds, Stoneboats, Skids, And Sleighs

Sleds differ from drags in that the frame is fastened to runners and no part of the frame rests on the ground. These runners may be crudely- or finely-carved wooden runners, cast iron or steel. The runners rest fully on the ground with the frame and body attached to the top. Sleighs and some sleds are designed to move efficiently over snow that would cause a wheeled vehicle to sink.

The stoneboat is a type of sled that consists of a frame and a pair of thick wooden runners with a low wooden body on top. One or two draft animals may be hitched to the stoneboat by a singletree, or doubletree and two singletrees. Stoneboats do not usually have shafts or a tongue. Before plowing and planting the farmer takes his draft animal(s) and stoneboat into the fields and picks up any large rocks and stones that have come to the surface, hence the name. Stoneboats can be used to move any awkward, heavy load over short distances, but are not intended for long distance haulage or use in snow.

A skid can be an alternate name for a stoneboat or a special purpose version such as is used to pull a single large log. Skids, like stoneboats, are not intended for long distance use.

Because of the heavy loads handled by stoneboats and skids, the draft animals are usually horses, mules, or oxen. The most common arrangements are a single animal or a pair of draft animals.

Sleds are intended to convey lighter loads over greater distances and to move their loads over snow and ice. The runners hold the body of the sled higher off the ground. Sled bodies often include sides and front and back panels to hold their cargo in place. Sleds range in size from small (approximately one foot wide by two or three feet long) to large (approximately five feet wide by ten or more feet long).

Sleds have been used to transport nearly everything and have carried loads over distances from the width of a farmyard to thousands of miles of tundra. One example of a sled everyone is familiar with is a dog sled.

Some wagons had structures that allowed the wheels to be removed and replaced with runners when the snow came. There is evidence that suggests this switching of wheels for runners may have been done as far back as the eighth or ninth century. Sleds of all sizes and types would be common in the 17th century and Grantvillers will also be familiar with many of them.

Sleighs are generally for human transportation. They may carry any number of people in bodies ranging from simple planks on runners to elaborate, ornate constructions. They usually have shafts or a tongue for use with single or multiple draft animals.

Sleighs are generally associated with rapid movement. Most sleighs are pulled by the faster forms of draft animals such as dogs, reindeer, or horses, but there is no reason that any type of draft animal cannot be used to pull a sleigh.

Many different versions of sleds, stoneboats, skids, and sleighs have existed from the Bronze Age up into the twenty-first century. The likelihood that a few up-time versions are in Grantville is very good.

Drags and sleds are considered to be the first means of transporting loads not easily carried by humans or animals.

Carts

A cart consists of a frame that supports the axle, a body, two wheels, and some means of attaching the preferred draft animal. That might be a pair of shafts for a single animal or a tongue for two or more. It may have poles and a crossbar for human or dog power. The frame may be as simple as lashed together saplings or much more ornate. The body may consist of anything from a few planks fastened to the frame to an open construction of light poles or a solidly built box. Some of the simplest carts may not have frames; instead they use the axle to support the body and attach the tongue or shafts.

Generally, carts have sides but may or may not have a fixed front or back. Until the 19th century, only the most elaborate or special purpose carts would have a seat. Carts are intended to carry their loads at slow walking speeds. Considering that most carts don't have brakes, slow speeds are good. Stopping a cart depends upon the backward pull of the draft animals hitched or yoked to the tongue.

Carts may have single piece solid, multi-piece solid, or spoked wheels. The axle may be fixed with the wheels turning on it or it may be held in place by two pegs (or a U-shaped bracket) on each side and turn with the wheels. Modern carts often have salvaged car axles, wheels, and tires.

Carts can range in size from small dogcarts about the size of a child's toy wagon to four to five feet wide by six or seven feet long. During the early 19th century, a cart (or wain) was developed in Cornwall, England that had a 6 foot wide by 13 foot long body.

The smallest carts, pulled by dogs or people, may have corner supports that keep the cart level when not in use. Some, such as vendor carts, may have four wheels but are still considered carts. These smaller carts usually have large back wheels and small, independently pivoting front wheels.

Carts can be found in art and archaeological sites dating back well before 3500 BPE. They arose worldwide, save for the Americas. Throughout the Americas, drags and pack animals were the methods of transport until the Spanish introduced horses, donkeys and wheeled vehicles in the 16th century.

Carts are used everywhere and are endlessly useful but they do have limits. Because they have only two wheels, a cart can be tilted and the load dumped with relative ease. Two wheels also means that the cart follows the draft animals through a turn with little resistance, pivoting on the inside wheel.

Carts can tilt when not hitched or supported, making it hard to load. Also, storing a loaded cart requires either a very well-fastened load or some means of propping the cart in a level position. This teeter-totter aspect of carts also means that the weight of the draft animals is used to counterbalance the weight of the cart and its load. If not carefully loaded and balanced, the cart and load exert an upward and backward pull on the draft animals. This can cause sores where the harness moves and rubs. In the case of carts needing more than one or two draft animals, this lift is experienced only by the animal(s) attached to the shafts or tongue. The use of singletrees and a doubletree to hitch additional animals to the cart eliminates any upward forces on these additional animals.

Practical and social issues often controlled use of the cart. Many societies considered the cruder carts fit only for use by peasants. That very crudeness translates into an easy-to-build, easy-to-repair vehicle, which helps explain their continued popularity. Upper levels of society used other styles of vehicles to showcase their wealth and position.

Highly elaborate carts have existed for millennium. Some are intended to carry religious icons or the highest-ranking authorities in ceremonies. War chariots are another special form of cart. In the U.S., farm carts were manufactured by many of the major wagon builders.

The first cartwheels from prehistory were single piece, solid wheels and were followed by multiple piece solid wheels. Spoked wheels appear very early on, especially on light carts and war chariots. By the 17th century, several types of cartwheels were commonly used. In the Americas, the crude and fragile single-piece solid wheel appears to have continued in general use longer than in Europe. In art, carts with multi-part solid wheels appear almost as often as carts with spoked wheels from the Middle Ages on, but the solid wheel seems to have disappeared from general use in Europe by the mid-17th century. However, it should be noted that the solid cartwheel has never completely disappeared. All varieties of cartwheels can be found in use across the OTL world.

A common type of light cart was the hay cart. The body of a common hay cart consists of planks fastened to the frame and sides made of dowels or crudely shaped saplings about two to four inches in diameter. This type of hay cart was often open ended to allow for dumping the loose hay at the base of a haystack. Another version of the hay cart had no sides but did have high, angled ends that allowed the loose hay to be piled between them. Most hay carts had tongues to allow for two draft animals. This cart was useful for bringing sheaves of grain in from the fields and carrying loads of firewood. The high sides or ends were often removable, allowing the cart to be used for other purposes.

A hay cart might have multi-part solid wooden wheels or spoked wheels, depending upon the location and wealth of the owner. Other common carts had bodies made of planked bottom, sides, and front with the back often left open for dumping the load.

The "creaking cart" was a form of cart with multi-part solid wooden wheels fixed to a square axle that rotated with the wheels. The axle was held in place between wooden pegs on the underside of the frame. This type of cart was found worldwide and was very common throughout Europe. Laszlo Tarr, in The History of the Carriage, reports that the squealing noise made by the axle rubbing against the pegs and frame could be heard for over a mile. Tarr relates that some Spanish towns forbade driving this noisy cart through town unless the carters used grease on the axle. Apparently, the Spanish carters enjoyed their cart's "singing" because, once they were outside the city limits, they removed the grease so that their carts would again "sing."

In the 1800s it was noted that such a cart needed six oxen if the ground was muddy, but four oxen were common when pulling over dry ground. The "creaking cart" remained common in Portugal and Spain throughout the 19th century. For those contemplating military stories, the Spanish style creaking cart appears to be the most common means of transporting the armies' freight and baggage.

If you plan to write about things going on in England, please note that farm carts were used there well into the twentieth century. The use of farm wagons came late to England—many areas didn't see wagons until the late 18th century.

Wagons

A wagon consists of a frame that supports two axles, a body, four wheels, and some means of attaching the draft animal. A wagon may have a pair of shafts for a single animal or a tongue for two or more. The frame may be simple or ornate. The body may consist of a few crude planks fastened to the frame, an open construction of light poles or a solidly-built box. Most wagons have sides, but may or may not have a fixed front or back. By the Middle Ages, wagons had some means of pivoting the front wheels.

Prior to the 19th century, few wagons, save for ceremonial ones, had a seat. Anyone riding in the wagon just used a convenient part of the load to sit on. A driver, riding one of the draft animals or walking alongside, controlled the team. Most types of wagons are intended for carrying heavy loads at slow walking speeds.

A new innovation, brakes, aided the draft animals in slowing and stopping the wagon and in going downhill. The brakes generally consist of blocks of wood that are forced against the wheel rim by means of a lever. The brakes might have leather pads as brake shoes. The evidence for brake pads in the first half of the 17th century is very murky.

Even with brakes, going downhill is chancy as braking power depends upon the strength of the driver. Aside from the brakes, controlling a wagon's downhill speed depends upon the draft animals' ability to exert a backward force on the wagon. With oxen, this backward force is transmitted via the neck yoke(s) into the tongue or shafts and thus to the wagon frame. With horses, the harness (specifically the breeching) transmits the backward force via a shaped wooden or steel piece called a neck yoke. One end of the neck yoke is attached to the tongue by hook or chain, and the other end is attached to the horse collars by leather straps or chains.

When faced with descending steep hills, the rear wheels would be chained together to stop them from turning. The chained wheels often had iron "shoes" that slipped over the wheels to prevent excessive wear. Sometimes a large piece of timber or a log would be chained to the rear wheels to provide braking power.

Wagons may have multi-piece solid or spoked wheels. The axles generally are fixed, with the wheels turning on axle hubs. Modern versions of wagons often have salvaged car axles, wheels, and tires.

The first wagon may have been two carts fastened together. Wagons have been invented or adopted by every culture that used carts. Current research indicates that prior to Roman times the wagon's usefulness was limited by the lack of the fifth wheel or pivot. The fifth wheel allows the front wheels to turn and follow the team. Without it the team has to drag the wagon around turns. Once someone invented the pivoting front axle, the use of this type of wagon spread widely everywhere the Roman roads went.

The first fifth wheels appear to have been simple pivot pins and thrust or rub plates, which later evolved into the metal fifth wheel assembly. There is a long-standing and bitter argument over whether or not the fifth wheel was lost with the decline of Rome and only rediscovered in the Middle Ages or whether the fifth wheel continued to be used. The only wagons found in archaeological sites are small, apparently ceremonial, and do not appear to have either a pivot or fifth wheel. Whether or not any Roman technologies were lost need not bother us, because the fifth wheel and most other Roman innovations were definitely back in use by the fourteenth century.

A clue to the presence of a pivot or fifth wheel, especially when looking at art works, is if the front wheels are smaller than the back wheels. This size difference indicates the presence of some form of fifth wheel. The smaller front wheels, the distance that the axle extends beyond the side of the wagon, the cant (tilt) of the wheels, and the width of the wagon body combine to determine how far the front wheels can turn before hitting the sides of the wagon. This is the turning radius of a wagon, often called the "lock." Farmers and long-distance freight haulers usually didn't need a wagon that could maneuver through tight places, so the locks on farm and freight wagons are generally less than the lock on specialized wagons used only in towns.

The Roman use of iron bushings to reinforce the axles was also "rediscovered" before the fifteenth century. Iron nave or hub rings, used to reinforce the hub and iron straps or rings on the axle ends, allowed for a metal-to-metal rotating joint for the wheels. Grease packed between the metal rings let the wagon wheels turn quietly and smoothly. Iron remained expensive enough that many wagons used only wooden axles and naves until the late 18th century. Grease or tar was packed into these wood-to-wood joints to reduce wear.

The Roman suspension systems were reinvented or regained popularity more slowly. Some versions didn't show up until the 17th century

Wagon sizes and load-carrying capacities vary widely depending on size, materials, and purpose. Wagons fall into three main categories—farm, freight, and special use.

Farm wagons have been around about as long as there have been farms. A close look at paintings reveals some with few differences between them and their nineteenth- and twentieth-century American counterparts, along with some that are very different. Those farm wagons that do differ often resemble some later forms of English farm wagons.

Van Hilegaerts' late sixteenth-century painting, "Siege of s'Hertogenbosch" has a wagon with sides made of varied length spindles that support a curving top-rail. This type of wagon appears in sixteenth- and seventeenth- century artwork along with straight sided and top-railed boxy wagons that closely resemble nineteenth-century American farm wagons.

The American examples available from the late 18^th century commonly have flat, rectangular wagon boxes around three feet wide by ten feet long. European examples include similar utilitarian wagons, but also include fancier examples with curved bottoms and sides. These fancier wagons may be examples of wealthier farmers showing off their wealth or, as happened in England, local wagon building customs.

England saw the development of the "bow" wagons with lower sides, longer bodies and raves (fenders) above the rear wheels. These wagons also featured sides that angled out from a narrow bottom—a feature that allowed the front wheels to turn further than straight sides. According to J. Geraint Jenkins in The English Farm Wagon, Origins and Structure, the heavy freight or carrier wagon first appears in England in the 16th century. These wagons were apparently copies of freight wagons found in Holland, Belgium, and Northern France. The evidence shows that while English freight haulers increasingly used wagons in the 16th century, the English farmers continued to use carts. Farm wagons were more common throughout the rest of Europe.

We've all seen farm wagons in movies and television. Surprisingly, Hollywood got this one right. Most of the westward-trekking pioneers used farm wagons, not huge, freight-hauling Conestogas. Movies show the wagons' sides in bare wood or very faded paint. In real life they were brightly painted. Paint preserved the wood as well as making a statement about the wagons' makers and owners. By the late-19th century, American farm wagons were commonly painted bright green with the running gear (frame, axles, wheels, and tongue) often a bright red or yellow. The panels of the wagon would usually be outlined in yellow or black striping with the wagon company's logo in red or yellow. Muted color schemes were not in fashion.

The major modern changes include the use of more iron and steel to fasten wagons together and seats set on elliptical springs. By the beginning of the American Civil War, wagon boxes, running gear and such became more standardized as a result of industrialization. While dimensions began to fall into a selection of favored sizes, the idea of interchangable parts didn't fully appear until close to the end of the 19th century.

Farm wagons did share several common design points. Most were made to allow the box to be removed and replaced by a hayrack or other type of special body. Completely removing the body allowed the use of the running gear alone to move individual logs and other bulky loads.

The single box, double box, and triple box wagon will be new to the 17th century. A single box farm wagon has a main box that is usually 14 inches deep. A double wagon box adds panels called the top box to the sides and ends of the main box and and generally add another 12 inches to the bed's depth. The triple box wagon attaches the tip-top box, another set of panels usually 10 inches deep, bringing the total depth to 36 inches. Added depth was useful for carrying threshed, unbagged wheat or ears of corn, although there are practical limits to depth that are caused by the strength of materials used for construction.

Studebaker and John Deere were among the most popular American makers of farm wagons in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Their wagons and others can still be found in the U.S. and Canada and many remain in use. One thing that cannot be determined through pictures is the wheel track width. Most John Deere and Studebaker wagons built prior to 1918 had a wheel track width of 60 inches. The introduction of automobiles, which usually had 56-inch wheel track widths, influenced changes at John Deere and Studebaker. Both companies began to manufacture and sell farm wagons with 56-inch wheel track widths. In the Sears-Roebuck Catalog from 1908 two widths are shown. The "Narrow Track" of 4 feet 8 inches and the "Wide Track" of 5 feet 2 inches are shown, with the note that all wagons and buggies are available in either track width.

Farm wagons got hard use, so it is likely that any found in Grantville will be from the early-twentieth century. It is possible that all the up-time wagons will have the later 56-inch wheel tracks. One can see 56-inch wheel tracks becoming a standard throughout Europe.

Farm wagons could haul from 1,500 to 5,000 pounds, depending on their size. These farm wagons are made for slow walking speeds and hard use, but not for carrying large loads of freight long distances. Given improvements in the roads, the up-time farm wagon will still be useful as a light to medium freight wagon.

Freight wagons have always been special purpose wagons. Their use in the U.S. dates back to colonial times and references indicate that the U.S. versions were copies of German models built by German settlers. The German and Dutch heavy freight wagons range from the spindle framed wagon mentioned above to straight sided, boxy wagons that look more like nineteenth-century American freight wagons. There is evidence that English freight wagons of the late-16th century could carry 4 tons. By the end of the 17th century, the largest English freight wagons were capable of hauling 8 tons.

Given the references to large freight wagons, we can accept that by 1632 there were heavy freight wagons capable of carrying at least 4 tons in Europe. Going by English evidence and the fact that English wagon building lagged behind European wagon building, we could argue that heavy freight wagons could carry up to 6 or even 8 tons of cargo. These largest freight wagons required teams of twelve horses.

The first mention of American Conestoga wagons appears in 1717. The Conestoga wagon was a heavy freight wagon built for the very bad roads of colonial America. The wagon body was longer and deeper than some of its European counterparts, but its overall shape matched many freight wagons that could be seen in Europe. The earliest Conestogas were small, carrying only around 1 ton of freight. By 1820, the Conestoga had grown in size and was capable of carrying 3 tons or more across the same bad roads.

The Conestoga used thick wooden construction and chain braces to keep its load from breaking out the box sides. The biggest had a wagon bed that was 16 feet long at the bottom and around 5 feet wide. The front and back end panels leaned outward adding several more feet of cargo space. The sides lean out also, but only a few inches. The wagon bed was curved, with the ends being from 6 to 10 inches higher than the middle. Some sources indicate that this curve was intended to help keep the load from shifting when going up and down hills. Others contend it was a decorative touch. Whichever is correct, the curves and leaning panels made a Conestoga wagon distinctive. It was not, as some sources suggest, intended for use as a boat when crossing rivers. Conestogas didn't float.

Every thing about the Conestoga was big, strong, and heavy. Many had wheels that were 6 feet in diameter with a 3 inch wide tread. The wide treads aided in getting it across badly maintained roads. Empty, the Conestoga weighed upwards of 1,200 to 2,000 pounds. One major reason for the weight was that it used very little iron. Iron was expensive and reserved for wheel rims, chains, and those few places where nothing else would serve. Instead of iron, very thick and heavy wood construction was used.

The Conestoga hauled freight up and down the eastern coast of the U.S. until better roads made the use of less massive and expensive wagons possible. A fully-loaded Conestoga required a minimum team of six large horses or six to eight oxen, with extras needed for negotiating steep hills.

There is evidence that use of Conestogas drove the breeding of a large, heavy, draft horse type known as the Conestoga Horse. At best guess, these animals were about the size of modern day Belgians (16 hh, 1,600 to 1,800 lb). While the Grantvillers might introduce the idea of a Conestoga-type freight wagon through pictures and books, road improvements and the availability of cheap iron will probably occur soon enough to by-pass its usefulness.

The bad roads it traveled required the Conestoga's massive size and weight. Improved roads and later developments in wagon building allowed for other styles of freighters fully as durable as the Conestogas, like the "Prairie Schooner." It is often considered a half-sized version of the Conestoga. Measuring typically around 4 feet wide and 10 to 12 feet in length and with a wheel track just over 5 feet wide, the Prairie Schooner does appear smaller. However, what is often called a Prairie Schooner actually was just a flat-bottomed, straight-sided freight wagon with a canvas cover.

With an empty weight of around 1,300 pounds, this freighter wasn't that much lighter than the classic Conestoga. Where it did vary was in its design and the increasing use of iron and steel fittings to bolt it together. These fittings made these freighters easier to dismantle for required repairs.

By the mid- to late-1800s, larger freight wagons were carrying 3 to 3. 5 tons of freight along the Santa Fe Trail. These freighters had beds 16 feet long, 4 feet wide and 6 feet high sitting on rear wheels 7 feet in diameter with 4-inch wide treads. These freight wagons were durable but not easily repaired on the road and were specially designed for conditions in the southwestern U.S.

Later books and sources contend that these freight wagons were commonly known as "Murphys" for the supposedly first and primary manufacturer, the J. Murphy Wagon Company. Contemporary sources, however, do not support this contention. The J. Murphy Wagon Company certainly built a great many wagons and did build wagons for the Santa Fe trade, but so did many other wagon makers.

The Santa Fe-style freight wagon did become a distinctive type. They were built bigger to allow the traders to use fewer wagons to haul the same amount of goods, because the Mexican authorities levied a heavy tax on each freight wagon entering their territory.

A smaller, lighter freight wagon close in size to the larger farm wagons came into use for the plains. Known as "Chicago" wagons, credit for this design would be given to the Peter Schuttler Wagon Company of Chicago. Again, the credit is not well supported by contemporary sources. These wagons were made in the thousands by many wagon companies. The U.S. Army adopted an altered version of these as their supply wagon. Wagon trains of army and civilian versions supplied the western forts, towns, and industries. Each freight wagon was generally hauled by five to seven yokes of oxen. These freight wagons were just as useful throughout the rest of the U.S., as they were overbuilt for transportation along good roads. On the better roads east of the Mississippi, teams of six to eight draft horses or mules replaced the oxen.

Railroads owned and ran fleets of large freight wagons to deliver freight to warehouses well into the twentieth century. These wagons were usually painted in the railroad's company colors with large identifying logos on the sides. In rural areas, these could be Chicago-style heavy freight wagons. In the congested Eastern cities, the railroads depended more upon smaller, lighter freight wagons with tighter turning radii.

It is not completely out of the question that some form of large freight wagon might still exist in or around Grantville. Such a wagon would be useful as a pattern for developing versions of more easily maintained wagons that use iron fittings in place of chains and wooden pegs.

An extreme example of a heavy-duty freight wagon was the twenty-mule team borax wagon. The wagon was built to carry 10 tons of borax with beds that were 16 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 6 feet deep—the same size as the freighters on the Santa Fe Trail. Like the Santa Fe freighters, the borax wagons had rear wheels 7 feet in diameter. However, where the Santa Fe's had 4 inch wide treads, the borax wagons had 8 inch wide treads—the better to deal with soft desert sand. Each wagon weighed 7,800 pounds empty. The normal wagon combination was two wagons and a 500-gallon iron water tank wagon. The combined load reached 73,200 pounds and required two large draft horses (the wheelers) and eighteen good-sized draft mules to haul it 165 miles in 10 days. The teams averaged 17 miles a day moving between prepared camp locations where hay, grain, and food for the teamsters were available.

Yet another specialty wagon is the hitch wagon. Most people in the U.S. are familiar with the Budweiser Clydesdales pulling the Budweiser hitch wagon. Hitch wagons were used for transporting freight within cities rather than between them. With their flashy matched teams, bright paint jobs, and gleaming, decorated harnesses, the hitch wagon was used as much for advertising as for carrying freight. They feature elliptical spring suspensions and had a better turning radius than freight or farm wagons. These features were common to most wagons used in cities. This form of freight wagon was unknown in the 17th century and the possibility of there being a hitch wagon Grantville is small.

The special wagon category contains a wide range of wagons. Most of them only came into being in the 19th century. Included in this category is the vast variety of delivery wagons used for transporting goods in cities. Grantville may not have examples but they will have the concept of making specialized wagons.

One wagon that may find a military home is the chuckwagon. Traditionally chuckwagons were converted farm wagons that were transformed into mobile kitchens. Along with providing hot food, the chuckwagon transported personal gear and other supplies for trail crews and cattle drives throughout the western United States. The mobile kitchen, a version of the chuckwagon, remained in use among several European armies as late as World War II. These mobile kitchens, pulled by a team of horses or mules, could keep up with marching infantrymen and quickly provide hot rations when camp was made.

Other special wagons range as widely as human imagination and need. Elaborate wagons exist for the sole purpose of conveying religious icons through the streets during religious festivals. Tanker wagons existed for hauling liquids. A look around at the various types of modern trucks points out just how many specialized wagons were once in existence. For example, dump wagons, precursors of the modern dump truck, came into existence along with a wide range of specialized road building wagons.

Lastly, straddling the lightest end of hauling and partly falling into the people hauling/carriage category, is the spring wagon (buckboard). Spring wagons came with removable back seats and were designed to transport four to six people as well as a week's groceries. The spring wagon featured elliptical spring suspension as well as elliptical springs under the seats to provide a smoother ride. The chance of a spring wagon in Grantville is high.

Prior to the mid-19th century most wagons were built by a lone wheelwright with the help of a couple of apprentices. A farm or freight wagon might take four to six months to build. Depending upon the amount of iron used, the wagon could also require the services of a blacksmith. Some wagons went so far as to avoid all use of iron except for the tires on the wheels.

In the U.S., the late 18th century saw iron become cheaper and this changed the wagon designs. Thick, heavy wooden supports could be replaced with smaller, lighter iron supports. When the wagon reached a certain level of completion, it was sent to a blacksmith to be "ironed." Once the blacksmith had installed the iron pieces, the wagon went back to the wheelwright for finishing.

The need for a blacksmith to "iron" the wagon continued until the mid-19th century and the rise of companies dedicated to building carriages and wagons. By the 1850's, some of the larger U.S. wagon companies were building 300 to 400 wagons a year with a staff of 25 to 40 employees. They were aided in this by steam- and water-powered machine shops, foundries that cast and forged major metal parts, specialty companies that built only wheels or axles, and sawmills that provided wood pre-sawn to basic sizes. It is here, at the point when industrialization blooms, that wagons from a single maker become nearly identical.

Carriages

Like the wagon, a carriage consists of a frame that supports the axles, a body, four wheels, and some means of attaching the preferred draft animal(s). A carriage may have a pair of shafts for a single animal or a tongue for two or more. The frame may be simple, ornate, or even steel. The body may consist of anything from a few planks fastened to the frame to an open construction of light poles or a solidly built box. Most carriages feature some type of covering or enclosure to protect the passengers.

From their earliest appearance until the late 16th century, carriages can be considered a minor sub-set of wagons. Even so, there is evidence that a few wagons were built only for the purpose of transporting people and thus can be identified as carriages.

The idea of a carriage as something different from a wagon with some type of seating thrown in definitely existed, even in Roman times. These early carriages differed from wagons in their attempts to soften the passengers' ride by providing a crude suspension system. The idea of a suspension system is one of the Roman technologies assumed to have been lost and later rediscovered. The evidence one way or another is vague. By the end of the Middle Ages, some carriages certainly had some form of suspension system.

Some of the cruder carriages, known as "traveling carts," were simple wagons with tarpaulins, matting, or leather covers to protect their passengers from the weather. Traveling carts mostly lacked any form of suspension system and were generally rather plain. They remained in use throughout Europe well into the 19th century.

Bad roads within and between towns, inadequate suspension systems, and social factors limited the use of carriages until the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the 17th century saw a number of improvements and some social changes. Roads within cities generally were paved and kept clear of mud and debris in most. Major roads between towns saw improvements that meant that a carriage had a better chance of reaching its destination without breaking an axle or wheel. Also, while carriages had previously been restricted to royalty, they began spreading to the lesser nobility and the wealthy non-nobles. Carriages were so expensive that they were a show of status and wealth. In addition, carriage driving became fashionable. Previously riding in a carriage instead of traveling on horseback was considered "weak" and socially not acceptable save for the old or sick. By the end of the 17th century, the numbers and types of carriages began a cycle of increase that would not cease until the beginning of the twentieth century.

The development of suspension systems that actually worked combined with an overall improvement in roads were major drivers of the four hundred year long "Age of the Carriage." Improved suspension systems meant that people could use carriages without being jolted, sickened, and bruised—or at least not as much as before. Improved roads meant that journeys of more than a handful of miles could be undertaken with less fear of broken wheels and shaken and stirred passengers.

By the 17th century, carriages often consisted of a rectangular body that featured some form of solid roof. Curtains of leather, parchment, or even glass offered protection from dust and rain but left the interior stuffy. The idea of built-in seats was still in its infancy. Often the passengers sat on bolsters and cushions that were placed over the trunks holding their possessions. Unfortunately, few of the humbler sorts of carriages survive so our knowledge of them comes mostly from art works and written descriptions.

The Carruca Nutans or swinging carriage was common in the 17th century and demonstrates one early suspension system. This type of suspension was first developed by the Romans. The term "swinging" carriage comes from the carriage body being suspended by chains that ran from posts at the corners of the frame to the corresponding corner of the carriage body. While the chains may have reduced the jolting, they introduced an uncontrollable swinging that soon had the passengers seasick. By the 17th century people were experimenting with using ropes or leather straps in place of the chains. The success of these substitutions was mixed and only major design changes produced suspension systems that did a better job of smoothing the ride. Despite its drawbacks the Carruca Nutans suspension remained in use throughout the Carriage Age.

Although detailed descriptions or examples are mostly missing, it is known that major changes appeared sometime in the first half of the 17th century. The Carruca Nutans style of suspension was reshaped into a system that had the carriage body resting on top of leather straps. These straps ran from front to back between the Carruca Nutans' posts and under the carriage body. The straps were often fastened to the posts via a pivoting elbow system made from iron. This "thoroughbrace" suspension system continued to evolve and modern examples can be seen in the Concord stages built for Wells Fargo and other stage lines.

Other early suspension systems also tried wooden and iron springs. These seemed to have worked fairly well on paved roads, but much less well on a road with deep ruts. The springs broke easily and frequently. Spring suspensions spread widely only after quantities of good steel became available.

The most common springs used during the later half of the Age of the Carriage were elliptical steel springs. Leaf spring suspensions were developed for heavier carriages. Coiled spring suspension systems probably existed prior to the 19th century but do not appear to have been common. By the early twentieth century, many carriages were using the Shuler Roller Bearing Spring suspension, which used a central roller bearing with two support arms in place of an end elliptical spring. It is in the use of steel for springs that Grantville can have the largest effect on carriage design.

From the earliest pre-historic carriage maker until the industrialization of the 19th century, wheelwrights made carriages one at a time, so each carriage was different. Some wheelwrights copied successful innovations but there were no standards. The urban myth of the Roman War Chariot Standard notwithstanding, the widths of carriage bodies and their wheel spans varied considerably.

Early carriages and wagons were built by wheelwrights because the most difficult part of the carriage was the wheel. Except for the earliest examples, carriages always rode on spoked wheels. The dished wheel enabled lighter and more graceful wheels to withstand the loads and abuse of heavy use. Dished wheels first appear on carriages although sturdier versions soon showed up on wagons.

By the 1600s carriages were no longer built by a lone wheelwright with a couple of apprentices. The use of iron required the services of a blacksmith, seats required leather workers, windows needed glaziers, and so on. Coach or Carriage Makers' Guilds developed across Europe to deal with these changes.

There is evidence that certain cities had laws governing the maximum widths and lengths of carriages, how they could be decorated, and who could own one. The sources are not clear on whether these laws had a practical basis or were social in nature. What is clear is that laws governing rules of the road had existed from at least the early Middle Ages. These early laws dictated the width of roads as well as the rules for avoiding and passing other vehicles.

The development of carriages drove the development of a number of horse breeds for pulling them. The Oldenburg was one such breed in Germany, as was the Frederiksborg in Denmark. England bred the Hackney with its ultra-high action and elegance. Each region had one or two horse breeds developed exclusively for pulling carriages. Carriage horses needed size but they also needed to look elegant. Carriage horse breeds are lighter than draft horses and several breeds were developed with extreme leg action.

Carriages range so widely in size that it is hard to give sizes save for a few specific ones. Industrialization gave rise to certain set types and styles that fall within rough size standards. A small carriage, meant for one or two people might be only 3 feet wide by 4 feet long. A state carriage could be as much as 7 or 8 feet wide and over 20 feet long. Carriages were not just transportation, they were also a statement of rank, power, and wealth.

There are thousands of types of carriages. Whole books have been written on them and I will make no attempt to replicate that information here. Two carriage types do deserve a closer look because of information available in Grantville.

The stagecoach found across the U.S. evolved from the early European mail coaches. Mail coaches developed early in different parts Europe to carry mail, passengers, and small packages. The advantage of the mail coach was speed, as it was intended to roll down the road at a fast trot or hand gallop, depending upon the state of the roads. Given the state of early suspension systems, the first mail coaches must have given their passengers a bone-shaking ride. The Concord stages of Wells Fargo fame rode much more smoothly on their thoroughbrace suspensions. Despite this major improvement in suspension, the ride was not smooth. From my personal experience of riding in an old Concord being pulled at a trot along a well-packed, level, and rut-free dirt road, I don't think most twenty-first century people would like to ride in a Concord stagecoach for long distances.

A special form of public carriage was the trolley car. This is another area where up-time knowledge can have a great effect. Grantville (or Mannington) had a trolley system recently enough that some of the oldest up-time residents would have memories of it. Pictures showing the trolley do exist and, perhaps an old trolley car rests behind some barn or shed.

Horse or mule drawn trolleys were once the public buses in all cities and most towns. They provided an efficient means of transportation and allowed people to live further from their workplaces. A major drawback for trolleys is the requirement for tracks. As with the earliest railroads, tracks could be iron or bartopped wooden rails. But are tracks necessary? Various places did use trolley cars (omnibuses) pulled by one or two horses without tracks. This track-less system might be set up down-time as quickly as the trolley cars could be manufactured and teams and drivers found for them.

Appendix 1

Harness and Hitch

Harnesses come in two main versions: light and heavy draft. While "horse" is used in the following discussion, everything here also applies to mules.

Light harness is generally only used with buggies and light carriages. Light harness consists of a chest band running across the horse's chest just below the bottom of his neck and a bellyband around the horse's body just behind the horse's shoulders. The chest band pulls the load. Light harness is not meant for pulling heavy loads. Light harness may or may not have breeching. You can see examples of light harness at any horse show that offers "fine harness" classes.

Heavy draft harness is used for pulling heavy loads and starts with the horse collar. Fastened over the collar are the hames and it is to the hames that the traces (tugs) are fastened. Traces are a pair of leather straps that attach to the hames and to each end of the singletree. The rest of the heavy harness is there to keep the collar in place when the load is being pulled forward. The breeching (britching) is an assembly of leather straps that support the breech band. The breech strap goes around the rump of the horse. The purpose of the breech strap is to allow the horse to pull backwards on the vehicle's tongue to slow or brake its speed. Other parts of the heavy harness allow the horse to exert a sideways pull on the vehicle's tongue to turn it. Today most peoples' chance to see heavy harness consist of watching the Budweiser Clydesdales in parades or at horse shows.

Hitches can consist of anything from two to sixty, or more, horses and mules. The most common hitches for farm work and freighting are two, four, and six horses. Those interested in other hitches will find discussions of them in The Draft Horse Primer by Maurice Telleen

The two-horse hitch has one horse on either side of the tongue. The traces are attached to singletrees behind the horses and the singletrees are in turn attached to a doubletree, which is fastened to the wagon tongue. The base of each horse's collar is attached to a neck yoke. The neck yoke is attached the end of the wagon tongue. This arrangement allows for turning, braking and backing the wagon.

A four-horse hitch adds two more horses directly ahead of the first pair. The third and fourth horses have their singletrees attached to a doubletree that is fixed by chain or hook to the end of the wagon tongue. A body pole or chain runs between the forward pair and is fastened to a neck yoke and through the neck yoke to the horses' collars. The use of a body pole aids in keeping the front pair aligned and allows them to help with braking. The front pair of horses are known as "leads" and the back pair as "wheelers." In multiple hitches the wheelers need to be the biggest and strongest horses in the hitch because most of the turning, braking, and backing power comes from them.

A six-horse hitch adds two more horses. The fifth and sixth horses have their singletrees attached to a doubletree that is fixed by chain or hook to the end of the body pole or chain. A second body pole or chain runs between the forward pair and is fastened to their collars. Those six horse hitches that use a chain instead of a body pole give the leads more freedom to move at an angle to the rest of the hitch.

The six horse hitch pairs are known as the wheelers, swings, and leads. The wheelers are the strongest horses and hitched closest to the wagon body. The pair in the middle are called "swings" and the pair in front take the name of "lead."

Wheels

Solid, single piece wheels are crude wheels carved from cross sections of trees and fixed to an axle. Both the wheels and axle turn together between pins and a u-bolt on the cart frame. The first wheels were solid wheels. Single piece wheels do not hold up well under extensive use, tending to crack and break under stress. In later centuries there is also a problem in finding trees with a big enough trunk to make a large wheel.

Multi-part solid wooden wheels are made from two or more pieces of wood. These wheels were often fixed to an axle that turns together with the wheels. Some versions rotate on the axle. Multi-part wheels have been continuously used from 2,000 BPE to the twentieth century. These wheels are stronger and can be constructed from smaller trees. These multi-part wheels often have iron rims or tires.

Spoked wheels—wheels made with hubs, spokes, felloes, and rims. Spoked wheels come in many varieties, some have the spokes "dished" and some have straight spokes. Dished spokes are set at an angle from the hub to the rim. Dishing is supposed to improve the strength characteristics of a wheel when it encounters ruts. The dished spoke wheel supposedly was a development of the 19th century but as dished spoke wheels appear in art works from the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries this is a doubtful claim.

What may be intended by this claim is that by the 19th century the dishing of spoked wheels had become a science with extensive formulas and theories supporting the production of dished wheels suitable for each type of vehicle. It is unlikely that copies of the extremely specialized literature giving these formulas and theories would be found in Grantville, so up-time contributions to this development will be limited to a few up-time examples.

One Roman invention, the single piece fellies for the wheel, was not re-developed until 1775. Grantville does not include a wheelwright's shop nor does it appear that anyone there has experience as a wheelwright, so any improvements in wheels will have to come from down-time wheelwrights examining up-time examples.

Axles and axletrees

The earliest axles were fixed solidly to the wheels and the entire assembly of axle and wheel turned. While methods of allowing the wheels to turn on a fixed axle arose early on, the rotating axle/wheel assemblies continued in use. The use of a single axle or axle assembly stretching from one side of the vehicle to the other and supporting a pair of wheels is as ancient as the use of wheels. Practically speaking, this single axle made aligning the pair of wheels with each other easier.

Technical engineering bit: For carts the ideal axle runs directly under the center of mass of the vehicle and thus carries loads evenly to the wheels. For wagons, the ideal axles attach to the frame such that the loads are evenly distributed between all four wheels. Uneven loading leads to broken axles and/or wheels.

Seventeenth-century axles were all made of wood. For wooden axles the ends, where the wheels attach, would have two iron straps fastened, one on the top and one on the bottom. These iron straps (skeins) take the wear of the wheel hubs' rotation. At the end of the axle would be a lynch pin inserted into a slot or hole. The lynch pin keeps the wheel on the axle. By the middle of the 19th century the steel axle was coming into use. Steel axles used a nut to hold the wheel on in place of the lynch pin.

Nineteenth-century wagons that had dished wheels also had axles that gave those wheels a slight tilt outward at the top. The tilt of the axle end combined with the tilt of the dished wheel's spokes kept the spokes perpendicular to the ground as each spoke rotated and took the wagon's weight.

It is probable that the angled axle has been around at least as long as the dished wheel.

Tongues and shafts

A tongue is a single piece of wood that is fastened to the middle of the cart or wagon frame. A tongue may also be called a draught bar, pole, or beam. The tongue allows two draft animals to be hitched to the frame, one on either side of it. For heavy wagons and carriages the base of the tongue allows for the attachment of a doubletree and two singletrees using a tongue hammer. The picture of a wagon tongue most people have seen is the one on a farm wagon in western films.

The draft animals hitched or yoked to a tongue control the turning of the cart, wagon, or carriage by pushing/pulling on it. When turning a wagon or cart that doesn't have a tongue, one of the draft animals will end up doing most of the pulling while the other's trace chains are slack.

The tongue is long enough to allow the wheelers or draft animals closest to the wagon to be hitched to it without having the wagon crowd their heels. The tongue extends a few inches in front of the wheelers and ends in an iron or steel ring or loop. A secondary tongue, sometimes called a swing bar or body pole, may be attached to this ring or loop and in turn the next pair of draft animals, the swings, are hitched to this by a doubletree and a pair of singletrees.

Alternately the swings' doubletree is hooked directly to the end of the tongue or to a chain (known as the "fifth chain") running under the tongue. The lead pair of a six-horse hitch generally have their doubletree and singletrees combination attached to a chain coming from either the end of the primary or secondary tongue or in some cases directly from the frame of the vehicle.

This combination of tongue(s) and chains can be continued to allow for multiple pairs of draft animals to be hitched to the vehicle. Only the wheelers are hitched to the wagon tongue. The remaining pairs are hitched via doubletrees and singletrees to a long chain attached to the wagon frame.

Another alternate of the heavy wagon tongue has provisions to allow the attachment of a double yoke for a span of oxen. In a manner similar to that used with horses, a chain from the end of the tongue allows for additional spans of yoked oxen to be attached to the vehicle.

It hasn't been clear just when the hinged or drop wagon tongue came into use. The wagon tongue, hinged or not, is usually attached to the frame by a peg or iron rod that allows it to be replaced without dismantling the frame. Despite their size and strength, broken wagon tongues were almost as common as broken wheels. The hinged wagon tongue lets the tongue be swung up 90 degrees. It also allows the tongue to move somewhat independently of the wagon. When travelling across rough roads or potholes, a rigid tongue is much more likely to break itself or to break various pieces of the running gear.

The wagon tongue often came with a support that would hold it level when the team wasn't hitched. This made harnessing the draft animals easier as one didn't have to lift the heavy tongue up to attach the harness. For long hauling, especially in the US, the wagon tongue would have a pair of clamps or U-brackets. Hanging on the side of the wagon was a long, narrow box with pegs that would slip into the clamps on the tongue. This box was a feed trough for feeding grain and hay to the draft animals.

Shafts are two pieces of wood or metal that are fastened to the vehicle. A single draft animal stands between the shafts and is hitched or yoked to the shafts. Shafts are found on vehicles ranging from crude ox carts to fine harness buggies.

If oxen are the draft animals of choice than the end of the shafts or tongue allows for the attachment of a single (shafts) or double (tongue) ox yoke. The oxen's yokes will attach to the shafts, tongue, or tongue and chain.

The shafts or tongue not only serve to attach the draft animals but also can be part of the braking system, allowing the draft animal to pull backwards on them.

In some areas, shafts are used with multiple animals (usually horses). Two of these variations are the tandem hitch in which a second horse is hitched directly in front of the one between the shafts with traces fastened to hooks or rings on the ends of the shafts. A version of the trioka, the three horse hitch of Russia, often featured two additional horses hitched on either side of the one between the shafts. I have not been able to determine exactly how the outside horses are hitched to the shafts or vehicle.

Running Gear

The running gear is the assembly consisting of the frame, axles, wheels, and tongue (or shafts). By the 19th century most farm and freight wagons had bodies that were bolted onto their running gear. This allowed the owner to have one set of running gear and several specialized bodies. It also allowed for easier repair. For some awkward loads, such as large logs, the running gear might be used without the body. The log could be chained under the running gear or chained on top of the frame.

The parts of the frame and running gear could be very few and simple or many and complex. All parts of the frame had their own names, which also varied (and varies today) widely. The variations of frame and running gear construction are so great that they would require a book to begin to cover.

As with most things associated with wagons and carriages, the fifth wheel has a wide variety of local names. It would require a large book to explain and detail them. Whatever the name or type, the fifth wheel allows the front axle and wheels to turn independently of the wagon or carriage body.

Singletrees, Whiffletrees, Whippletrees, Doubletrees, Swingletrees, Tripletrees, Spreader bars, Splinter Bars, and Eveners

The singletree(whippletree or whiffletree) is a short piece of cylindrically shaped wood thicker in the middle and tapering toward the ends. It has three sets of iron rings, one at each end and one in the middle. The middle ring is oriented in the opposite direction from the end rings and is attached to the load with a hook, snap, or chain, which allows it to move freely. Using a singletree, a draft animal in regular harness can be hitched to the frame of a drag, a plow, or the doubletree on a wagon. The singletree allows the animal a better angle of draft (translated as more pulling power) than being directly attached to the shafts or tongue.

The singletree's other main advantage is that its design allows the draft animal to pull evenly on the load even when he is not moving straight ahead of it. Also, when combined with doubletrees and chains, the singletree allows multiple animals to be hitched to the same vehicle and to pull efficiently.

On a vehicle with a tongue, two singletrees are attached to the doubletree, one on each side. The doubletree (spreaderbar, swingletree, or splinter bar) is another shaped piece of wood with iron or steel rings and fittings. A doubletree is attached to a wagon tongue with a shaped piece of steel or iron called a tongue hammer.

This is a very simplified version of singletrees and doubletrees. Every geographical area appears to have its own names for these devices. I've attempted to use the most commonly understood versions.

Eveners are shaped pieces of wood with iron or steel rings or hooks that allow three, four, or more draft animals to be hitched abreast using combinations of doubletrees and singletrees. Eveners distribute the load between the draft animals regardless of the size of the team.

Wheel Tracks and Wheel Bases

The wheel track of a vehicle is usually measured from the outside edge of one wheel to the outside edge of the other wheel on the same axle. Occasionally this may be called the wheel base. The term "wheel base" generally refers to the distance from the center of the front axle to the center of the back axle.

Bibliography

Farm Waggons and Carts, James Arnold, David & Charles, 1977

300 Years of Farm Implements and Machinery 1630-1930, Ronald Stokes Barlow, kp books, March 2003

Packhorse, Waggon and Post: Land carriage and communications under the Tudors and Stuarts, J. Crofts, University of Toronto Press, 1967

Horses in Harness, Charles Philip Fox, Reiman Associates, Inc. , Greendale, WI, 1987

Wagons for the Santa Fe Trade: Wheeled Vehicles and Their Makers, 1822-1880, Mark L. Gardner, University of New Mexico Press, 2000

John Deere Buggies and Wagons, Ralph C. Hughes, American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 1995

The Horse in the Middle Ages, Ann Hyland, Sutton Publishing Limited, 1999

The English Farm Wagon, Origins and Structure, J. Geraint Jenkins, David & Charles, 1981 (Third Edition)

Horses, Oxen, and Technical Innovation, John Langdon, Cambridge, 1986

The History of the Carriage, Laszlo Tarr, Arco Publishing Company, Inc. , New York, 1969

The Draft Horse Primer, Maurice Telleen, Draft Horse Journal, Inc. , 1977

Sears, Roebuck & Co. 1908 Catalog (reproduction), Sears, Roebuck & Co. 1897 Catalog (reproduction), Fred L. Israel, Editor, Chelsea House Publishers, New York, 1968

Websites

Note: websites appear and disappear quickly. Those listed below are still good to the best of my knowledge.

http://www. carriagedriving. net/archives. html

Carriage Driving. Net the Carriage Driving Webzine

http://204. 186. 123. 72/

Miffinburg Buggy Museum

http://scholar. chem. nyu. edu/tekpages/harness. html

The Medieval Technology Pages—The Horse Harness

http://www. caaonline. com/

The Carriage Association of America

http://www. kismeta. com/diGrasse/this_old_wheel. htm

This Old Wheel