Victor Harbor-Granite Island horse-drawn tram from 1894 revived in 1986 for South Australia's 150th year

Fourteen Clydesdale horses rotated on shifts pulling the trams from Victor Harbor railway station to Granite Island each day (except Christmas Day).

Australia's last horse-drawn trams, linking Granite Island to Victor Harbor, were revived in 1986 to mark South Australia’s 150th year. The original horse-drawn tramway operated on the 630-metres causeway between 1894 and 1956.

When the South Australia Railway’s first iron line, from Goolwa, reached Victor Harbor in 1864, a pier was built next to the railway station. This pier or “The Causeway” was extended with a railway track that continued around the northern edge of the island to a new jetty.

Although railway freight vehicles were routinely pulled by horses, a passenger service didn’t start until 1894 when the South Australian Railways decided to use a surplus double-deck horse-drawn tram to carry increasing visitors and holiday makers to the island.

In the 1900s, George Honeyman and then his brother Frank, from 1940, took over running the line. In 1955, the old working jetty and Victoria Pier were demolished by the Harbours Board.

Because the £3,000 needed wasn’t available, the Causeway was rebuilt without rails. The tram service continued to operate only on Granite Island until 1956, when the tram cars were sold off. Between 1956 and 1986, two trailers, towed by a Ferguson tractor and later a Land Rover clad to look like the outline of a stream locomotive, carried only 16 passengers.

Bringing back the pier horse tramway was a successful South Australia 150th jubilee funded project. Four replica double-decker tram cars, each for 52 passengers, were built with tubular steel, timber cladding and roller bearings. Tracks were relaid (on the 5 feet 3 inches broad gauge, used by many of South Australia’s early railways) and the service restarted in 1986. 

In the 1990s, rubber matting was installed on the Causeway to assist the 14 Clydesdale horses that rotate on two three-hour shifts (on three-to-four trips) per week. One tram normally operates; two at busy times and three at Easter and Christmas.

About 100,000 people each year used what was one of the very few horse-drawn tram public tram service anywhere in the world. It operated every day from Victor Harbor railway station to Granite Island throughout the year except Christmas Day.