Ontario and San Antonio Heights Railroad Company

Ontario and San Antonio Heights Railroad Company operated Ontario’s unique Gravity Mule Car from 1887 to 1895.

Ontario and San Antonio Heights Railroad Co

The uphill trip up Euclid Avenue took 90 minutes, but the downhill ride lasted only 30 minutes, because a pull-out trailer allowed the mules to ride as passengers. The mule-car served Ontario until 1895, when an electric streetcar replaced it.[1] It was occasionally used afterwards, when the electric generator in the powerhouse was flooded.[2]

The obituary for the mule Sanky on the front page of the Ontario Daily Report of 6 February 1914 was under the headline, “Mule, Figure in Early History of Ontario, is Dead.” It mentioned that in 1895, Sanky and his partner Moody were sold to farmer C.B. Adams in San Antonio Heights after the inauguration of the electric tram had made them obsolete. Ranch work was apparently far below their dignity and when hitched to a harrow, they persistently refused to budge, and coaxing and force were equally without effect. The farmer had to motivate them by attaching a bell from the old rail car to his harrow. With the familiar signal, the mules started valiantly up the orchard, but at the head of the orchard, Moody and Sanky persisted in attempting to climb onto the harrow for the downward journey, said the obituary. It took weeks before the pair could be trained to plow in both directions.[3]

References
  1. Ontario Heritage: History of Ontario. Retrieved on 20 December 2017.
  2. Ren's did you know?, Gravity Mule Car. 23 August 2016. Retrieved on 20 December 2017.
  3. Joe Blackstock: Back when Ontario put the cart before the mule. 27 January 2014. Retrieved on 20 December 2017.
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