I realize they are not archaeological reports, but a couple of reprints I would suggest are: 


1995  Moseman's Illustrated Guide For Purchase of Horse Furnishing Goods, Imported and Domestic.  Studio Editions, Ltd.  London England.  (this is a combination of the J.H. Hawkins & Co. 1889 and C.M. Moseman and Brother, 1892.)


1994  Bristol Wagon and Carriage Illustrated Catalog, 1900.  Dover Publications, Inc. New York.


Harding Polk II
[log in to unmask]




-----Original Message-----
From: Miles Shugar <[log in to unmask]>
To: HISTARCH <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tue, Feb 12, 2013 9:21 am
Subject: Horse Railroad Contexts


Greetings all,

I am a MA candidate at UMass Boston interested in urban transportation, growth, 
and labor.  After scouring multiple online journal databases and article 
collections, albeit in a limited capacity due to the constraints of any library, 
I haven't been able to find any archaeology of 19th century horse railroads, 
save the project that I'm studying for my in progress thesis.  My collection 
comes from a support complex of the Metropolitan Railroad Company of Boston, 
Massachusetts, which operated from the 1850s until the 1880s, when it was 
swallowed up by a conglomerate of street railway companies that would become the 
later electrified lines.  The complex, which consisted of stables, carhouses, 
various workshops, and a blacksmith, was dug in the late 1970s by the 
archaeology staff of what was then called the Museum of Afro American History, 
and the report was completed in 1986 by Beth Anne Bowers.   The artifacts are 
largely architectural and industrial, that is, relating to the ha
 rnessing of the Company's many horses, the maintenance and construction of its 
streetcars, and various materials coming from the 20th century demolitions and 
construction onsite. 

I am particularly interested in the leather harness collection that was 
recovered during Phase II and III, of which there are portions representative of 
every piece of 19th century industrial draught horse power.  Unfortunately, as 
mentioned above, I can't seem to find any analogous reports or literature 
against which I might compare my collection.  This seems odd considering that in 
the latter half of the 19th century, most metropolitan areas of the US from Los 
Angeles to Philadelphia had adopted horse rails for commuter transportation, and 
further, that some urban archaeological excavations probably have encountered 
the vestiges of these systems.   

So I'm turning to you to see if any of your collective experience remembers 
anything of the sort.   Thanks so much in advance for any information you might 
be able to supply as I seek to learn more about these interesting urban 
contexts.