History
One of the commodities carried by the early Victorian Railways was livestock. Also, from the mid-19th century, horse vans were employed to transfer racing horses from stations on country branch lines, to the nearest racecourse.
By the 1950s the rise of road transport saw the loss of a number of short branch lines, particularly those where the only traffic had been timber or livestock. From 1974 to the 1980s intrastate road freight was deregulated, and rail 'common carrier' obligations were removed, resulting in the loss of to road of much non-bulk freight.
By 1979 only a small number of livestock wagons remained in service, approximately 50 vehicles in two main classes: one double deck for sheep and pigs, and the other single deck for cattle. The carriage of livestock by rail finally ended in 1986.
Read more about this topic: Victorian Railways Livestock Transport
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