User:Geo Swan/Belt Line Railway (Manhattan)

''' The line ran east-west on 59th Street, circling down Manhattan's east and west waterfronts.

The railway is notable for a devastating fire in its stables that killed 1,185 of its horses. 45 of the horses survived. 154 horse-drawn vehicles were destroyed. Only one person lost their life in the fire. The stables five working cats surprised workers emerging from the ruins the next day. New York City firefighters were praised for preventing the fire from spreading to nearby residential buildings. The stables were located at

According to Clay McShane and Joel Tarr, the authors of "The Horse in the City: Living Machines in the Nineteenth Century", the long delay in restoring service prompted calls to replace horses with "mechanical traction".