Thanks to advances, there are many different ways to travel in today's world. However, just over a century ago, in the pre-electric era, man did not have such a wide choice of means of transportation. On the other hand, at that time there were some modes of transport that are difficult for a modern layman to imagine, since they have disappeared. For example, the meaning of the word "konka" today is unfamiliar to most pampered city dwellers. But in the XIX century. this mode of transport was very popular. What is its peculiarity and why is it outdated? Let's figure it out, and also find out if there are other interpretations of this noun.
Ukrainian river Konka
Considering the lexical meaning of the word "konka", it is worth considering that this name simultaneously means several concepts at once. Oddly enough, but they are practically unrelated.
Firstly, the concept of "konka" is the name of a river in the Zaporozhye region (Ukraine). In Ukrainian, this reservoir is called "Kіnska" ("Horse").
This hydronym was formed from the noun "horse". The fact is that even in the XVIII century. This river was the border of the Russian Empire with the Crimean Khanate. The inhabitants of the Crimea called this body of water "Horse Waters" ("Konka Ilkysu") because of the huge number of wild horses wandering on the banks of the river.
Konka in France
Considering the question of what Conca is, it is impossible not to mention the French commune called Conca (Conca). It is located in Corsica.
This commune was formed at the very beginning of the 19th century. and to this day is one of the favorite holiday destinations for tourists around the world in the summer.
Unlike the Ukrainian Konka, the French one has nothing to do with horses, their names are simply consonant with each other - this is the so-called interlingual homonymy.
Dario Konka
The meaning of this word as a hydronym and toponym has already been discussed above. Now it is worth paying attention to a famous person bearing such a surname. We are talking about the Argentine midfielder beloved by many football fans - Dario Leonardo Conca.
Despite his small height (168 cm) and solid age (born in 1983), this man is today one of the best and highest paid football players in the world.
Although Dario was born inArgentina, most of his career he played for the Chinese football club Shanghai Tellais. However, from December 2017, perhaps everything will change, and he will continue his career at the Flamengo club, for which he plays now. If he does not decide to end his career or become a coach at all.
The most famous meaning of the word "konka"
In addition to proper names, the term "konka" also means the name of the now obsolete type of urban transport called horse tram.
In fact, the city horse-drawn railway, which was used by horse-drawn trams in the 19th century, was the ancestor of the modern electric tram.
Features of this mode of transport
Having figured out what a horsecar is, it is worth considering in more detail the features of this type of transport.
In fact, it was a kind of intermediate link between a horse-drawn carriage and a tram.
From the crew, the horse tram retained the appearance of the carriage, as well as the tradition of using horses as a driving force. However, unlike carts and wagons, the horse-drawn tram did not go everywhere, but only where the rails were laid. This made it possible to move a loaded crew much better and faster with just a couple of horses. At the same time, on especially difficult parts of the way to the tram, you still had to harness additional horses.
By the way, because of the unusual look and method of transportation, many called this type of transport an oat tram, a bridled or horse-drawn tram.
Appearance in the Russian Empire
Having considered the question of what Konka is, it's time to turnattention to the history of this unusual mode of transport.
The first horse-drawn tram appeared in the United States in 1828. Over the next twenty years, the horse tram conquered all of Europe. During this time, this type of transport began to be used in almost all progressive cities of the world. Most horses were in the USA and Germany. Least of all - in Switzerland.
In the Russian Empire, the first horse-drawn railway city was built in 1854, naturally, in the capital of the country. However, at that time it was used to transport goods, not passengers. And only six years later in St. Petersburg, the horse-drawn carriage as a type of passenger urban transport really started to work. Since then, her popularity has only continued to grow.
Over the next thirty years, the total length of horse-drawn railways in the Russian Empire grew to six hundred kilometers. Thus, Russia took the third place in the world in terms of the length of rails for horseback riding.
By the beginning of the 20th century. horse-drawn trams were already actively used in almost all major cities of the Russian Empire.
Sunset of the horse-drawn railways of the city
Despite the huge popularity, by the beginning of the 20th century. the electric tram gradually but inexorably replaced the horse tram (the definition of this word was given above). Despite the lower cost of the new mode of transport, most owners of horse-drawn railways actively fought against this electric miracle. Realizing that the future belongs to the trams, they did not want to take risks, fearing to lose the funds invested in the tram. As a result, inin many cities, tram rails were simply laid next to the horse-drawn tracks.
Faced with this situation, many investors who want to use the electrical innovation have decided to go the other way. They simply began to buy horse-drawn iron rails and adapt them to tram tracks.
This policy required less financial investment and was very beneficial for the workers. The fact is that, having converted the horse-drawn equipment into tram equipment, the owner did not fire the workers, but retrained them. Thus, not only did they not lose their jobs, but in some cases they received an increase in their salary.
In the Russian Empire, the first cities to replace horse trams with trams were Koenigsberg and Moscow. So, in the future capital of the USSR, starting from 1912, the horse-drawn tram was never used again.
Starting from the second half of 1917, horse-drawn trams were closed almost throughout the entire territory of the former empire. The last city that stopped using this type of transport was Minsk. This happened in 1928, when he was already part of the USSR.
Where was the last horse tram in the world
Having de alt with the question: "What is Konka?" - and having considered all the meanings of this word, it's time to find out if this mode of transport has survived at least somewhere in the world today.
The last horse tram existed in the British city of Douglas, located on the Isle of Man. Starting from 1876 and up to 1927, every day, without days off and holidays, he drove residents and guests of the city.
However, gradually profitabilityThis type of transport began to fall, so from 1927 the Douglas horse-drawn tram worked only during the summer holidays - from May to September.
During World War II, all horses were confiscated by the government for military use. For this reason, the city horse-drawn railway did not work until 1946.
In the post-war period, the Douglas horse-traffic continued to operate for nearly seventy years.
However, in recent decades, it has ceased to pay off, bringing the city solid losses instead of profit. For a time, Douglass's management kept it as a means to attract tourists to the city. But at the beginning of 2016, it was decided to close this type of transport forever. Thus, with the closure of the Douglas Horse Tram, the horse tram ceased to exist in the world forever, becoming the lot of history.
