CSR and Saunders, like most other heavy industry in the nineteenth century, relied on horse-power for haulage. Quarries like Saunders used Clydesdales to pull blocks of stone to building sites: it was common – if awe-inspiring – to see jinkers haul huge loads through the streets. Soon after CSR came to Pyrmont, the C. J. McCaffery haulage company followed, and established its premises on what is now McCafferys Hill, to service the refinery complex. By 1914, they had 152 horses. These teams of horses were an arresting sight.
In 1937 CSR began to buy trucks and the last draft horse departed in 1955.
By the 1870s freight was being hauled by train to a busy hub at Darling Harbour. From the 1930s onwards trucks – and specialised road tankers – were hauling flammable and toxic chemicals and many other products from Jacksons Landing to industrial plants throughout Sydney and beyond.

For more information, visit the Pyrmont History website.