Capricorn tandem
✨From tkwa.me
The Capricorn tandem was an animal-powered quadricycle built for two domestic goats at the Falkenried farm workshop in the winter of 1914. Its single completed machine carried the goats, milk cans and, occasionally, a kid along the farm’s level dairy lane. It was retained for farm use.
Each goat worked an independent set of treadles, so one could pause while the other continued to propel the vehicle. A conventional tandem bicycle links its riders through coupled cranks; the goats’ drives accommodated different stepping rhythms. The goat in front steered, while either animal could apply the brakes. The chassis carried the milk cans. A kid could ride clear of the treadles. These arrangements made the tandem an early example of shared animal driving, in which several animals propel one vehicle while control duties are assigned among them.
The route and load gave the machine a narrow purpose. Self-hauled dairy transport moved the milk with the animals that produced it, but the added chassis and cargo still had to be pulled through the treadles. The level lane kept the small goats from having to start the loaded vehicle uphill; the vehicle still imposed its own weight and rolling resistance. Carrying a kid also placed the tandem among experiments in offspring passenger transport, later represented by the Flock omnibus, which carried lambs while six adult sheep supplied the drive. A much larger Tandem Giraffecycle was proposed in 1968 with separate drives, front-animal steering and brakes for either giraffe; it remained a stationary mock-up. The Falkenried workshop completed the tandem in one winter; the surviving record describes this single machine.
See also
This article is a stub.