Transporting the telescope to Observatory Hill

The Plaskett telescope was built by Warner & Swasey Co. in Cleveland, Ohio. After a test construction in early 1916, the pieces were crated and sent to Victoria by train.

The main pieces of the telescope such as the polar axis were very heavy. They were transported to the Observatory by horse-drawn wagon. The trucks of the time were not powerful enough to carry the heavy loads. The road up Observatory Hill had been designed with a slope that the horses could manage.