Stagecoach question - Glass Windows?

thx much. will go with the curtains provided.....now on to the carriage instructions. yikes!

Craig

Canvas or leather were used and there were six- and four- horse versions, depending on the terrain.

The freight/baggage area on the back was always covered with canvass.

Sounds like a fun project.

Tom

In article , Greg Heilers writes

I can't help with the US aspect of things, but stagecoaches in the UK were used for long distance travel (as far as you can travel long distances in the UK comparatively) well before rail/steamboat was an option (the days of highwaymen and the like, 1600 - 1700s).

The name 'stagecoach' comes from the various 'stages' that broke the journey up. A different set of horses being used for each stage to keep the speed up as high as possible.

The 'stage' part of it would be that the coach ran a particular route between stops. Every or every other stop they'd switch teams. Yes, people would look pretty ratty by the time they got where they were going. It's only lately that movies have gone for gritty realism in Westerns. As far as the number of horses on the team it would have some correlation with the type of territory the stage was traversing. I think mountain territory and a heavy coach would necessitate a six-horse hitch. On the prairie with a light load, four might suffice. Also, remember that the stage wasn't always on the run like they show in the movies. With roads the way they were you'd crack an axle fast. Once the railroads spread out stages indeed did most of their business between towns without rail service or from one town that did and others that did not.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

Okay...then considering all that; were the coaches as elaborately painted and decorated as we are accustomed to seeing? Even if you were careful enough to prevent structural failures, such livery would definitely not standup to such a long journey, in such an environment. I just find it hard to fathom a stage coach traveling such a distance, and not looking like a complete mangled, broken, faded wreck by journey's end....

They most definitely did; up until the time of the first transcontinental railroad they were the only viable method of long distance overland travel. See the links at

Apparently so, from the pictures I saw at the Google link I referred you to in another post. Here's one example of a restored Wells Fargo stagecoach: http://209.35.81.43/_borders/P2090056.jpg .

And for a bit of trivia....Why was it called a "Concord" stagecoach?

Answer: It was made in Concord, New Hampshire.

A lady friend of mine use to live in Concord, NH, and just down the street from her, lived a woman who refurbished Concord Stages. Said there was always one in her front yard in various stages (no pun intended) of repair. She got to sit in and on quite a few pieces of history. I'll have to ask her about the glass vs leather.

Okay, I guess where I have been leading is this: Did such bright, elaborate liveries survive such long journeys in the harsh cross-country environment? Or were they rather "weathered out" by journey's end? If the latter, were they being constantly repainted? And if so, I am just curious as to why this did not fall into a "why bother" category. Is it simply a matter of "company image" taking a more dominant role over practicality?

Just what made that environment so harsh? The trip wasn't all trough desert and blazing sun.

I'd suspect that today's environment is harder on equivalent finishes.

"politely"?

I think not. Mr. Smith is rarely, if ever, "polite"....

That was my point...

That is why I feel he constantly sets off the "A_shole Meter".

:o)

you may need some thicker skin. he was strait, to the point and factual. i re-read it twice and didn't find the rude. i like blunt factual writing. you might want to stay out of the mp3 groups, i suspect you'd be highly disturbed.