Concord Stagecoach Model (Wells Fargo, Butterfield Overland) Laser cut kit (scale 1:12)

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE STAGE COACH....

The first Concord Stagecoach was built in 1827 by Abbot, Downing & Company in Concord, NH. Over the years, approximately 3,500 were produced. Weighing in at over two tons, they were sturdy and reliable. Leather strap braces under the bodies gave the stagecoaches a swinging motion. Leather “boots” front and back held baggage, mail and valuables. Inside, nine passengers sat on three leather-covered benches that offered very little legroom.

In 1868, Wells Fargo & Co. ordered thirty Concord stagecoaches. Painted bright red, the Wells Fargo stagecoaches were known to transport gold bars and coins, checks and drafts. They were subject to hold-ups by the likes of Black Bart and Rattlesnake Dick. To protect passengers and cargo, guards rode next to the driver with a shotgun never out of sight.

The interior was just over 1.2m wide and 1.4m high. Three benches provided seating for nine passengers. They traveled day and night, suffering from choking dust and stifling heat in the summer, intense cold in the winter and the ever-present threat of robbers and hostile Indians. After completing the 2,812-mile journey, one newspaper correspondent wrote, "Had I not just come out over the route, I would be perfectly willing to go back, but I now know what hell is like. I've just had 24 days of it."

An act of congress in the USA discontinued stagecoach mail service on June 30, 1861. The stagecoach era came to an end with the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869.

The Australian Cobb & Co stage coaches owe their origins to the American Concord coach.   http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=237786

"It was largely the durability of the Concord coach and wagon which made the vehicles so suitable for Australian conditions when, in 1853, Freeman Cobb and three other American partners set up the American Telegraph Line of coaches, operating between Melbourne and the goldfields" (Information provided by Power House Museum website)

THIS KIT FEATURES

• Historically accurate and perfectly scaled

• Laser cut basswood & plywood parts

• Cleanly cast Britannia metal fittings

• Photo-etched brass detailing

• Wells Fargo, Butterfield Overland and US Mail decals

• Opening doors and working suspension

• Illustrated instruction manual & detailed plans

MODEL SPECIFICATIONS

• Length 349mm  • Height 222mm • Scale 1” = 12” (1:12)