Model Trailways Concord Stagecoach 1:12 Scale

I have completed final assembly of the Concord Stage Coach. I thought I would provide a little of the background on the coach provided in the kit. This kit was designed by Bob Crane for Model Trailways and I must say it is a very well thought out and designed kit from plans, instructions, photos to laser cut wood. All the wood was good quality basswood and plywood. The Concord Stage Coach was built by the Abbot Downing Company in Concord, New Hampshire. More than 3500 were built and shipped all over the world,even as far as Australia. Nine passengers could fit inside the coach and for a full packed trip some would also sit on the top seats of the coach. Wells Fargo bought 30 of these coaches in 1868; they weighed about 2500 pounds and were able to carry a half ton of baggage and express cargo in the front and rear boots. They could travel about 8 miles per day. They typically carried passengers from St. Louis, Missouri to San Francisco, California. The Butterfield Overland Stage company began twice weekly mail service from Tipton, Missouri to San Francisco in 1858 making the 2,812 mile journey in 25 days or less. The use of coaches to move the mail predates the more famous pony express service. In the United States the last chapter of significant Coach use took place between 1890 and 1915. Coaches were replaced by motor bus. Most people think the train replaced the coach but trains could not go to many of the higher elevation locations with short distances between them due to lack of stations. The Wells Fargo Company has preserved several of these coaches and I plan to visit one soon. I hope this summary was enjoyable. I thoroughly enjoyed this build and highly recommend it as a break from the shipyard. I also must admit about halfway through this build I decided to do a companion to the Coach and ordered a simpler Conestoga Wagon as my next project. Then it’s back to the Bluenose. I’ll post a brief build log on the Conestoga when I start it. Thanks to all for watching and commenting on my project. 96D73DBF-8379-4B34-A277-4D26B8C66063.jpeg96D73DBF-8379-4B34-A277-4D26B8C66063.jpeg7D6763AE-C447-4F9B-86F5-1D74AC325DE7.jpeg63D79B95-E327-4DFF-B7E8-5FA2D03ED62F.jpegE84E9DE6-1F72-479D-B49D-7435AB0738E1.jpeg17C42655-1549-410C-B3FD-23DE2C875B79.jpeg
 
Nice job on the coach. I built one a long time ago and had a lot of fun doing it. This looks like a nicer kit than the one I did.
 
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Barry real nice work, I have built the lindberg stagecoach no looking into the Amati and model trailways kits. The Amati is almost twice the price so leaning the other way. My question is I see photos of the MT kit and they show the wheels as cast but other s say they are wood are the cast wheels an older kit?j

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Barry real nice work, I have built the lindberg stagecoach no looking into the Amati and model trailways kits. The Amati is almost twice the price so leaning the other way. My question is I see photos of the MT kit and they show the wheels as cast but other s say they are wood are the cast wheels an older kit?j

You could always call them and ask. They are very service oriented. My kit was purchased directly from MT last October and the wheels have a cast hub but the rest of the wheel is made of wood. The tread of the real wheels was made of cast iron. The kit supplies a thin black rubber type material to simulate. I looked at both MT and Amati kits and the detail/scale of the MT kit to me was more realistic and accurate depicting the Concord coach. I have seen two of them in person as well as searching several people photos. I think if you compare the historical depictions of the Concord you’ll see the MT version is closer. No offense to the Amati model intended at all. Also as I mentioned in the log the plans and instructions for this kit are outstanding. Best I have seen for any type of kit model.
 
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