Cobb and Co Points of Interest

Cobb & Co. operated for more than 70 years in Australia.

Coach travel was very expensive, about £2  for a one day journey in 1850. Today this would be about $400.

Cobb & Co. would harness up to 6000 horses every day with 40,000 in work at any one time.

Feeding these horses required approximately 33 ton (30 tonne) of corn and oats every day.

Cobb & Co. coaches traveled at an average speed of 7 miles (12 klms) per hour.

Cobb & Co. coaches covered about 50 miles (80 klms) in a day.

Every Cobb & Co. horse had its own made-to-measure collar and set of harness that was kept in immaculate condition by the grooms.

The thoroughbrace is the name given to the strips of leather that form the suspension on a Cobb & Co. coach. It took nine bullocks hides to make a pair of thoroughbraces for the coach. When thoroughbraces stretched through constant wear it could be tightened simply by turning a turn buckle.

Candle lamps were used on coaches when they had to travel into the night. Toward the end of the coaching era, large carbide lights often replaced the candle lamps.

Canvas blinds on each window- could be rolled down to protect the passengers from the weather.

The box seat was the name given to the space beside the driver as it was a seat on top of a storage box.

Women were never allowed to sit up front with the driver.

Cobb & Co. coach drivers would sound a bugle when they were about a mile away from a change station to let the groom and people know of their arrival.

Cobb & Co. coaches always had a pick up point at the Post Office in each town.

Cobb & Co. coaches carried passengers, mail and luggage.

Passengers were allowed to have only 14lbs (6kg) of luggage per person.

Luggage was roped on the roof and at the back of the coach, as well as stored under the passenger's feet.

Mail parcels were transported in large wicker baskets on the roof of the coach.

 Cobb & Co. wrapped the mail in sealed waterproof bags to prevent damage to the mail in even the wettest conditions.

Cobb & Co. drivers soon became well know for their reliability in getting the mail through to its destination, even through flood and fire.

On flooded rivers, the coach, the mail and the passengers would be ferried to the other side whilst the horses would swim across.

On very steep sections of road, passengers had to get out and walk beside the coach.

People inside the coach often became seasick due to the rocking motion of the coach.

Changing stations would provide a cup of tea and scones for the passengers or even a complete meal and overnight stay.

Cobb & Co. stables were often found beside country hotels.

Cobb & Co. built a coach building factory in Charleville Queensland, which built many different types of horse-drawn vehicles.

Henry Lawson wrote a famous poem called "The Lights of Cobb & Co."

Cobb & Co. ceased operating in 1929 five years after horse-drawn coaches were last used

Before his death, James Rutherford had ordered three motor vehicles to replace coaches on some routes.

By the time the coaches ceased operating QANTAS was carrying mail by air.

Cobb and Co coaches operated in America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa