Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of horse drawn coach for passengers and goods. They were one of the first forms of organized public transport and originated in the 1600s in Great Britain. Before railways were invented in the first part of the nineteenth century they were the fastest way to travel long distances. Stage coaches were operated across Europe and North America.
The coach would travel between stops called stages at which passengers could obtain food and drink and the horses that pulled the coach would be changed for fresh ones. Regularly changing horses meant the coach could travel much faster than other vehicles. They were mostly of light weight construction which also allowed them to go faster. Their speed meant they were used to carry mail and often called a mail coach.
The name is sometimes shortened to simply a "stage".
Stagecoach Media
Wells Fargo mud wagonOld Town San Diego, California
A Greyhound or Flying coach
Mail coach decorated in the black and maroon Post Office livery, 1804
A public notice advertising a new stage coach service in west Wales, 1831
Construction of a macadamized road in the United States (1823). These roads allowed stagecoaches to travel at much greater speeds.
Carriage driving, 1881. The owner's coachman watchesHenri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Park drag built by Brewster in 1887
The body of a diligence being transferred to a railroad car with a simple gantry crane, an example of early intermodal freight transport by the French Mail, 1844. The drawing is exhibited in Deutsches Museum Verkehrszentrum, Munich, Germany.
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