Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Stagecoach shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Stagecoach offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Stagecoach at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Stagecoach? Wrong! If the Stagecoach is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Stagecoach then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Stagecoach? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Stagecoach and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Stagecoach wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Stagecoach then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Stagecoach site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Stagecoach, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Stagecoach, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
A
stagecoach is a type of four-wheeled enclosed coach for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Formerly making regular trips between stations, it was widely used before the introduction of railway
transport. Familiar images of the stagecoach are that of a Royal Mail coach passing through a turnpike gate, a
Dickensian passenger coach covered in snow pulling up at a
coaching inn, a
highwayman demanding a coach to "stand and deliver", and a coach being chased by Native Americans in the United States in a
Western movie. The stagecoach was first developed in the British Isles during the 1500s, and only died out in the early 1900s in the United States. Coaching inns opened up throughout Europe to accommodate stagecoach passengers. Shakespeare's first plays were staged at coaching inns such as
The George Inn, Southwark. The Royal Mail stagecoach, a mail coach introduced in 1784, hastened the improvement of the road system in the British Isles through the
turnpike trust system. And the stagecoach was vital in the colonisation of United States.
The
diligence, though not invariably with four horses, was the continental analogue for public conveyance, with other minor varieties such as the
Stellwagen and
Eilwagen. Stagecoaches could compete with canal boats, but they were rendered obsolete in Europe as the railroad network expanded in the 19th century.
Stagecoaches in the United States
s guard a Concord stagecoach. 1869
Concord stagecoaches
The first Concord stagecoach was built in 1827. Abbot Downing Company employed leather strap braces under their stagecoaches which gave a swinging motion instead of the jolting up and down of a spring suspension. The company manufactured over 40 different types of carriages and wagons at the wagon factory in Concord, New Hampshire. The Concord Stagecoaches were built so solidly that it became known that they didn't break down but just wore out. The Concord stagecoach sold throughout South America, Australia, and Africa. Over 700 Concord stagecoaches were built by the original Abbot Downing Company before it disbanded in 1847. Mark Twain stated in his 1861 book
Roughing It that the Concord Stagecoach was like "a cradle on wheels".
The term "stage" originally referred to the distance between stations on a route, the coach traveling the entire route in "stages," but through constant misuse it came to apply to the coach. A stagecoach could be any four wheeled vehicle pulled by horses or mules - the primary requirement being that it was used as a public conveyance, running on an established route and schedule. Vehicles included buckboards and dead axel wagons, surplus Army ambulances, celerity mud coaches, and the deLuxe Concord. Selection of the vehicle was made by the owner of the stage line, and he would choose the most efficient vehicle based upon the load to be carried, the road conditions, and the weather; and used a two, four or six-horse team based upon those factors and the type of vehicle.
The mail service
See also: George Chorpenning; Central Nevada Route; Pony Express; History of Wells Fargo; Butterfield Stage
At a time when sectional tensions were tearing the United States apart, stagecoaches provided regular transportation and communication between
St. Louis, Missouri, in the Midwest along the Mississippi River, and
San Francisco, California, in the West. Although the Pony Express is often credited with being the first fast mail line across the North American continent from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast, stagecoach lines operated by
George Chorpenning and the
Butterfield Stage predated the Pony Express by nearly three years.
Butterfield Overland Stage began rolling on September 15, 1858, when the twice-weekly mail service began. A Butterfield Overland Concord Stagecoach was started in San Francisco and another Overland Stage in Tipton, Missouri, they ran over the better roads. As the going got rougher, the passengers and mail were transferred to "celerity wagons" designed for the roughest conditions. Each run encompassed 2,812 miles and had to be completed in 25 days or less in order to qualify for the $600,000 government grant for mail service.
In March of 1860, John Butterfield was forced out because of debt. The beginning of the Civil War forced the Stage Company to stop using the ox bow route and to use the
Central Nevada Route instead. The Eastern end of the central route, St. Louis to Denver, was taken over by Ben Holladay. Ben Holladay is characterized as a devoted, diligent, enterprising man who became known as the Stagecoach King. At the western end, Denver to San Francisco, the Stage Company was taken over by
Wells Fargo due to large debts that Butterfield owed. Wells Fargo commandeered the monopoly over long-distance overland stage coach and mail service with a massive web of relay stations, forts, livestock, men, and stage coaches by 1866. Transcontinental stage-coaching came to an end with the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869.
Final American use: Short haul
The last American chapter in the use of the stage coaches took place between 1890 and the late 1920s, when the road to Young, AZ was paved and the stagecoach was replaced with a Ford. In the end, it was the motor bus, not the train, that caused the final disuse of these horse-drawn vehicles, and many "automobile stage companies" were established in the early 1900s. After the main railroad lines were established, it was frequently not practical to go to a place of higher elevation by rail lines if the distance was short.A town 10 to 25 miles off the mail rail trunk, if it were 1000 or more feet higher, would be very difficult and expensive to serve by rail due to the grade incline. This final portion of the trip, during that 25-year period, was usually served by local stage lines, with a ride of less than a half day being typical. Once the mainline rail grid was in service, the railroad actually stimulated stage line operations well into the 20th century. These were eventually replaced by motorbuses, and so many local private bus lines were early-on called motor-stage lines. By 1918 stage coaches were only operating in a few mountain resorts or western National Parks as part of the "old west" romance for tourists.
Some bus lines still have the word "stages" in their names, though it's difficult to say whether such usages come from actual corporate descent from predecessor stagecoach operators, or is just a marketing strategy.
A real danger for stagecoach travellers was the risk of robbery by
highwaymen or bandits, right up into the early 20th century. Cash payrolls, and bank transfers were regularly carried by these scheduled stage lines, which operated without a telephone service to report robberies.
See also
External links
- Stagecoaches of Great Britain: John & Sue Meyer
- Stagecoaches: TombstoneTimes.com
- Laa an der Thaya
References
- Fernand Braudel, The Perspective of the World, vol. III of Civilization and Capitalism 1979 (in English 1984)
A
stagecoach is a type of four-wheeled enclosed
coach for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Formerly making regular trips between stations, it was widely used before the introduction of
railway transport. Familiar images of the stagecoach are that of a
Royal Mail coach passing through a
turnpike gate, a Dickensian passenger coach covered in snow pulling up at a coaching inn, a highwayman demanding a coach to "stand and deliver", and a coach being chased by
Native Americans in the United States in a Western movie. The stagecoach was first developed in the British Isles during the 1500s, and only died out in the early 1900s in the United States. Coaching inns opened up throughout Europe to accommodate stagecoach passengers. Shakespeare's first plays were staged at coaching inns such as
The George Inn, Southwark. The Royal Mail stagecoach, a
mail coach introduced in 1784, hastened the improvement of the road system in the British Isles through the
turnpike trust system. And the stagecoach was vital in the colonisation of
United States.
The
diligence, though not invariably with four horses, was the continental analogue for public conveyance, with other minor varieties such as the
Stellwagen and
Eilwagen. Stagecoaches could compete with canal boats, but they were rendered obsolete in Europe as the
railroad network expanded in the 19th century.
Stagecoaches in the United States
s guard a Concord stagecoach.
1869
Concord stagecoaches
The first Concord stagecoach was built in 1827. Abbot Downing Company employed leather strap braces under their stagecoaches which gave a swinging motion instead of the jolting up and down of a spring suspension. The company manufactured over 40 different types of carriages and wagons at the wagon factory in
Concord, New Hampshire. The Concord Stagecoaches were built so solidly that it became known that they didn't break down but just wore out. The Concord stagecoach sold throughout South America, Australia, and Africa. Over 700 Concord stagecoaches were built by the original Abbot Downing Company before it disbanded in 1847.
Mark Twain stated in his 1861 book
Roughing It that the Concord Stagecoach was like "a cradle on wheels".
The term "stage" originally referred to the distance between stations on a route, the coach traveling the entire route in "stages," but through constant misuse it came to apply to the coach. A stagecoach could be any four wheeled vehicle pulled by horses or mules - the primary requirement being that it was used as a public conveyance, running on an established route and schedule. Vehicles included buckboards and dead axel wagons, surplus Army ambulances, celerity mud coaches, and the deLuxe Concord. Selection of the vehicle was made by the owner of the stage line, and he would choose the most efficient vehicle based upon the load to be carried, the road conditions, and the weather; and used a two, four or six-horse team based upon those factors and the type of vehicle.
The mail service
See also: George Chorpenning; Central Nevada Route; Pony Express; History of Wells Fargo; Butterfield Stage
At a time when sectional tensions were tearing the United States apart, stagecoaches provided regular transportation and communication between
St. Louis, Missouri, in the Midwest along the Mississippi River, and San Francisco, California, in the West. Although the Pony Express is often credited with being the first fast mail line across the North American continent from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast, stagecoach lines operated by George Chorpenning and the
Butterfield Stage predated the Pony Express by nearly three years.
Butterfield Overland Stage began rolling on September 15, 1858, when the twice-weekly mail service began. A Butterfield Overland Concord Stagecoach was started in San Francisco and another Overland Stage in Tipton, Missouri, they ran over the better roads. As the going got rougher, the passengers and mail were transferred to "celerity wagons" designed for the roughest conditions. Each run encompassed 2,812 miles and had to be completed in 25 days or less in order to qualify for the $600,000 government grant for mail service.
In March of 1860, John Butterfield was forced out because of debt. The beginning of the Civil War forced the Stage Company to stop using the ox bow route and to use the
Central Nevada Route instead. The Eastern end of the central route, St. Louis to Denver, was taken over by Ben Holladay. Ben Holladay is characterized as a devoted, diligent, enterprising man who became known as the Stagecoach King. At the western end, Denver to San Francisco, the Stage Company was taken over by
Wells Fargo due to large debts that Butterfield owed. Wells Fargo commandeered the monopoly over long-distance overland stage coach and mail service with a massive web of relay stations, forts, livestock, men, and stage coaches by 1866. Transcontinental stage-coaching came to an end with the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869.
Final American use: Short haul
The last American chapter in the use of the stage coaches took place between 1890 and the late 1920s, when the road to Young, AZ was paved and the stagecoach was replaced with a Ford. In the end, it was the motor bus, not the train, that caused the final disuse of these horse-drawn vehicles, and many "automobile stage companies" were established in the early 1900s. After the main railroad lines were established, it was frequently not practical to go to a place of higher elevation by rail lines if the distance was short.A town 10 to 25 miles off the mail rail trunk, if it were 1000 or more feet higher, would be very difficult and expensive to serve by rail due to the grade incline. This final portion of the trip, during that 25-year period, was usually served by local stage lines, with a ride of less than a half day being typical. Once the mainline rail grid was in service, the railroad actually stimulated stage line operations well into the 20th century. These were eventually replaced by motorbuses, and so many local private bus lines were early-on called motor-stage lines. By 1918 stage coaches were only operating in a few mountain resorts or western National Parks as part of the "old west" romance for tourists.
Some bus lines still have the word "stages" in their names, though it's difficult to say whether such usages come from actual corporate descent from predecessor stagecoach operators, or is just a marketing strategy.
A real danger for stagecoach travellers was the risk of robbery by
highwaymen or bandits, right up into the early 20th century. Cash payrolls, and bank transfers were regularly carried by these scheduled stage lines, which operated without a telephone service to report robberies.
See also
External links
- Stagecoaches of Great Britain: John & Sue Meyer
- Stagecoaches: TombstoneTimes.com
- Laa an der Thaya
References
- Fernand Braudel, The Perspective of the World, vol. III of Civilization and Capitalism 1979 (in English 1984)
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