Thorough Brace Coach, Cobb & Co No.100 c. 1911

From Amy Goldston, Curator Transport:
"Built around 1900 in Charleville (Bidjara Country), Cobb & Co Coach No. 100 began life rattling along outback roads carrying mail for Cobb & Co. After being sold in the 1920s, it swapped passengers for practicality; modified and reborn as a drover’s wagon.

In the 1930s and 1940s it travelled vast stock routes with Bidjara drover Bill Hart and his son Reg, part of an all-Aboriginal droving team working cattle across Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory. When a broken wheel stopped its journey near Windorah around 1940, the old coach was left behind.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. Recovered and rebuilt in Toowoomba in the 1950s by Bill Bolton, Coach 100 returned to the road in full glory. In 1963, it made an epic journey from Port Douglas to Melbourne, reportedly the longest coach trip in the world, raising funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

From mail coach to drover's wagon to record-breaking fundraiser, this old workhorse has lived quite the outback adventure!"

This object is part of Queensland Museum's National Carriage Collection. Donate now to take care of this treasure.