Carriages & Coaches: Their History & Their EvolutionStraus, Ralph
History
Carriages & Coaches: Their History & Their Evolution
Straus, Ralph
Carriages and carts
“The original brougham,” says Sir Walter Gilbey,[54] “differed
in many particulars of design, proportion, construction, and
finish from the modern carriage. The body ... was several
inches wider in front than at the back, and though both larger
and heavier, was neither so comfortable nor so convenient....
[It] was held together by heavy, flat iron plates throughout,
and the front boot was connected with the front pillars by
strong outside iron stays, fixed with bolts. The wheels were
at once smaller in diameter and much heavier. [The carriage]
carried a large guard or ‘opera board’ at the back of the body
to protect the occupants from risk of injury in a crush, when
the pole of a carriage behind might otherwise break through
the back panel—an accident now occasionally seen in our
crowded streets. Like all other carriages of the time there
was a sword case in the back panel for weapons. It was painted
olive green, a very fashionable colour at that period.”
Another hansom, the _tribus_, may be noticed here, though it was not
invented until 1844. In this carriage the driver’s seat was at the back
on a level with the roof, and the door to his left at the back—the
reason of this being that the driver could open or close it without
leaving his seat. Another peculiarity was the presence of five windows,
two in front, one at either side, and a fifth at the back underneath
the driver’s seat. The _tribus_ was the invention of Mr. Harvey,
who also built a _curricle tribus_, for two horses, but neither was
successful. The _quartobus_ (1844) of Mr. Okey, a four-wheeled vehicle
to hold four inside passengers, was likewise withdrawn after a short
trial.
[Illustration: _Roch’s Patent Dioropha, 1851_]
[Illustration: _Brougham, 1859_]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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