Cobb & Co - 'Ships of the Road'

[b]Long before the comfort of rail, the Cobb and Co coaches made the journey from Christchurch to Hokitika.  The journey was a real adventure and not for the faint-hearted. The design of these top-heavy lumbering coaches appeared unsuitable for the treacherous terrain, and the hazards of flooded rivers, snow-blocked roads and high winds. They were suspended on a cradle of leather straps, and swayed so much, many renamed them ‘Ships of the Road’. Yet considering the rough nature of the journey, there are few records of coaches actually capsizing. However, there are many accounts of passengers who vowed never to take the trip again.  [/b]

[b]Early beginnings[/b] Leander G Cole started Cobb and Co in Christchurch, adopting the name of the famous American coaching company. With the help of his head driver, Captain Morgan Anderson, Cole established coach runs to all main centres in Canterbury. In 1865, when the gold rush saw thousands of men heading for the West Coast, the firm laid on ‘specials’, first to Hurunui and then to Bealey. When it became clear the Provincial Government intended to push a road right though to Hokitika, the firm imported 21 coaches from the United States.  As the road was extended west, the coach run also expanded, and in March 1866, the first coach rattled into Hokitika. The popular notion of coaches travelling at speed behind galloping horses was a romantic flight of fancy – in fact they averaged only 10km an hour over a day’s journey. In 1873, Irishman Hugh Cassidy took over Cobb and Co. As ‘King Cobb’ he ran the service for nearly 50 years and died one year before the Otira tunnel finally put the coaches out of business in 1923.

[b]The journey across the Great Divide[/b] Drivers set out in darkness from the Cobb depot in High Street to the clatter of horses’ hooves and the creaking of the leather straps. A full load of passengers would require eight people riding outside, six facing forward and two to the rear, while inside were another nine passengers.  They would journey all day, with several changes of horses and pub stops, until at 7pm they pulled up at Jones’s Inn on the south bank of the Waimakariri opposite Bealey.  The passengers trooped inside to spend the night at a place renowned for its excellent meals. At the crack of dawn, it was all aboard to cross the Waimakariri River. If the river was low the driver would have an uneventful crossing, but if it was in flood this was real adventure. There were many close encounters but amazingly no record of any fatality in all the 50 years the coaches jolted across the river. The trip through the Otira Gorge was a particular challenge, with drivers relying heavily on brakes to navigate the unsealed and steep zigzag road (the driver operated one foot lever brake, and other brake in the hands of a strong passenger).  The rear wheels were 1.42m high, with iron rims nearly 25mm thick which wore out after only a month or two of such excessive braking. It must have been a sight to see a line of coaches snaking through the gorge, whips cracking and horses straining. But not so entertaining for one elderly passenger: 'I’m thankful we’re here; nothing shall ever induce me to come down that pass again. I shall return to Australia by sea.'