The Boundary Museum Society has a Concord style stagecoach in its possession. This community artifact would date back to the late 1800's and was used to move people with their luggage and express items from

and return.

    The coach was in the Gyro park outdoor display area in Grand Forks. The undercarriage (including metal) had many coats of yellow paint and the coach itself had coat upon coat of red paint. There was no lettering visible as it had been painted over many times.

     The partnership between the Boundary Woodworkers and the Museum and the use of a large workshop owned by the city and Regional District of Kootenay Boundary made it feasible to try and restore this coach. The latest restoration was in the 1950's and much of the veneered surface of the coach was failing. The undercarriage is in excellent condition and needed the many layers of paint removed. The metal will be painted with an authentic, for the period. asphalt based black paint. It is highly unlikely that the undercarriage is the original that the coach started off with but until an authentic Concord undercarriage can be sourced it will do very nicely. The wood on the running gear and the wheel rims and spokes will be repainted in wagon yellow.

     Some of the coach had been covered with a light canvas material to hide the peeling veneer. On close inspection one of our woodworkers thought he could discern some lettering on the doors under the red paint. Many layers were carefully removed and the number "6" appeared. Below that the word coach and below that Grand Forks and below that Bossburg. On the coach itself the word "lines appeared. The whole thing was a bit of a mystery as now you had" 6" on the door with" lines" on the coach body. However when we removed the canvas covering the rear panel of the coach body the word "red" appeared painted directly on the original mahogany wood veneer. The "red" lettering is completely different from the other lettering.

     It would seem that this coach started life as the "Red" Coach Lines. At some point it became "6" coach lines. It would also prove that the original coach was not painted. Research shows some coaches in natural varnished wood with painted trim. As the original veneer is beyond repair, new mahogany veneer will be applied to the coach body and several coats of marine quality spar varnish will be used to seal and protect the veneer.

     It would be feasible to include all of the lettering that was found on the coach as long as it is pointed out that the "6" is likely a later addition. It will be interesting to see if any information can be found on the "Red" and "6" as it is very possible that they were two separate operators of the coach line.

     The metal work on the roof and luggage platform were very likely added in the 1950's as concrete reinforcing rod was used to replicate the original round bars. Visser Machining of Grand Forks has very kindly donated some round steel stock which will be used to manufacture the metal work as closely as possible to original Concord Coach design.

     All of the leather on the coach has deteriorated to the point where it must be replaced. The original seats are completely gone and were replaced  ( likely in the 1950"s restoration) with plywood benches. Leather seats will be made to replicate the original seats and all leathers replaced with new.

     This restoration is very time consuming and as there is so very little information on it to be found the best the restorers can do is bring it back as close as possible to "a" Concord coach. While it is difficult to predict a finishing date on this project we feel it could be finished by spring of 2012. The Boundary Museum Society and the Boundary Woodworkers Guild would like to thank the many contributors to this exciting restoration and encourage the reader to patronize the commercial supporters of this project.

     If anyone has any knowledge of the history of this coach or any other item of historical importance please and share your information with us.