Here are some facts for this day. You are welcome to log your interesting, quirky or fun fact/s with your log.
On This Day - January 30th
Australian History
1854 - The first Cobb & Co coach departs Melbourne for the Forest Creek goldfields.
The discovery of gold in Australia in the 1850s brought with it an immediate need for faster and better forms of transport. Four enterprising Americans saw a way to fill this need. Freeman Cobb, John Murray Peck, James Swanton and John Lamber started a network of horse and coach runs in a manner similar to what operated in the United States. Originally called the American Telegraph Line of Coaches, the name was later changed to Cobb & Co. Specially sprung coaches that could handle Australia's rough roads and rocky tracks were imported from America for the enterprise. Horses were replaced at changing stations 25 to 40 kilometres apart, meaning that fresher horses improved travelling time.
Cobb & Co's first run was on 30 January 1854, departing Melbourne for the Forest Creek diggings (now Castlemaine) and Bendigo. The network of routes was quickly expanded to deal with increased demand in the growing colony of Victoria. Initially a passenger service, Cobb & Co's reputation for speed and reliable service soon saw it being used for mail delivery and gold escort as well.
Headquarters were moved from Victoria to Bathurst in 1862. Workshops were built at Hay and Bourke in New South Wales and Castlemaine in Victoria, and the service was expanded to include Queensland. The first Cobb & Co coach in Queensland ran from Brisbane to Ipswich on 1 January 1866. The railway line took passengers from Ipswich to Grandchester, and another Cobb & Co service took the passangers from Grandchester on up to Toowoomba.