About Glasshouse Cobb and Co.

Cobb and Co

Australian Teamsters Hall Of Fame and Spirit of Cobb & C0
This complex stands as a tribute to the tradition, the people, the way of life and the era associated with animal-drawn vehicles. Of course, a central part of that history, in Australia, belongs to Cobb & Co, the famous coaching company which was established by four Americans in 1853 and which dominated Australian land transport for many years.

Fittingly, the complex is based around Bank Foot House (named after a Scottish shire), an original 1860 Cobb & Co changing station which remained the residence of the original owners until October 2002. Like many such outposts, it also functioned as a post office and trading post and it retains original memorabilia such as postal facilities, furnishings and a pianola.

The complex is owned by Stephen Ralph whose lifelong interest in carriages was capped by a recent discovery that his great-great uncles were Cobb & Co drivers and whose great-great grandfather possessed the first registered station in Queensland after the separation from New South Wales. As part of the bicentenary celebration of 1988 Stephen conducted an historic carriage journey from Melbourne to Longreach (in western Queensland), via the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Birdsville and Charleville, involving a meeting with the Queen who is said to have taken a knowledgeable interest in his horses. More recently he undertook a recreation of Cobb & Co's last run, made in 1924 between Yeulba and Surat (near Roma) - a distance of 83 km. This was also an attempt to establish an official world record relating to the largest number of horses (24) driven in hand in a coach under reign on the open road. Unfortunately, an American undertook a journey with 52 llamas which earned the Guinness Book of Records imprimatur.

This is intended principally as a working complex, with tourism features attached. The business of building and repairing carriages, wheelwrighting and blacksmithing takes place in a workshop measuring about 45 metres by 24 metres. Visitors can learn about Cobb & Co and the teamsters via the Hall of Fame, a ride in an original Cobb & Co coach, an oral presentation, the tea-and-damper tour (with food prepared in the slab-hut kitchen) and a video presentation in the theatrette. With the 150th anniversary of Cobb & Co approaching, Stephen intends to add a campground, a pub and a museum. He also plans to reconstruct the world's largest coach which was made in Australia to conduct people to the Ballarat goldfields. Weighing 15 tons, it was 15 metres long, four metres wide and six metres high, and was drawn by 64 horses. It proved, for practical purposes, to be a lemon, but will make a fine curiosity today.

Located at the corner of Old Gympie Rd and Mt Beerwah Rd, in the township of Glass House Mountains, the Hall of Fame can be contacted on (07)5496 9588.