The swans

I think we live in the wrong century. We are restoring a piano box sleigh and are looking for the metal parts at the top of the runners that connect the runners to the dash. They are cast metal and look like swans. I am sure in the 19th century they were freely available, but today, ah no, can't find them. And there are many different types, Portland cutters often have a small cast swan at the top of the runners, but they don't connect to the dash itself. Albany cutters often have a flat metal strip that carries up from the metal runners on the sleigh and are screwed into the dash. So now we are investigating casting our own. We tried to fabricate them, but it would take much too much time to make them as beautiful as the originals are. They are truly beautiful. Pictures to follow.

Building the hearse

We bought an older market wagon last fall. We bought it for the steel wheels that we thought we would build cross country combined driving carts over. When we got it home, we realized that it was quite a nice little wagon with a good undercarriage. It has a few problems that we will have to work with, but on the whole it is solid and well built. We have some lovely wooden wheels that we can put on the wagon when we take off the steel wheels. So what to do with it.

Well, a number of people have asked if we had a wagon that could be used as a hearse, because there are many people who would like a quieter, more natural way to be buried. Actually I would love to have my coffin taken to the graveyard behind two or four nice high stepping horses.

One of the old venerated horsemen in our town was buried in Barkerville and his coffin was carried to the old cemetary by a wagon pulled by his driving horses. When the final prayer was said, the horses stood so quietly and seemed to bow their heads to say goodbye to their long time friend.

So we may be building a hearse in the next while. It will be a Cariboo hearse, but with nice trappings, not as fancy as some that I have seen, but respectful, showing reverence for the person it is honored to carry. We will probably pull it with a good team of standardbreds. I need to make the side drapes for the horses and the curtains for the inside of the glass windows in the body of the hearse. To see a beautiful hearse, follow this lead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJYnqBtDGGo&NR=1 . Ours will not be quite that fancy, but it will be well built and have a Cariboo stamp. We will keep you up to date with our plans and work.

The olympic flame

Had the opportunity to celebrate the olympic flame coming through our little hamlet the other day. What a procession. Lots of sponsors trucks and organization. Just one picture, though. I began to understand why it took so much money to have the flame go across Canada. It was here for about half an hour, and then everyone was gone.


Working on the metal parts now. There are some difficult parts to fitting up the pole for the bob sleigh. Will have to research the different labels, when is it a tongue and when is it a pole???? More on that later. Over the years, the metal parts have worn, been refitted, twisted and generally well used. After all, this is a sleigh that was actually used, not just sitting as a lawn ornament.

As I was writing this, I realized I didn't know the correct terminology for most of the sleigh and carriage bits that I was trying to write about, so here is the beginning of a short glossary



the hammer strap on the new pole



the yoke strap or pole iron on the new pole Apparently it really doesn't matter whether you call it a pole or a tongue, the terms are interchangeable.



Pictures of the old roller and new oak roller



This is why you don't use red cedar for a roller. Keep in mind that this sleigh was totally restored five years ago. It wasn't that the cedar rotted, but it did crack, and then because of the numbers of holes drilled in it and the cracking, it just came apart.





I put these pictures in to show the difference. This is the end of an old oak shaft. Looking at the hardware we took off this shaft it could be a hundred years old or possibly more. The oak is relatively un damaged with very little wear or rot. The shafts were broken close to where they attach to the horse, and we picked it up for the hardware, but the oak is still strong after all that time.


This is the hold down for the tugs that came off that old oak set of sleigh shafts. Unfortunately, there was only one on the singletree.

Working on the bob sleigh

We had an unfortunate accident at Christmas time. The standardbred team was hitched to the big bob sleigh for the first time. Ted, the left hand horse on the team was used to being hitched without a free moving double tree so he could just ride along and let June carry the load. With the true doubletree, when June hit the tugs his collar pulled back into his shoulders and he was forced to carry the bigger part of the load. It was interesting watching him try to figure out how to get those tugs loose, but the harder he tried, the heavier was the pull. Being the good natured standardbred that he is, he soon was pulling right up there with June. Coming home from the ride though, there was a sharp left hand turn into the drive way and Ted hates it when the pole comes towards him. June, being the eager one, turned sharp into the driveway and the pole came over onto Ted and he kicked out at it. It was mounted too low on that sleigh and Ted got his right rear leg over the pole and went down. Fortunately, June, being the perfect horse that she is, stood very still and waited while we tried to extricate Ted. Right about that time, June stepped into a coil of plumbers pipe that was hidden in the snow. That black snake rose up out of the snow, coiled around her back legs and Fred shouted WHOA, and she just stood there, trapped by the snake with Ted half under her. Ted finally was able to get up. It's a good think too, because with that heavy sleigh behind him and his harness jammed between the single tree and the neck yoke we really couldn't get him loose. They both then started moving fast and Fred was able to turn them into the side of the barn where they came to a halt. Ted was a little sore in the right hind for a day or two, but neither of them were injured seriously.

Ted and June on the light sleigh


Ted and June in the summer on the combined driving carriage

The sleigh was a different matter. The tongue was actually separated from the sleigh body. There is a risk when you buy an old painted sleigh. On further inspection, the tongue was made out of treated fir and the roller that attached it to the runners was actually a piece of cedar, not the strongest wood for sleigh construction. We were lucky that the accident happened when it did because it could have been much worse if we had been moving fast and that roller had come away from the sleigh. It was an old work sled when we bought it, so we knew that there would need to be some restoration, but the metal was good, so now we get to work on the restoration. The runners are fir, but they seem to be in good shape so we will work on it as it needs it. I will post pictures of the work as we go along. Fred is working on the new oak tongue and rollers, so this will be one high class working sleigh when it is finished, a far cry from its Chilcotin past as a hay feeding sled.

The projects for the next while after we get the sleigh back in working order include changing the wheels from the metal ones to nice big wood wheels on the market show wagon, building the body for the piano box buggy, and the body for the Quebec sleigh. Lots of work to do.