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| PAINE'S CARRIAGE WORKS |
Paine's Carriage Works were established in Launceston by George
Paine who emigrated from England in 1860. The original works were at
192 York Street (with showrooms in Wellington Street), but moved to
Paterson Street in 1902, by which time George's son Frederick was in
charge. The construction of the new building was overseen by architect Edwin Laidlaw. Paines built the first brougham and hansom cabs in
Launceston and won many prizes.
The business made the transition from horse-drawn vehicles to the
motor car. An article in the Examiner (08th October 1914) comments
that Mr Paine had already had twelve years experience in this area!
Paines built a bus to service areas where the tram didn't go, and
made the first two seater car built in Northern Tasmania, as well as
an ambulance and fire engines.
Their cars sound like quite something to see. The same article
says: “Two of the latest five-seated bodies ... are painted blue,
picked out black, with a fine gold line, which harmonises with blue
leather trimmings. The vehicle is mounted on a 15-20 Fiat chassis,
supplied by the Fordyce Motor Company, and is indeed worthy of
inspection.”
But if the cars were impressive, their bus promised to be a
marvel. Here is the description published in The Examiner of 25th
August 1905: “The car is built of English ash and cedar,
varnished, and both woods can be distinguished as one enters. The
long cedar panels are beautifully let into solid pilars, and the
platform on which the conductor stands to receive passengers and
parcels is shut off from the car when necessary by a sliding door.
The seats are spring cushions of the most modern design, covered in
moss-green Russian leather. On the outside the car panels are
painted in pretty green, picked out in black, and lined with orange. In front of the ladies' car is a smoking compartment, which has
seating and accommodation for eight passengers. It may be closed
right off from the hind car by glass windows. Those on board can see
all round, as the windows facing the driver's box are circular in
shape. One of the improvements is the attachment of two nickel
handles to hold as one enters either compartment., The driver's box
is fitted up with a tool cabinet of polished wood. There are 34
windows in cedar frames,so there is no lack of ventilation, and every
window has a spring catch, which works automatically. When
necessary, the curtains, which are fixed to every window on brass
rollers, may be let down. The nickel-plated funnel and brass
ventilator in front sets off the appearance of the 'bus greatly. The
whole of the work, with 'the exception of the undercarriage, is being
carried out at .Mr. Paine's factory, and when completed it will
reflect great credit upon the designer and builder.”
The firm seems to have been very innovative. If no one has done
it already there is a local history book waiting to be written
here!!!!! A search on TROVE will turn up many other fascinating
snippets of information. The Examiner of Friday 7 June 1895 has an
interesting article about the carriageworks. You can see some
photos of buses at
http://nonsequitur.freeforums.org/lkcs-lesser-known-coachbuilders-t58-90.html
and of their two-seater car at
http://catalogue.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/item/q=paine&format=Images&avail=Online&i=3&id=LPIC147-1-65#urls.
Interviews with Fred James and Rex Case who worked for Paines in the early 1920s can be found in
Launceston Talks - Oral Histories of the Launceston Community.
