The touring coach has strong connections to our National Parks system. We've restored and replicated several of these coaches that had been built by Abbot-Downing for giving tours of both Yellowstone Park and Yosemite.
The Yellowstone Coach (pictured above) was brought to Hansen Wheel & Wagon Shop for restoration from the Wyoming State Museum. Due to the number of coats of paint that had been put on this coach, the original plan was for us to strip all the paint, replace damaged wood components and then repaint referencing information from other Yellowstone Coaches. Once we started painstakingly removing the layers of paint, we found that the original paint, lettering and striping was mostly intact on one side of the coach. After sending photos and documentation of what had been revealed in the restoration process, the museum staff concurred with our recommendation that every effort should be made to preserve the original paint and components. We left one side of the coach with all original lettering and replicated the detailing on the opposite side. We then used a special technic to add in missing paint and blend the new with the old. Our most historic find (see right hand photo below), was the original Abbot-Downing "maker's stencil"--something we have never uncovered on any other Yellowstone Coach.
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