End of the construction of the carriage of the suitcase # 5,
Today I have the pleasure to make the presentation to all my friends and admirers of these works, thank you all for your interest.
I think it is also important to make some considerations about these carriages of the malaposta. To have a clearer idea of ​​the service they rendered in the 19th Century, these four carriages are patrimony of the museological collection of the Museum of the Portuguese Communications Foundation, where are in exhibition and in an excellent state of conservation and restoration, by the investigations that I have done in this matter, I have concluded that they are unique in the world, with the exception of the carriage of English origin, that there are several scattered in Europe outside, in couture competitions, tourist and laser, their original name is royal mail coach, but they are also known as road mail coach and park drag.
these carriages played a key role in the economic and social development of the country. In the 19th century, as they approached towns and villages, the transport of mail, passengers, parcels and goods were the first public passenger transport in Portugal.
But with the arrival of the first train to Oporto on 7/7/1864, this dictated the end of the coaches of the suitcase, in this connection between Lisbon and Porto, Most likely this date will be associated with the carriage of Belgian origin number 7 that it will have been attributed to him as a way of recognizing the valuable services preached by this carriage which on the 7/7/1864 made the last return trip from Porto to Lisbon,
Then I'll show you some pictures and a little movie to see some of the features of this carriage. any information or enlightenment you wish to make about these works, please feel free to help them, grateful for your attention, and cordial greetings to all.

This is my collection of 4 royal mail coaches

royal mail coach nº 5

Progress of the carriage malaposta nº 5, today I will show how the construction of the interior of the cart is made, the cushioning of the seats, folders and other parts of the interior, this whole part is lined with white leather, blue carpets and ceiling lining is in light brown fabric, plus some photos to better understand this progression. The assembly is still temporary, it is used to refine and adjust all the accessories and details before setting the cover, because after fixing, it is no longer possible to do anything inside , then these parts should be tested several times so that everything runs smoothly. and nothing is missing, as I said that all parts of the interior are still temporarily fitted, this will be the last step before the cover is repaired.
Some more photos of this work for better clarification.

These are some of the stages of construction of the seats, made in natural white leather.

 this is a natural product to protect and beautify the leather.

View of the interior, through the left door, being possible to see the ceiling lining in light brown fabric.

 In these two photos you can see the tensioning straps of the doors.

carriage of the malaposta nº 5

Hello to all my friends, today I will show you some progress in the construction of the Malaposta nº 5 carriage, the folding stirrups with nº 5, the number of the carriage, the construction of the lance, or pole, and the shotgun that was part of the carriage as element of protection to the values and mail carried, some photos for better evaluation.

 fold-away access to the passenger compartment.

 The pole is already finished.

. Stages of the construction of the shotgun, the wood used is in beech the steel barrel and the belt in natural leather.

Here is the shotgun stored in the safe where it will be, back between the roof and the rear seat.