While the Union Pacific and other rail-connected items have long been a part of a Cheyenne-area historian and restorer’s focus, an old fancy horse-drawn carriage joined his collection this week.
Michael Pannell said the opportunity to buy a brougham-style carriage in Windsor, Colorado, was too intriguing to pass up.
“I just saw it and thought it was really nice. I’d not restored a carriage before, so I thought I ought to try it,” he said. “The lady was really nice that sold it and she gave me a really good deal, so I thought, well, let’s see what we can do with it.”
The more than a century-old piece joins Pannell’s collection of historic railcars, buses, wagon carts and other railroad-associated stock that he is working on at his unique restoration workshop, which is an old Atlas missile silo about 30 minutes outside of Cheyenne near Carpenter.
Through his nonprofit, High Plains Railroad Preservation, Pannell has a number of ambitious projects, including a 113-year-old Union Pacific boxcar.
Pannell said the carriage was initially bought at a 2021 auction in Denver. Unfortunately, he said, a man who knew the history of the piece has died. He hopes to track down more information about it.
Can't Find The Date Made
Some of the feedback he has received on a social media post generated comments about the carriage looking as if it might have been in Europe, he said.
Pannell’s search of the carriage for a date, maker or other model information has turned up nothing, so far. He said he just brought the buggy to his shop on Thursday and has not had a lot of time for more research, yet.
“All we know is that it’s a brown carriage,” he said. “It has half a top. They reckon that it was built for a woman just because of the plush interior and that kind of thing.”
He said he believes the single-horse vehicle probably was made in the 1890s.
The carriage appears to have original rubber around its spoked tires. A hand brake on the right-hand side of the driver’s seat is missing linkages. There are no brake shoes on the rear wheels.
Pannell hopes to find or replicate the shoes as part of his restoration. The hubs and wheels might need to go to a specialist for restoration work. He will put his skills to work on the wood.
“It needs bodywork. It’s got some lower part of one of the doors that is rotten,” he said. “There’s a hinge that is frozen on one of the doors, so we’re going to have to try and get that to work.”
A curtain hangs in the front window that boasts a metal handle for the door latch and a storage area below the driver’s seat.
Interior Needs Restoration
The original interior has been attacked by mice and needs restoration. He had not yet thought through all of the details or how far to go in his efforts to bring it back to turn-of-the-20th-century glory.
He also has not yet decided whether it will actually roll down a parade route or just be a static display.
“I kind of envisage maybe taking it to a show here and there or something if people want to see it,” he said. “Other than that, it’ll just stay here for the time being until we decide how far we want to go with it.”
Brougham-style carriages originated in England and were designed without a supporting pole between the front and rear axles, allowing the carriage floor to be lowered for easier entry. They typically feature a sharply squared end of the roof at the back, a body line that curves forward at the base of the enclosure, and just one step to enter.
Pannell’s other artifacts include a rare 1949 GMC Union Pacific passenger bus, one of two known to exist, the 113-year-old boxcar he rescued from Chalk Bluff Road that included signatures of workers, other railroad memorabilia, and much more.
He has worked for other entities restoring vintage train cars for Arvada, Colorado, and Union Station in Ogden, Utah.
“(The carriage) is just a new thing for us that I thought we’d try out and see how it goes,” he said.
Contact Dale Killingbeck at dale@cowboystatedaily.com
