Herdic Phaeton Company Herdic Phaeton Company The Herdic Phaeton Company was a late 19th Century horse drawn stagecoach company in Washington, D.C. It started operations in December 1879, taking over for a horse-drawn chariot company that had operated unsuccessfully for three years. The company took its name from the chariot's designer Peter H. Herdic of Wilmington, Delaware. They ran plushy upholstered carriages from 22nd and G Streets NW along G Street and Pennsylvania Avenue to the Navy Yard competing directly with the Washington and Georgetown streetcars. The company was more successful than the chariot company and continued to expand until 1887. Lines were
Phaeton body rigid roof could be added before a drive in preparation for inclement weather, and side curtains or screens could be installed once the roof was in place. This was mainly temporary and partial relief rather than the more permanent, watertight protection offered by a convertible. As a result, a phaeton was much lighter than the sturdier, weather-ready convertible. Since the body was entirely open, it was easy to add or remove an extra row of seating where space had been left in the original construction. A phaeton differs from a convertible in having no winding or sliding windows in the