• Coquille River Catalog Page

Modification Information

Coquille River OR
Harbour Lights #111

Early Coquille River pieces made from the "California mold" are distinguished from later pieces made in Canada by at least four mold differences.

California Mold with 3 panel door

Canadian Mold with 4 panel door

The windows are the second key difference. In the earlier California made pieces the windows are very roughly made, looking mostly like two square indentations to represent the window panes. In the later Canadian made ones, the windows have a much more finished look with obvious wood graining and more details. The third difference is the painting of the uprights between window panes in the lantern room; the uprights (or mullions) are painted cream color in the Canadian ones while they are painted black in the California ones.

When seen side-by-side, the top roof line of the California pieces have a distinct slope off of even (left). The changes were made when production was shifted to Castle Studios in Ontario Canada to both make the pieces easier to paint and to make them more attractive, according to B.C. Younger & Associates COO, Kim Andrews. The change was apparently made between piece #425 which was made in Canada and #386 which was made in Canada but from the California mold. Roughly one-third of the Coquille Rivers may be made from the California mold.

Production of the Coquille River lighthouse was discontinued when it was pointed out the model had six sides while the real lighthouse has eight sides. Coquille River was among the first 17 pieces introduced by Harbour Lights in July 1991; it was withdrawn from production and retired in February, 1993.

This page contains information that was developed independently by John Chidester before his affiliation with Harbour Lights as Webmaster. This information has not been fully verified by Harbour Lights. Photographs of the variations copyright John Chidester.