So wise of Morecambe • • •
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THIS CHOICE OF O.M.O. BODY DESIGN
By Derek Moses
MORECAMBE and Heysham Corporation Transport's first single-decker buses for one-man operation are now entering service. Based on AEC Swift rear-underfloorengined chassis, they have 50-seat Pennine Coachcraft Ltd. bodies.
The exit door is located immediately behind the front axle, giving a wide twostep exit in place of the usual three-steps on dual-doorway vehicles. The exit can be more easily watched by the driver and between the entrance and exit the floor is completely flat.
Immediately behind the exit the floor ramps between three pairs of forward facing seats to a step leading to a gently ramped gangway in the rear. A wide emergency exit is opposite the main exit and an emergency window in the rear offside bay.
The buses have Deans air-operated glider doors, the exit doors being operated by selecting the sixth position on the gear control, which prevents them from opening or remaining open while the bus is in motion. For extra safety, the exit doors have sensitive edges and a tread mat on the step operates a warning light in the driver's cab.
Upholstery is "Tyneside tartan" moquette with seat backs covered in Perstop plastics to give a wood-grained finish. All interior lining is in plastics with white Formica ceilings and cove panels, pale green Perstop window frames and Perstop casing panels to match the seat backs. A full-length parcel rack on the offside incorporates a handrail and continuous bell strip. All handrails and stanchions are stainless steel. The cushions of the two forward-facing seats fold back for extra luggage capacity.
A Clayton Dewandre fresh air heating and ventilating system has air intakes below the screens and extractor vents on the roof. Hopper-type opening windows and a hinged air-extractor window in the rear nearside bay give extra ventilation.
Externally BET style glass reinforced plastics front and rear domes are employed and the buses are finished in "Morecambe green" and pale green. Flat twin windscreens are fitted, set at a vee, and a flat glass is used for the rear window.
Radio Experiment: To minimize the problem of hooligans on buses Glasgow Corporation is to experiment with radio-telephone sets in the drivers cabs of 20 buses. The sets will be provided and installed by Storno Ltd., of Camberley.
Mini Service "Uneconomic": A plan to introduce a mini-bus service in the centre of Nottingham has been shelved for the time being by Nottingham transport committee—on the grounds that it would probably be uneconomic.