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Back to the bonnet — a solution to o-m-o?

2nd June 1972, Page 39
2nd June 1972
Page 39
Page 39, 2nd June 1972 — Back to the bonnet — a solution to o-m-o?
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

by Derek Moses

• Does the engine of a modern one-man operated double-decker bus have to be at the rear, in order to allow the front entrance to be opposite the driver? While traffic managers and chief engineers argue about the layout of the ideal double-decker. Mr D. A. Cox, chief engineer of NBC's Northern General Group, and his staff, have produced a unique bus which might well prove to be the answer.

The bus, an ingenious rebuild of a 1958 30ft Leyland Titan PD3 with rear-entrance Metro-Cammell Weymann body, retains the more reliable front-mounted engine position, beloved of many bus engineers, while providing an entrance directly opposite the driver. This has been accomplished by moving the driver's position about 30in. to the rear, virtually producing a return to the old normal-control layout with the engine bonnet projecting well in front of the body of the bus.

Although the Northern group operates well over 200 rear-ertgined double-deckers, suitable for conversion to o-rri-o. the parent company, Northern General, also operates 51 forward entranceAEC Routernasters, mainly on the longer services such as Newcastle to Middlesbrough, via Durham; Newcastle to Crook; and Newcastle to Hartlepool via Sunderland. Seaham and the coast road.

These latter buses have been much more reliable in service than the rear-engined buses while maintenance costs of the latter are considered to be excessive. The radical rebuild of bus 49 from the group's Tyneside fleet has been undertaken as a pilot exercise, and following its success, work is well advanced on converting a Routemaster in a similar way.

Mechanical modifications to the Tyneside bus included the replacement of the Leyland synchromesh gearbox with a Routemastertype semi automatic epicyclic gearbox, and the fitting of Routemaster-style bonnet and wings, though double-sided. Bodywork changes have included the fitting of a single-width entrance and, immediately behind it. double-width exit. The staircase has been repositioned close to the front and is forward ascendingto increase safety.

Retrimmed body

All the aids for the driver of a one-man double-decker have been incorporated, including a periscope to the upper saloon. The body itself has been completely retrimmed to the popular Northern Rose specification, including the "flower power"ceilings. Named the Northern "Tynesider", and allocated the fleet number 3000, the bus appears to the average passenger as a completely new vehicle.

This illusion is enhanced by its unusual appearance. and by the re registration of the bus with a number in the "K" series. The "Tynesider" is initially operating from the Gateshead depot, but will also spend some time at Wallsend and Jarrow.

A refinement incorporated in the bus is a paraffin burningheater mounted beneath the stairs which warms the water in the cooling system. Thermostatically Controlled to avoid overheating the engine, it can also be operated by a time clock so that the driver collects a ready-warmed bus in the mornings.

All the conversion work was undertaken in the group's central works at Bensham, from whence the first genuinely bonneted Routemaster, to be named the Northern "Wearsider-, will soon emerge.

Gateshead and District MCW-bodied Leyland PD314 no. 78, new in 1958, is the identical type of bus from which the new Northern "Tynesider" was evolved.


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