A 16-SEATER ALL-SEASON MOTOR COACH.
Page 22
Page 23
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A Gangway Vehicle, with a Detachable Top, Incorporating Several New
Features.
rriHE development of the motor coach has been, as one might expect, coincident with the growth in the public appreciation of load travel facilities.
AlthoughAhe motor ehar-iebancs of today may not, appear to be strikingly dis
similar in outward appearance to its pro totype of 10 or more years ago, there are. many. refinements incorporated in modern designs which have no counterpart in some of the earliest types; particularly does this, apply in the case of bodywork features.
So far as motor toaeh bodywork is concerned, it is in connection with details that great improvements have been effected. Details, small in themselves.
often have great bearing on the general efficiency of a vehicle. Take a case in
point. It is not so many years ago that
o nly one type of char-gebance was in
general use. in which the body, consisted
of a number of transverse seats, to which access was gained by a separate door to each row. When motor coaching was not so popular as it is to-day, this type o f body sufficed and it gave more or less satisfactory service, but with the de. velopment of the movement and of the public taste, a niimber of different types have graelually gained favour.
In moot of these designs there is a general tendency to eliminate the num
ber of door openings in order to strengthen the superstructure. This has resulted in the development of the gangway coach, which enables the /lumber of doors to be kept down to one on the near side for passengers and one on the off side for the driver.
So far as motor coaches—are concerned, these doors have usually been of the ordinary swing type,: and net infee qtiently passengers ha-re experienced a difficulty in gaining access to the vehicle interior through sueb .openings. A type of entrance which aims at removing this difficulty and which is safe and efficient in use is that which is 'more often than
not used on buses of the pay-as-you-enter type, and which is under the Control of the driver.
• This type of entrance. has recently been incorporated in the design of a wellconstructed motor coach body which has been built in the works of the Chelsia Motor Building Co., Ltd., 164, King's Read, Chelsea, London, S.W.3, and fitted on a Guy chassis, and as this vehicle, possesses several interesting features we peopose to give a bi-ief description, of its construction.
In the first place, let it be understood that the vehicle is intended for all-the. year-round operatien, for which purpose it is provided with a detachable top. The framework and the sills of the coach body are built of well-seasoned ash, and the wheel arches and side and rear framing are reinforced with steel pressings arid iron forgings. The panels are of sheet steel and are securely fixed to the framing, and the front and rear corners of the body are hand-beaten to shape. All joints m the panelling are covered with moulding.
The body has a seating capacity for 16 passengers, two pairs of seats behind the driver's seat being arranged on each side of a central gangway, behind which is a compartment built on sociable lines. The upholstering and trimniing are carried out in a good quality leather cloth,
• the sent cushions being exceptionally deep, well-sprung and padded with curled horsehair. Loose cushions are used, and they are kept in position on the seats by a deep edge plate. The backs of the seats are covered with Te:x.tilose matting, which is to be preferred to an ordinary painted back (which becomes readily scratched) and which is a sanitary and serviceable covering.
In the "design of this Chelsea body, consideration has been given to keeping the weight down, and with this object in view all the seats are mounted on cast'aluminium supports. The body is lined with varnished three-ply. For summer service a one-man-type hood is used, added support being given to its front end by two vertical stfpports carried from the waist rail. As we have already said the door is of the type which is familiar on small rural type motorbuses. It is of the twopiece type and is hung at the front and centre on brass butts. It is under the control of the driver, who can bring, it into operation by a handle to the left of his seat, which locks it firmly when closed in dowel centring pins. For winter service a, detachable top is brought into use. This top is of the rigid type with a dome-shaped roof and a rear panel fitted with an oval light. It is framed in ash,and the roofboards are made of ien. matchboarcling, tongued and grooved and bedded in white lead in order to make the vehicle waterproof. The roof ribs are of ash, and they are strengthened by mild steel plates, which extend the fall width of the ribs. The detachable top is secured to the body by six Duralumin tubes, to the windscreen by bolts, and to the rear rail by hook bolts. The side windows in the detachable top are of a now type. They are in one frame of ash, which is rebated out to receive the lights. The windows are divided in two, the bottom glasses being fixed, whilst the top glasses, which slide in felt-lined channels and normally overlap the lower halves on the outside when the body is totally enclosed, can be lifted up and brought inside them when it is desired to give additional ventilation to the interior. These windows can be adjusted for fixing in two positions, and from personal inspection we can testify to their efficiency and freedom from rattle. A detachable partition is fitted half. way across the body behind the driver', seat, and this virtually gives him an isolated position. This screen is fitted with a roller blind in order to prevent refraction from the four roof lights, which are so arranged that they can bt connected up so soon as the top is mounted.
When the detachable top is in position, the driver's compartment is of course, totally enclosed, and in order that the driver may signal his intentions to overtaking traffic a small section of the framing on his right, immediately above the waist rail, has been hinged so that he can push it outwards and give the necessary hand signal.
The door frames of the detachable top are, of course, made to open with the door of the ordinary coach body. A capacious box for the accommodation of tools is built between the door and the rear wing on the near side, and provision is made for carrying a spare wheel and tyre in special brackets on the off side. The vehicle is an excellent example of modern motor coach design, and the complete body is typical of the high quality and workmanship of Chelsea productions. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that, a bustype entrance has been used on a motor coach, and, although it may have some critics 'on the score of appearance, it certainly possesses the merits of safety and efficiencyThe Chelsea Motor Building Co., Ltd., are to be commended for breaking away from conventional practice.