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NEW NORMAL-CONTROL COACHES FROM SHAW AND KILBURN
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A NNOUNCED this week by Shaw and I-1 Kilburn, the Bedford dealers, are two new 20/25-seat coaches which they have had built for them by Real! (Coachbuilders) Ltd. and which are now in production. The advent of new small coaches is rare in itself, but the Shaw and Kilburn Grosvenor and Mayfair niodels are virtually unique today, in the U.K. in that they are of normal-control layout, being based on Bedford 33LZ 4-ton. goods chassis.
The two models are of identical size and construction and differ only in internal layout, the Grosvenor having25 tubular-framed seats with semi-headrests and top rug rail, while the Mayfair is a 20-seater with• non-adjustable luxury seats having full split headrests. Both coaches are offered with the choice of the Bedford 220 cu. in. four-cylinder diesel engine, producing 70 b.h.p. at 2.800 r.p.m., or the 214 cu. in. six-cylinder petrol engine giving 100 bhp, at 3,600 r.p.m. Unladen weight with the diesel engine is 3 tons 10 cwt.; the exact figure with the petrol engine is not yet known.
The body is ash-framed, with steel flitch plates, the main framing being bolted or screwed to the unclerframe. External panelling is in 20 s.w.g mild steel over the lower half of the body an.d 18 s.w.g. aluminium alloy on the upper part, including the front and rear domes. The main nearside entrance door is immediately to the rear of the wrapround windscreen, the driver's door in 'the same position on the offside serving also as the emergency exit. The passenger door has a recessed step well, leading to a centre gangway which is itself recessed to give 5 ft. 10 in. headroom. Overall dimensions of the vehicle are 23 ft, 9 in long by 7 ft. 4 in. wide. A 26-cu-It. luggage locker across the rear of the body is reached externally via a wide (but rather low-set) hinged panel.
Interior body panelling is aluminium on the front and rear domes, with Vynalast for the side quarters and roof centre; side and door panels also are in Vynalast.
• Plastic finisher fillets are used at the window frames, the windows having topsliders for ventilation, supplemented by small roof vents. Weathershields roof vents are an option at £25 each, parcel racks costing £58. The floor is covered in heavy-duty linoleum but pile carpet is available for the gangway at £12 extra. The 25 seats in the Grosvenor have 0. D. Peters Dapta Mk. 2 tubular frames with polyether and rubber foam interiors
and are trimmed in moquette and vynide. with piped edges. The Mayfair's 20 seats also have moquette and vyn;cle finish but are of split-headrest type.
The new coaches will be offered to p.s.v. specification and can be finished in colours of the customer's choice. Wheeltrims are fitted all round and a chromium-plated bumper is included in the prices quoted below, which also include £9 for telescopic dampers at rue rear axle.
Body only . £1,773 Os.
The new coaches are being handled through London Coach Division, Shaw and Kilburn, Western Avenue, London, W.3. H.B.C.
Park Royal at the Show
SIX passenger vehicles with Park Royal Vehicles group bodies will, it is expected, be exhibited at the Commercial Motor Show in September. A Northern General Routemaster and a 33-ft. Leyland Panther for Manchester will be shown on the Park Royal stand, whilst Chas. H. Roe Ltd. will exhibit a Daimler Fleetline for Leeds Corporation, and a 36-ft. Leyland Panther with ramped floor for Hull Corporation. A Park Royalbodied Renown for the North Western Road Car Co. Ltd. will probably he shown on the A.E.C. stand, and a Park Royal-bodied Atlantean on the Leyland stand.
New London Threat
From Our Industrial Correspondent
ATHREAT that the ban on overtime which crippled London bus services for more than a month towards the end of last year will be reimposed unless the final report of the Committee of Enquiry under the chairmanship of Professor Phelps Brown is published within a month was made by busmen's leaders last week. A delegate conference representing 33,000 busmen at 73 Central London bus garages decided on this move.
It was claimed at the meeting that the Committee's final report on London busmen's pay and conditions was being delayed for political reasons.
At the Ministry of Labour, however, it was stated that there had been no undue delay in publishing the report.
The publication date is now expected to be in the second half of April. This should be early enough to avo'd another ban, for the next delegate conference, at which such a ban would be organized, is not due until the end of the month.
But busmen's unofficial leaders are already getting ready to oppose any new proposals for " standee " buses, larger buses and one-man operated vehicles if this means reduced services.
South Shields Trolleybus Switch : The three remaining South Shields trolleybus routes were due to be switched over to motorbus operation on April 1. when delivery of 18 63-seat double-decker buses was completed. About 10 trolleybuses will, however, be retained temporarily to augment peak-hour services if necesbary. AWELCOME feature incorporated in the latest Park Royal rear-engined bus bodies is a modification to the requirements of Stockton Corporation Transport department, who have specified a screened engine compartment. The Atlanteans—seven in number—will be the first rear-engined buses to join the Stockton fleet, and incorporate a number of interesting features not least of which is a gently ramped lower-saloon floor to
obviate a step ahead of the rear axle, which is of the normal straight-through type.
Heating is provided by a Smiths 1500 heater mounted beneath the rear topdeck seats with a heater duct along the nearside of the floor providing an outlet adjacent to each row of seats.
Chequer-plate panelling is used extensively in the interior finish, all the casing panels and staircase surrounds being thus trimmed, as can he seen in the close-up of the entrance, which also illustrates the Manchester-type staircase. Commode rails fitted to the entrance doors are a great help to small children or the infirm. Another five Atlanteans, and two 33-ft. Panthers will be delivered to Stockton towards the end of the year, and another seven Atlanteans are on order for next year, all to be fitted with Park Royal bodies. F.K.M.