Two-way R.T. in German Coaches
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BY linking telephone exchanges to short-wave radio stations spaced along the main roads and railway tracks, the German Post Office aims to provide direct communication between subscribers and travellers on its passenger routes. This is demonstrated at the German Communications and Transport Exhibition at Munich, which closes on October 11.
The German Post Office runs 4,000 long-distance coaches throughout the Western Zone. A caller using the radio service is connected to the radio station nearest to the coach and the message is transmitted on the " scramble" system to avoid interference and to 'preserve its personal nature. 'this system is to be made available to independent operators and car owners, The estimated cost is
.about 6,000 D.M. (£500) per vehicle, or a fixed monthly rental can be paid.
There are no new °vehicles shown, but the Post Office is displaying the Mercedes 145 b.h.p. rear-engined coach. as representative of its long-distance vehicles. A Rathgeber chassisless bus—a lighter type—with Krauss Maffei components and rear engine, is to be standardized for local services.
In the postal services, the MX. (Iviaschinfabrik, Essen) 2-ton battery-electric parcels van with Minnemeier body, and the Gaubschat electric fast mail van are used, and to economize in labour cost and material, both have only one door to the cab. A Volkswagen letter and parcels van for the German Post Office is also shown. This is intended for use in outlying areas for collections and deliveries of 12 miles or more a day.
The Oerlikon Gyrobus, two of which have been built for Yverdon, Switzerland, and will be put in operation towards the end of this year, is being demonstrated in the exhibition area, but there is no opportunity of assessing its acceleration or maximum speed.
The Commercial Motor correspondent waited three minutes while the gyro flywheel, which weighs 1 tons and revolves in a hydrogen-filled container, was started and rotated to 3,000 r.p.m., the operational speed. He was impressed by the freedom from noise during a test run.
The gyro is boosted at points spaced at about four-mile intervals, the time for raising the speed being about 30 seconds at each point.
Many interesting details of this vehicle were given in an illustrated article which appeared in The Commercial Motor, dated December 22, 1950.