A ROLLS-ROYCE MOTOR COACH.
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A Birkenhead Coach Proprietor takes a Further Step Towards the Provision of the Luxury Vehicle.
NO longer is the Rolls-Royce the car for the privileged few, for Messrs. Macdonald and Co., coach owners, of Birkenhead, have just added to their fleet the luxury model of this make which is illustrated on this page.
It has been built with a body to scat eleven persons, and is the only machine of this make in service as a motor coach in the Merseyside district. The bodywork is of interesting design, for there is only one entrance near the driver's seat, and this gives access to a narrow passage running along the near side of the car. There are four rows of seats, including the driver's.
Messrs. Macdonald and Co., who have been in the passenger-carrying business since the days when horse wagonettes were in common use, have eight motor coaches, two of them being Lancia 1S-seaters, two Leyland 18seaters, one Fiat 14seater, one Daimler 10-seater, one Garford 18-seater, and now the Rolls-Royce. With the exception of the Leylands, all of them are equipped with pneumatic tyres.
For several seasons now Messrs. Macdonald have concentrated on quality trade and have been booming snore or less expensive tours by their pneumatic-tyred coaches. This season, as the result of the fine weather, single-seat bookings have been on a good scale, in marked contrast to last year, ttrhett conditions seemed all against the motor coaching business. Lately, there has been a much greater willingness on the part of the public to book their tours in advance, and for the half-day and day trips, on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, full loads have been quite commonplace.
Not only are the company specialists in day trips, but also in extended tours, and a few days ago Messrs. Macdonald completed the first of their twelve-day holiday excursions. This took one of their coaches down to Devonshire on a pilgrimage of about 1,200 miles, for which passengers paid an inclusive charge of 17 guineas, including hotel accommodation, meals, etc. Another twelve-day tour commenced on July 3rd, the itinerary embracing
B38 the Scottish Lakes and visits being paid to Edinburgh, Loch Lomond, Oban, the Trossachs, Pitlochry and Windermere. The charge for this tour was also 17 guineas. The type of coach which executes these long
distance journeys depends entirely upon the number of bookings. If, for instance, there be only a small load the Rolls-Royce car will do the journey, but if there be a greater number of passengers, one of the larger coaches is put into commission, so as to make
ample allowance for passengers' luggage.
It is intended that the Rolls-Royce coach should, wherever possible (and subject to load contingencies), undertake the longest journeys, such as the Wednesday trip to the Pass of Lienberis and Snowdon via Carnarvon. For this tour, which covers about 190 miles, the fare is 20s.
Each day some of Messrs. Maedonald's coaches maintain daily services to Holywell, Prestatyn, Rhyl, Colwyn Bay and Llandudno, for which the respective fares are Os., 7s., Ss., 10s. and us., the extreme mileage being 116. In the afternoon there are trips to Mold, 4s. 60., Loggerheads, • 5s. and Ruthin 7s. On the • weekly half-day holidays additional tours are run. A popular Wednesday tour is that to Llanberis Pass, whilst a shorter journey is that to Denbigh, Ruthin, Corwen and lAangollen, for which the charge is 10s. Another popular Thursday excursion is to Betfws-y-coed, Nant Ffrancon Pass and Llanfairfechan, at 17s.6d., and Llandegla Moors, Vale of Clwyd, Colwyn Bay and Boclfari, at lie. There is a regular tour every Tuesday' and Friday to Bettws-y-coed, at lie.
According to their list of open dates, other additional tours are to be found on Messrs. Macdonald's programme of single-seat outings. These are generally arranged to places of popular repute, somewhat off the beaten track. So far as rates are concerned, the Birkenhead owners are able to do much better than their colleagues at Liverpool, and Messrs. Macdonald's rates work out at 14d. to lid. per passenger per mile. In Liverpool the competition is very acute.