Unjustifiable Criticism of British Buses
Page 50
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I NOTICE that Mr. E. J Cooke, whose letter appears A in your issue dated August 24, wants to know how the modern bus justifies its unladen weight of approximately 8 tons_
Surely the braking system as used on the modern bus alone adds considerably more weight to the chassis than the system employed on the old Leyland TD1. if Mr. Cooke will compare the hubs and brake drums of the post-war Leyland, A.E.C., Guy and Foden buses with those on the TDI he will surely notice a big difference. • Comparing post-war vehicles with the old lightweights, it is not difficult to see where the extra weight comes in. For instance, there are larger tyres and rims, synchromesh gearboxes, as on Leyland and others, preselective gearboxes as on A.E.C., Daimler, Guy and Maudslay, to name a few, and shock absorbers of a heavy-duty design. Oil engines, too, have increased in power and weight.
The average metal-framed body of to-day seems to be heavier than the old coachbuilt ones, plus the fact that the majority is 8 ft. wide.
With regard to having to engage first gear with only a dozen passengerson board, surely a British-built passenger vehicle is not so fussy as this. I am sure that British-designed and built vehicles do not deserve this criticism when concerns like those I have mentioned, and others, can command large orders for export to
all parts of the world, such orders being obtained against keen competition.
Lanes. JOHN B. WARD.
PRE-SELECTIVE GEARBOX IS IDEAL
ITH reference to the debate on fluid transmission VT and pre-selective gearboxes. I consider this system to be ideal from the driver's point, of view, but how damaging it can be in the hands of the careless man. With the violent engagement of a gear when stationary, plus the neck-breaking jerks when travelling, it is remarkable that widespread failures are not witnessed.
As to the remarks of Mr. G. W. Byer in your issue dated August 10, he seems to be of the opinion that because a driver operates over a busy route this is a sufficient excuse to permit him to drive his vehicle carelessly. I am a driver on London route 88, which can be described as one of the worst in that we have no fewer than 53 sets of traffic lights, together with numerous pedestrian crossings, traffic delays, etc. T can say, however, that this does not cause me to "break the necks" of passengers when changing gear.
What of the other menace, the driver who tears strips from the gearbox-band linings by slipping every change he makes. I fail to see what manufacturers can do to overcome this difficulty. Few drivers seem to realize that it is just as easy to drive the good way as it is the bad.
London, S.W.9.• F. E. NUNN.