BRITISH BUSES FOR SERVICE IN RUSSIA.
Page 23
Page 24
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
-Details of a Fleet of Leyland Vehicles Embodying Several Interesting Features.
IT is generally, realized that thetrans.. port requirements of Russia are likely to be very considerable for many years to come, and that On account of the limited extent of the country's railway
system road vehicles of all types be required to develop many of the scattered and isolated centres of population—many of them rich in mineral and other resources—at present ill-served in the matter of goods and passenger services.
Before the war Great Britain tran. sacted considerable business with commercial and industrial undertakings in Russia, and, now that the Soviet Govern.ment has.' been recognized by this country and trade relations are once again on a better footing, there is little doubt that, providing financial arrangements can be satisfactorily settled, many inquiries and potential orders will
emanate from that country. •
There are quite a number of British motor vehicles in service in variOus parts of Russia, and ore of the largest fleets is that owned by the All-Russian Cooperative'Society, who employ 13 Leyland vehicles, 'which include a stores van and a mobile. workshop; The yeoman service which this fleet has rendered has been direct1,7,, responsible for an order for a further .number of vehicles being placed with Leyland Motors, Ltd. The second contingent of vehicles will be eight in number, and will comprise 29-seater passenger vehicles intended for service in the streets of Moscow.
We' reprodooes on this page several illuetrations showing features in the design of these vehicles, and, since they incorporate one or two unusual details which are not to be found on passenger vehicles in service in this country, we propose giving a short description of the salient, characteristics of their eon struction.
From the illustration of the complete vehicle it will be seen that the entrances are on the right-hand side of the machine, this disposition being favoured in order .to conform to the Continental rule of the road. There are two doors, each 2 ft. 2 ins, wide, one being situated about. amidships and the other immediately to the rear of the off-side heck wheel; each is provided with a series of three steps and a folding partition which encloses the opening. The roof is surmounted by a luggage rail, and access to it is gained by a ladder fitted at the rear ; this ladder is. hinged at the top, so that its base may be swung clear and Secured at a safe distance from the body in order to prevent damage to the panels and the glass when loading and unloading are being performed. At the forward end of the roof a protruding • taper box is .fitted, and this accaminoclates the various toute numburs. ., These take the form of stencil plates, and can quite conveniently be inserted from the driver's compartment. The entrance to the driver's cab is by way of a separate doorway approached by two steps, and the driver is completely isolated from the passengers, his
seat being in the usual position. A quarter-folding windscreen ensures sufficient ventilation for the compact cab, and provides adequate visibility for the driver. ..
It is noteworthy of mention that the type of floating dashboard introduced by the company some" months ago is included in the design of this vehicle. In brief, this form of dashboard takes the shape of a plain rectangular sheet of metal which is surrounded by the front part of the body, the opening being covered by a curved draught plate, which is bolted to the front crossmembers of the body. The seating arrangement is somewhat unusual, although in the main it consists X a series of transverse seats, each for two persons, located on each side of a central gangway. One of the pictures shows thearrangement at the forward end of the vehicle, froin which it will be seen that there is a seat backing on to the driver's compartment, and, although it will be observed that it extends across more than half the width of the body, it, in no way interferes with the accessibility of the trapdoor for the gearbox. In order to overcome the dig comfort caused by the protrusion of the wheelboxes into the interior of the body,. the seats which are located above them are made to face to the rear, whilst there is a longitudinal seat which faces the rear door, and another extending across the full width of the body at the rear. There is also a longitudinal seat on the left-hand side of the vehicle at the forward end, this facing towards the driver's cab.
All the main side windows of the body are made to be lowered they are springbalanced, and a separate blind is fitted to each, whilst the transverse window panels which form the sides of the deepset entrances are covered by draw-to curtains.
In view of the extreme cold that prevails in Moscow for a considerable part of the year, it has been deemed advisable to heat the interior of the vehicles. One of the detail illustrations shows how this has been. effected. By means of a T-piece and two-way valvo inserted in the exhaust pipe just forward of the main silencer, the hot gases may be led by way of a, vertical pipe to another which runs the whale length of the left-hand side of the body and across it at the rear, terminating in an external silencer which is attached to the frame and disposed just above the cradle which houses a spare wheel.
It will be noted that the vehicle is shod with large-sire pneumatic tyres on all Wheels—those at the rear being twins—of 1,085 tom. by 185 mm. dimensions. Another feature (that should not he overlooked is the distinctive lifeguards Which are fitted at each side of the vehicle. The following are some of the chief dimensions of the bus ;—Wheelba,se,15 ft, 10 ins. ; overall length, 25 ft. 2 ins. ; frame overhang, 6 ft. 51 ins.; height, to top of roof, 9 ft. 9 ins. ; depth of body, 6 ft, 10 ins. ; track (front wheels), 5 ft. 6 ins.