Double-decker Built from Photographs
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SIX new Daimler C.V.D. 6 single-deck buses with Saunders-Roe bodies are being delivered to Kumasi Town Council, and will join 11 other Daimlers and three Bedfords already operating in that Gold Coast town. The older vehicles have bodies constructed by native labour, using only saws. axes and an electric drill.
Although most of the chassis are of the double-decker type, only one has a double-deck body. The staff succeeded in building it without ever having seen a vehicle of its kind: no plans were used and the only guidance was obtained from photographs.
Hardwood is a local product and is used for the framework of the vehicle bodies. Side panels are of light alloy and the roof is skinned with canvas stretched over slats. No glass is fitted in the windows, because of the hot. humid climate, but Perspex windscreens are installed. One of the Bedford buses has a special rear compartment so that it can be used as a hearse.
The vehicles are operated under the direction of Mr. W. Tremayne Field, town engineer, and Mr. L. Bourne, o2 fleet-maintenance engineer, who was trained by the Daimler concern. Six town councillors form the bus committee controlling the undertaking, and the operating staff of 92 includes 17 conductresses.
The maintenance staff of 32 comprises fitters, electricians, a turner, a welder. carpenters, a blacksmith. greasers and tyre repairers. This staff also looks after other vehicles, including tractors.
The buses run seven services, which range from two to four miles long. Tickets are issued on the Bell Punch system and waybills are maintained by conductors, as in Britain. Fares vary between Id. and 3d. and work out to about Id. per mile for an adult.
The new Daimler buses are of allmetal construction and can seat 40 people, with further accommodation for 12 standing passengers. Both front and rear doors are power-operated by compressed air supplied from a compressor specially fitted to the engine. The overall length of the vehicles is 32 ft. 6 ins, and the width is 8 ft.
To find out whether the vehicles would prove satisfactory, the first completed bus was thoroughly tested on the pave track at the Motor Industry Research Association's proving ground.