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PASSENGER TRAVEL NEWS.

The Latest Doings and Developments in the Bus and Coach World.

• COACH ACTIVITIES IN THE BRISTOL DISTRICT.

The Experiences of Four More Proprietors.

LAST week a portion of the space which we devoted to coach matters ' was occupied by an article dealing with the activities of -two prominent users in the Bristol district,' and in this article we dealwiththe experiences of four more owners in the same neighbourhood.

M. C. W. Orchard, of Bristol, runs two 28-seaters, one an &KC.. and the other a Thornyeroft. These are known as the Favourite" coaches, and are now in their third season. The vehicles are usually started from the tramway centre of the town, where they are allowed 30 minutes to pick up passengers. One of the objections ,to this system is that there is a rush in the morning to obtain first place, although, as a matter of fact, as Mr. Orchard Mated, the public cannot be relied upon to take the first vehicle. They may be attracted by the colour of the paint or by some other feature which may not be apparent ; in the same way as intending passengers often walk up and down a railway platform before they finally select their seats in a train.

Mr. Orchard is keeping ha solid tyres. He stated that if pneumatics came into use he will sell his vehicles and let some

body else -have the expense entailed.. The coaches are overhauled every winter in their own garage.

One complaint made by Mr. Orchard. was with regard to the insurance rates, which, he considers, are far too high. During one year he paid £60 on each vehicle, and during that particular season he made two claims totalling £25, after, which the insurance company put up the rates to £85 for the'next season. This, incidentally, was dope by a tarifi company. Mr. Orchard immediately

went to a nen-tariff company and obtained the same benefits for £40 per vehicle.

Mr. Orchard also had a complaint against the M.T.A. He stated that. he applied for membership two years ago and sent £3 3s. subscription. This sum was retained for 10 months, during which time membership was not given. Mr. Orchard made further application, and the money was then returned, and membership refused on the setae that Mr. Orchard had, no lathe on the premises ; yet he states that there are other members in the town who also possess no lathe.. Besides doing all his own repairs (except lathe work) Mr. Orchard repairs otneepeople's vehicles and sells spares, accessorNs.

The bodies of his vehicles were built by the Londor Improved Motel Coach

Builders, Ltd., of Lupus Street, Westminster, London, SW., and after trying various types-ef tyres he now'chiefly employs BateS, which give very good results. ,

Mr. 0. A. Gough is the well-known Bristol °wile! of " The Queen of the

Road.' cars. Hearuns five coaches—a 28-seater Daimler —a 23-seater Guy, a 20-seater. Ihilean and two, 14-seater Crossleys. The Crossleys are ,n .pneu

matie tyres, butfthe other vehicles rim on solids. Mr. Gough tated that the Crossleys ran, with great sm‘iess sot season. They,xviro handy, quick and comfortable to ride in, and heir speed is a great consideration, ilso xhile small coaches can be filled a large one may have to travel half empty

The Daimler vehicle is fitted with a Bartle body, with which,Mr.;Gough is extremely pleased. .1!.' The bodies on the Crossieys were constructed in Mr.' Gough's works. Two of the larger coaches ore equipped with S. Smith and Sons' dynamo

We were particularly interested to learn that the Crossley coaches do as much as 18 m.p.g.

One of the moo enterprising companies .4n Bristol is "Greyhound' Motors' Lid. who run coaches and single-deck buses. Both coaches and buses are on Dennis. thassis, and the

buses are provided with' Strachan and Brown bodies with their well-known

balanced' windows. These buses are used within the boundaries of the city, and the fares average id. per mile per passenger, halfpenny fares being charged for children. It is interesting tonote that this company had onlyone bus in operationion November 28th last.

With regard to the coaches, there are 11, 10 of these being 28-seaters and the other a 15-seater. They are provided with the usual type of Dennis hood, the hoopsticks of which run on slidevand thus facilitate the 'operation of raising or lowering. They are provided with rug rails and rugs, and during the season average 80 miles per day for some 20 weeks.

It. was the Greyhound Co. who ariginrated the " mystery " trip which became so popular last season. Mr. S. T. Toogood, the managing director, is a great believer in developing new ideas, and he led us to believe that there • will be some interesting developments with regard to " mystery " trips occurring this season.

The petrol consumption of the 28-seater vehicle averages 7 m.p.g., and that of the 15-seater 12 m.p.g. Mr. Toogood also referred to the rush which is made by some owners to the Tramway Centre in order to obtain passengers. He stated that he disagreed with this principle, partly for the reason that his company create a market by advertising in the local papers, and the small owners rush in and endeavour to benefit by it.

Mr. Langdon W. Andrews runs the well-known "Clifton Grey" coaches, which comprise one 28-seater Daimler, a 14-seater Crossley and two 14-seater Napiers. The three small vehicles run on pneumatic tyres, which Mr. Andrews states he prefers, but does not like paying extra for. All these coaches were put into service last season, but Mr. Arrdrews has been in the motor hire buSi ness since 1908. The building of the bodiesand the trimming are done on the premises, and the owner is willing to send coaches to any part of the -country, or, as he stated, to any part of the world, if required. He also. mentioned that if it had net been for what he termed the " cutthroat " prices operating in the district he would have fitted pneumatics on the Daimler.

The smaller vehicles are each provided with a one-man hood and side-protecting curtains with celluloid windows to each row of Seats.

Apart from the vehicles already mentioned, this owner has a double-purpose 14-seater Daimler vehicle in which the seats and squabs can be removed, and the vehicle used for carrying goods. With regard to the small vehicles, each of these ran some 10,000 miles last season without an involuntary stop, except two for tyre trouble. Mr. Andrews pointed out that the 14-seater on pneumatics cannot compete as regards prices with the 28-seater on solid tyres. He, therefore, endeavours to obtain,. an altogether different clientele, and stated that he carries passengers in his small coaches who-would not think of riding in the ordinary -large ,coach: The good appearance of the , vehicles is enhanced by providing all the , drivers with uniforms.,

• A SALOON BUS FOR RURAL AREAS.

A Useful Type of Vehicle which Can be Used for Passenger Carrying Solely or as a Combined Goods and Passenger Unit.

IN WELL-POPULATED areas the

type of passenger vehicle which is best suited to local conditions is that which provides the maximum seating capacity within the requirements of the law, but in rural areas and in districts where a chain -of hamlets and villages may link together two larger towns, the type of machine found to be the most suitable to meet the needs of the inhabitants is the light single-deck saloon bus, Which can be used wholly and solely for passenger carrying or, as well as carrying a. certain number of passengers, can also accommodate goods. Such a vehicle is that which we illustrate on this page. It shows a body built by the Dean Davis Co.? of Crown Garage, High Street, _Huntingdon, on to a 21.7 b.p. Oldsmobile chassis. As will be seen from the pictures, the vehicle presents a very neat and compact appearances and for the purpose for which it is intended it is an ideal type.

The framework of the body is built up of best selected oak and ash, the sides and back of the body being gracefully shaped, and the bottom half panelled with lead-coated sheet steel. The roof is matchboarded and canvassed, and is slatted on top to prevent chafing by the goods which it is intended to carry thereon, and for which purpose a luggage rail, 4 ins, high, is provided. A bracket at the front end of the roof accommodates a spare rim and tyre. There are three fixed windows on each side of the body, and above them are the same number of small ventilation windows, which are hung on joints so that they can be opened from the inside. There are two doors at the front, that at the near side being the passengers' entrance, and a door in the rear panel. All the doors have windows, which are made to drop. The fixed windows on each side of the rear door have ventilation windows above them, but the door itself extends the full height of the body. There is a partition at the back of the driver's seat. with two drop-in windows.

All the seats in the interior are sprung and adequately webbed, and are upholstered in good-quality leather, the cushion backs extending up to the windows. The side seats, which extend the full length of the bcdy, are supported by irons, so as to give ample room under the seats for luggage. Two brass rails are fitted right round the body on the inside in order to protect the windows. Two electric lights are provided for the interior as well as an electric bell. The running boasels on each side of the bus are fitted with long oblong boxes to accommodate small packages. The body measures, from the driver's partition to the rear, 9 ft., and its width is 5 ft.

The vehicle which we illustrate has been delivered to B. Fitebett, of Maasingham, and is indicative of the work turned out by the Dean Davis Co.

It will be as well in passing to refer briefly to the outstanding features of the Oldsmobile chassis, which, with its pneumatid tyres and powerful engine, enables a bus Of this description to travel at a speed of some, 20-25 m.p.h. under full load. The efigine has four cylinders, and develops 40 h.p. under block test. It is of the valve-in-head type, and is fitted with a Zenith carburetter, an Autovao petrol feed system being adopted. Other details include a threespeed-and-reverse gearbox, a Torbensen compound back axle, two brakes of 14 ins, diameter by 2 ins, face and artillery wheels. The price of the Oldsmobile bus, as illustrated, is 470.

A REFINED COACH WITH ROLL-TOP ROOF.

WE ILLUSTRATE on this page a recent example of the all-weather motor coach produced by Messrs. Strachan and Brown, 14, Leonard Place, High Street, Kensington, London, W., which has just been added to the-fleet of vehicles owned by Messrs. Sandford Bros., of Kensington and New Cross. We have already described the roll-top roof with which this machine is equipped, but we will refresh the memory of our readers by referring briefly to its outstanding points of design. The roll-top sections consist of waterproofed canvas with ash slats fastened on the inside by waterproof glue. Each section is carried on a spring roller, the rollers being housed in a longitudinal casing which runs. along the centre of the roof.

One or more sections can be unrolled as required, and when the sections aro all opened out and the drop windows are in the closed• position, the coach forms an all-weather type of machine. With the windows lowered and the roof sections accommodated in the central housing the vehicle is to all intents and purposes an open coach.

It will be seen from one of the illus... trations that the off-side sections are fully open, two of these at the near side being open and the centre one partlrv so.`, This particular body is fitted with 12 of the company's silent andbalanced drop windows. The interior provides seating capacity for 33 passengers, and the luxury of the equipment can he gathered from our picture of the interior. The upholstery trimming is carried out in brown antique leather, Comfortable armrests are provided to all seats. The nickel fittings and the silk curtains, which match the, special shade of blue in which the body is painted, give a derided touch of refinement to the vehicle.

The body is built on two-compartment lines, the rear section being intended for the use of smokers. As the vehicle is of the all-the-year-round type, a heating apparatus connected with the exhaust has been incorporated. This luxurious body is mounted on a chassis which is fitted with Michelin

A 35-SEATER ALL-METAL. COACH BODY.

UP TILL NOW all-metal construction has only been used for the smaller types of motor coach bodies, but that this form of construction can be equally well employed on machines of larger carrying capacity •is evident from an interesting 35-seater coach body fitted on a J-type Thornycroft chassis which has recently been completed in the works of Messrs. Melts and Westerman, 42, Waterford Road, Walham Green, London S.W.

Generally speaking, it is found that

the all-rnetal body on some types of coaches saves as much as 50 per cent, in weight compared with the ordinary wood body, with its attendant heavy ironwork, which mast be incorporated if the body is to prove satisfactory. In the case of a typical 35-seater coach, the saving of weight. as between wood and metalconstruction is represented by the difference between 17 cwt. and 35 cwt.

The bodies built on the Melts-Westerman's method are constructed of steel angle sections, which are .riveted and

acetylene welded so as to form a rigid .unit, the panels being wrapped round the framing and not tacked to it, as is the case with the ordinary type of wooden body.

The 'heating of -the vehicle illustrated is arranged in seven rows, each to accommodate five:persons. There are six doors provided on the -near-side for tha use of passengers, and one on the off-side for the-driver. The door.opening in the fourth row of seats provides access to the fifth row, which falls immediately above the wheel box, through a tip-up seat. A kicker plate is provided below each door to prevent the valances being damaged. The seats are upholstered in good quality leather, the cushions and back squabs being well sprung.

The vehicle presents an extremely handsome appearance, an effect which is partly brought about by the aluminium bonnet, the disc wheels shod with pneumatic tyres on the front and twin on twin solids on the rear, and its royal purple colouring. It would be quite impossible for the average person to detect that the body was of all-metal construction, for it has a finish equal to that given by the ordinary wooden body.

COMBINED RAIL AND COACH TOURS.

AMONGST the pictorial posters advertising the attractions of Scarborough, which are being issued by the North Eastern Railway Co., is one which has been drawn by Mr. Frank Mason, representing a motor coach returning from an excursion to the moors, with a distant view of the castle and North Bay it is an attractive picture, tastefully produced. As showing the broad-mindedness of some railway companies and their attitude towards motor coach proprietors, it is interesting to draw attention to the fact that the North Eastern Railway Co. have entered into a joint arrangement with Robinson's Motors, Ltd., of -Westroount, Scarborough, by which combined rail and motor tickets are issued at any N.E.R. booking office to parties visiting Scarborough. The combined rail and motor tours tickets can be arranged for parties of 12 or upwards taking outings from Scarborough, including first or third class rail to Scarborough and a motor tour from the station yard liy. one of Robinson's Royal Blue coaches..

By rae,ans of this arrangement the company have been granted the use of the railway's station yard as a connecting and finishing point for their motor tours. The railway company have also undertaken to further the interests of all concerned by the free exhibition of large numbers of Messrs. Robinson's posters.

Birkenhead Corporation is negotiating with the I3ebington and Bromborough Urban District Council with regard to the running by the corporation of a motorbus service to 13roinborough.

131ackpoel Watch Committee ha,s bad a letter from the Ministry of Transport stating that, in view of the departmental comerlittee just appointed to consider the whole question of licensing and stands for chaes--banes, the arrangements made last year regarding stands should be continued during the present season.