53-seater Double-deck Coach
Page 53
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Ample Luggage Space, Poweroperated Doors and Sliding Roof in New Daimler
AkLUXURY double-deck coach. with accommodation for 53 passengers and space to carry a suitcase for each, was formally taken over by Premier Travel, Ltd., Cambridge, last week-end. The vehicle, which has been given the name County of Cambridge and bears a plaque with • this title on the front, has a Daimler C.V.D.6 double-decker chassis, and bodywork by Wilks. and Meade, Ltd., Leeds, a subsidiary of Robert Barr and Wallace Arnold Trust, Lid.
Seating is laid out to give comfort
on long-distance express travel. Visibility for the driver and passengers is excellent,
The livery, used externally and for the interior, is a vivid 1:2ht blue with dark
, blue to contrast. Of composite construction, the body is full:fronted. Oak is Used for the uhderframe, with bearers in oak, reinforced with steel flitch . plates. gussets and brackets. The body members are .of selected ash, similarly.
reinforced. Body panels are in 18-gauge aluminium. and wheel-arches in 16gauge.
Battery boxes are neatly housed forward of the rear wheels. In addition to multiple flash bars, there are twin fulllength bumpers on each side and triple bumpers at the rear. The whole of the glazing is on the Beclawat Flexatite patent system, including the front windscreens. Overall dimensions of the vehicle are: Length, 26 ft.; width, 7 ft. 6 ins.; and height unladen, 13 ft. 9 ins.
• Destination Made Plain At the front is a bold . destinat ion indicator having a 3-ft. by 1-ft, 4-in. aperture, whilst at the rear there is a . smaller indicator set in a lower panelling of the uppei compartment. Beneath this is an illuminated fleet sign, with stop and direction-arrow panels located at a driver's eye level.
-Although full-fronted, the cab has only one seat, from which a full-depth one-piece windscreen gives the driver excellent vision. The bonnet is covered in sound-insulating material, and in cold weather additional warmth should be provided by the heater pipes which pass through the cab, where the heating controls are also situated.
• Rear door's are of the G. D. Peters power-operated jack-knife type, which • can be controlled from the rear vestibule or from the cab. The wide singleturn staircase has practically no projection on to the platform.
Floor, and stairs are protected by metal slats with plastic-filled treads, and diamond-mesh kicking panels are used throughout. There are two emergency doors, a vertical one in the back vestibule, and a horizontal one at the rear of the top saloon. Under the staircase is a locker which•wili take a number of . suitcases, whilst • there is a railed-off space for luggage atthe front of the upper deck; there is, too, a rack on the near side of the lower saloon.
The upper deck accommodates 27 passengers on seven bench-type seats, six of .which take four passengers and
one ,.three. The seat-to-seat pitch is 2 ft. 71 ins., and good knee-room has been ensured by raking-in the seat backs. The frames have continuous rug rails at the'rear.The width of the four-passenger seats is 5 ft. 5 ins., which is an improvement on the normal size.
Twin sliding Weathershields roofs are fitted, with chromium-plated exterior guard bars arranged over the openings. Ventilation is provided by six permanent intake -vents above the front win dows, and six extractors, which are covered with special cowls, made by the bodybuilder, on the side roof. A Clayton M-type heater is fitted at the front, and there are 10 strip lights. On each side are four Young's 9-in.-deep sliding quarter-windows.
The Lower saloon has' 10 double seats facing forward—the pitch in this instance being 2'ft 5 ins.--and two triple seats facing into the gangway. Permanent-intake vents are brought in behind the bulkhead panel, which is equipped with clock and mirrors; there are three side extractors. For the loser saloon, a Clayton A.V.H. heating and ventilating unit is provided. Here, also, there are eight Young's sliding windows and 10 strip lights