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The Southport one-step and a two-step for the Mersey beat
Page 131
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• Two North Western municipalities have just taken delivery of the first examples of Leyland Panther /MCW single-deckers designed for their one-man-operated services and the carriage of standing passengers. And although they are both 36ft by 8ft 2+in. models with the 0.600 engine and semiautomatic transmission and bodywork by Metropolitan-Cammell-Weymann, they provide interesting contrasts in specification; they also invite comparison with the BristolPennines for Reading (CM last week), which provide exceptionally good visibility for standees.
The Liverpool Panther has a 17ft 6in. wheelbase and carries 47 seated and 24 standing passengers. The front entrance has unequal-width glider doors and two shallow steps; there is a flat vestibule and then one more step into the saloon which has a stepfree floor gently ramped up to the rear. The central exit has equal-width glider doors. The entrance is 3ft 7-kin. wide, the exit is 3ft 6fin.
By contrast, Southport's Panther has an 18ft 6in. wheelbase and carries 45 seated and 17 standing. The entrance and exit are both 3ft glin. wide and the front entrance has only a single step. The floor is then ramped to about the rear of the front-wheel arch, from which point it is virtually level right through to the centre exit; behind this is a single step to the rear saloon, which has a slight ramp. Comment by an expert who has seen it; "A lovely floor". The Southport doors are equal-width, double folding with sensitive edges. The emergency exit has a micro-circuit wired to warn the driver if it is opened.
A sophisticated heating system is installed on the Liverpool bodies—Smiths 1500 (or Clayton B42) with individual vents above each window to provide hot or cold air, and automatic temperature control by a thermostat. The main side windows have Simplastic glazing.
In the Southport bodies there are three underseat saloon heaters, plus the driver's heater /demister. This vehicle has parcel racks and translucent roof-light panels, and a novel feature is the accessible stowage of the batteries under the lift-up floor of a small, railed luggage compartment in the main saloon.