MOTOR COACHING IN SWITZERLAND.
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An Eastbourne Firm Who Have Done Much to Popularize the Continental Tour, and Will This Year Again Run Tours Abroad
rHAPMAN AM) SONS (EASTBOURNE), LTD., who have bad much experience in running Continental
and a v,ery neat form of hub cap mileometer is fitted.
The bodywork is extremely corafortable•' --a .vital necessity pn long-distance tours img—doep spring cushions and back squabs being upholstered in real leather. The seats are of standard width and normally carry five persons, although to ensure the passengers' comfort on tours of the description for which this vehicle is used, only four are carried in each seat.
The hood used on this Dennis coach is of the type wherein the covering is pulled over from the rear, being supported by folding Struts at the back of each seat, while side curtains sire carried under the cushions.
Detail work, not only in connection. with the vehicle, but in connection with the tour itself, has been very carefully thought out: A special ladder is provided !or those who .find difficulty in mounting the usual running board, while the passenger sisting at the rear off side cif the vehicle is instructed to press a hell push, which,' by operating a buzzer close to the driver, indicates the presence of an overtaking vehicle' on the road. This •idea is used on most of Messrs. Chapman's touring coaches, and it . has been directly responsible for the elimination of complaints from other road users. To prevent these passengers in the .f.ront seat fsoinbecoming uncomfortably WaTIEL smoke. There is a door on the off side of the driver's cab, and the driver is. isolated from the passengers by means of a small partition—a-feature which is very deSirable in connection with passenger vehicles. In order that he may be made aware of the fact that all • passengers are seated a mirror is fitted inside the cab jUst'abave the' windscreen.This mirror is, of course, quite apart from that which is provided for indicating to the driver the approach of triffie from behind.
The electrical equipment of the bus is of the well-known C.A.V. make, and it includes, in addition to head, side, and tail lamps, all the interior lighting and the self-starter. The various switches and other controls are neatly mounted on a polished board on the off side of the dashboard, an that they are all
within easSsy reach of the driver. A speedometer, clock, oil gana.e., and control For the self-starter are also mounted on this board.
Use is mado of the exhaust gases for heating the interior of the bus, and although this feature is, perhaps, not • new, very few instances of its application to passenger vehicles are known.
All the fittings, both internal and external, are nickel-plated, and the vehicle which be illustrate, being liiiished in royal blue, with the window frames and top standing out in white, possesses a -most striking and dignified appearance. A white band runs round the waist rail of the body, and it hears B36
motor coach t.ourS and h-avo run many successful tours to Sivitzerland in Previous years, will this season be the first. company to run under the new. triptique arrangement. The company will uge a 43 h.p. Dennis chassis for this class of
four, which has been specially fitted for the occasion with 1,085 mm. by 185 mm. giant Cabl4 pneumatics on Michelin disc wheels; Twin rear wheels are used, and two spares are carried, one in 3 locker at the rear and the other in a special bracket • beneath the chassis; The Michelin tyres are fitted with the special type of warning device which, through th.e medium of the explosion of a cartridge, informs the driver so soon as the tyre commences to deflate below a certain pekFaire, while acompressed-air cylinder is carried for inflation purposes, ventilators are fitted in the dash, while there it a notice requesting these passengers not to distract the driver'S attention. On the Dennis coach used for tours abroad passengers' luggage .is carried iii two capacious lockers at the rear. • Mr. Chapman finds that it pays.to give passengers the best in every respect, and only first-class hotels are visited on longdistance tours. On local work all seats on Alessi's. Chapman's vehicles may be booked beforehand, and visitors can usually be picked up at their hotels instead of having to sit in the car waiting for a load to be made up. During' the winter months every vehicle in the company's fleetis given a complete overhaul, and the effectiveness of this procedure may be judged by the fact that, despite some of the chassis being eight years old, the spare vehicle which is held in reserve was not used all last season, and only on one occasion was a coach delayed at the roadside. All conches and the passengers they carry artl insured, but during the past: two years the insurance company have only had tel pay out £4 5s. and £12 1.5s: respectively. Experiments with Dunlop supercushion tyres for the front wheels are being made on Messrs. Chapman's coaches, and if the giant pneumatic proves successful for this work its use, we are told, will be extended throughout the fleet.