New design by Midland Red engineer
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• Mr. S. W. Adams, design and development engineer of the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Co. Ltd., outlined his concept of the bast type of single-deck stage-carriage bus at a meeting of the Institute of Road Transport Engineers, Midlands centre, in Birmingham on Tuesday. In a paper on the design and development of public service vehicles he gave a detailed specification of the bus, a version of which would be used as a coach.
The proposed bus is a 45-seater, 36ft long with a floor area of 295 sq.ft. It has a front entrance forward of the front axle, a central exit and is based on a conventional chassis. Power is provided by a Midland Red 10.5-litre naturally aspirated 120 bhp horizontal diesel mounted longitudinally at the rear of the vehicle. Torque is transmitted to a four speed semi-automatic gearbox with a fluid coupling in unit with the engine and thence direct to the back axle through a 22in. propeller shaft with constant velocity joints.
Midland-Red toggle-link suspension is fitted at front and rear, brakes are of the air-operated drum type. The vehicle has a gross weight of 10i tons and the loads on the front and rear axles are 3+ tons and 7 tons respectively. This allows the use of 9.00 X 20 12-ply tyres having a rating of 2+ tons per tyre. The maximum swept-circle diameter is 71ft.
Safety Explaining the departures from standard Midland Red practice represented by the bus, Mr. Adams said that passenger convenience and safety were a major consideration in designing the vehicle, notably with regard to children and older people. This dictated the use of a single-step entrance and the elimination of steps in the saloon (by using a sloping floor) which would have been impossible if the bus had been fitted with an underfloor engine. And because a version of the bus would be employed as a coach, provision would have to be made for ample luggage accommodation which could only be done by equipping the body with a locker between the axles.
During the discussion, Mr. E. C. Tuff, chief engineer of Midland Red, said he regarded the gas turbine as the "ultimate" power unit for p.s.v. Experiments had shown that a turbo-charged smaller engine had no advantages for stagecarriage work.