• LONDON' S..PASSErs
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TRAFFIC PROBLEM.
A New. London Omnibus to Seat 57 Passen noved. The Solution to' a Double Difficulty.
T. WO PROBLEMS of London's passenger traffic are attempted to be solved in the design and production of the new S-type omnibus which has, on: occasion; received brief reference in our columns. The first of these is the need for a substantial increase in the facilities for travelling by the public at all hours of the day, but at certain hours in particular ; the second is the need to make the omnibus service pay.
It is only the short-sighted man, the person with Bolshevistic tendencies mid the 'individual of an imported race, who will glary in the fact that he is being carried for a mile at a fare which spells loss to the bus company. He does not realize or he does not care if ultimately the service ceases because it is not profitable. The level-headed business man knows that he cannot .reasonably expect ta get something for nothing, and that the only way in which to secure the continuance and development of the travel facilities which mean so much to him is for him to assist in making the services pay their way and earn a dividend on the capital involved.
The London bus, for reasons which date back to the very earliest days of the motor vehicle, has always _seated 34 people-18 inside and 16 outside. During the war five additional passengers were allowed to he carried standing in the interior of the bus. Later on came the increases in wages and costs of materials, fuels, and maintenance charges, and even with a maximum, capacity of 39 passengers the buses commenced to run at a loss. The result has been a material diminution of the services, not at the wish of the cottipany, but largely because of the difficulty of keeping the buses en the road, in view of the working of the eight-hour day for drivers and conductors. A great deal of manipulation has been necessary, and one of the results, patent to all who attempt to travel by bus after about 10' o'clock at night, is that, comparatively speaking, very few vehicles remain on the toad after the homegoing rush has subsided.
The operating staff of the bus company may net be inclined to agree with us when we say that the public suffers great inconvenience in London when the theatres empty, but our own experiences in recent months have all pointed to the fact that, at that time of night, buses are few, at long intervals, and invariably packed.
It was clever move to spread the operating charges Per bus (wages, fuel, insurance, depreciation, maintenance, and other standing charges) over a greater n umber of passengers. The London tramcar, with its capacity for 78 passengers, has this great advantage over the 34-seater bus. But mere enlargement of capacity was not sufficient. The requirements of Scotland Yard, which have been in force from the days of the immature motor bus, would have had a cramping effect, and there c12 was the possibility that the Commissioner. of Metropolitan Police would 'refuse to take the responsibility of sanctioning the use of a larger vehicle, but would throw the onus on Parliament. However, when the enterprise of the L.G.O.C., its engineering and coachworks staffs had produced the K type bus to accommodate 46 passengers, the sympathy of the Commissioner was secured, and his tentative approval of the type was given with unexpected rapidity.
The K type has fulfilled its purpose. It has reduced the operating eharges, not only per passenger mile, but, as few pen in the street would have expected, per bus mile, because in the general pruning of weights and components in order to bring the completed vehicle within the limit of unladen weight of 34 tons as laid down by Scotland Yard, about a hundred-weight was saved on'the old B type. The engine is more economical and the transmission more effieient, so that the running charges of the K type are lower than those or the B type.
This highly satisfactory result encquraged the engineering staff to greet with pleasure. the schemes of the coachworks department for a still larger bus to seat 56 passengers (28 inside and 28 outside). The lengthening of the wheelbase to any material extent was undesirable, because in London's busy _traffic ready re to Scotland Yard. Its reception was gratifying and encouraging, and it was an official of the Ministry who suggested that room for yet one more passenger could be obtained if, instead of four seats at the front end and facing the rear there should be five the central Space should be made into a seat and the fare " board' be replaced by transparencies to be fixed on the ventilator flaps in front of this. Hence, the.57 seats in the S type bus.
The new bus made its trial tripe in. London on Tuesday and Wednesday last, and proved extremely handy in traffic.. There is an increase in overall length of 1 ft. 11f ins., the K type bus being 22 ft. 74 ins. from the front dumb irons to rear of conductor's platform, and the S type -24 ft. 7 ins. The increase of road accommodation per bus is thus not worth talking
" about, and as, on that increase, there is a gain of 11 seats over the K type (and over the B type l'of 23 seats), it is obvious that, with no diminution of service, two of the new vehicles could replace` three of the B type.
The wheelbase of the S type is 14 -ft. 11 ins., or only 8.1 ins, longer than that of the K type. The overhang at the rear is 7 ft. 2i ins.,. or . Of in. greater than that of the K type. The body is 2 ft. 2 ins. longer, being 16 ft. 1 in., the top seating is pushed back
by 15 ins, at the front and
10 ins, at the rear. The front axle has been taken back 8 ins, and the rear axle 161 ins.
The unladen weights of
It will he seen that in designing the K type bus the 13 cwt. additional allowed for the increased accommodation (12 passengers) was distributed as to 10 ewt. on the front axle and.as to 3 cwt. on the rear axle. This was effected of course, by taking the driver forward alongside the engine and bringing the seating forward,' particularly on the top deck, which extended to the front edge of the canopy.
.This -practice is being slightly modified on the S type, as althoughthe inside seating again 'comes even further forward (five passengers sitting with their backs against the front panels of the bus) the top deck seating is .movedrearwards by 15 ins.
The rearmost seats inside, arranged longitudinally (all the remainder being disposed 'transversely), are reduced to four, two on either side. All the outside seats are placed transversely..
The framing of the body has, naturally, been strengthened to take care .uf the weight, an extra pillar being employed to strengthen the front, whilst there is also an extra pillar on each side. Six brass stanchions are usable as grab handles by the inside passengers, but they are not called upon to give any support to the roof, as is the case in the K type bus. Some experimenting has been
going on in the use of direction boards and service numbers, with a view to simplifying the work of charging when the buses are put on to different services at the week ends, and again when they return to their usual service for the following week. Thus side direction boards on the top deckskirting have been abolished, and now in the S type the small detachable service number is replaced by an illuminated plate carried, in the space between the two central pillars. A sheet of ground glass fills the framework, and behind it one of the interior lights is placed. Outside, a pierced aluminium plate, giving the service number, slides upward in a groove, and drops down into catches. It is thus readily changed, and, being of metal, is strong enough to stand handling. Ventilators in the sidea been done away with, but there are just below the roof on the front of of the bus have four ventilators the bus and one on either side of the door at the rear. ,
The seating of the top deck-now slightly extends over the rear platform (only 10 ina.), and this has
necessitated the modification of the rear staircase. But the rear platform is as capacious as it is on the K type.
So far as the chassis is concerned, this is entirely based on the chassis for the K typo. The engine is 8 mm. la/ler in the bore, being 103 nun. bore by 140 nun, stroke, developing 34 h.p. at 1,000 r.p.m. It has aluminium pistons. Its other details reflect advanced practice in engine design. The old leather cone clutch of the B type chassis has given-place to a single-plate clutch, having a tool steel disc gripped between Ferodo 'friction surfaces. For ease of maintenance, it is arranged to be demountable intact from the flywheel. The gearbox is placed well back from the clutch, to which it is connected by a urdversally jointed clutch-shaft. Chain drive from secondary to driven shaft has long proved a L.G.O.C. success, and is retained. The whole line of the transmission slopes downward to the rear with the worm placed below the worm wheel, a 01 to 1 reduction being employed. The casing and tubes of the rear axle are, naturally, stronger than in the case of the K type.
The frame is of nickel steel and ash, flitch plate construction having proved most successful in London bus service. The wheels are larger than those used on. the K type, being 1,050 man. in diameter over the tyres, which are 120 mm. in cross-section. The springing has been improved, powerful involute springs attached to the .frame, taking part of the load when the bus has it full complement of passengers, and also coming into action whenever. the axle lifts under road shock. In the case of the S type chassis, the variation of passenger weight on the front axle between enipty and full load is sufficiently great to warrant the fitting of these compound volute springs en the front axle. Besides increasing the comfort of the passengers, the device will reduce damage to road surfaces, The body of the S type is extremely light. It follows exactly the lines of the K type bus, the constructional features of which we fully described nearly a year ago. The body is not rigid in itself, but gains its rigidity by the utilization of the longitudinal strength of the chassis frame as the base for the body:. The frame is extended well to the rear, so as to support the conductor's platform. The crossbars, side pillars, and .hoop sticks of the body are all cut through their centres, and provided With inserts of 16 S.W.G. mild.'steel and at each corner a 14 S.W.G. steelgus.set plate iS provided. Thesegusset plates canned all the steel liners, and completely encircle the 'bus with steel bands. No Standing passengers will be milled on the S type, so that strap-hanging bids fair to become a lost art. It is intended to. build 1,000 of the X type bus, and up, to last. Saturday about 5.00 had already got through. the. worlp.. The output of these is now' 30 per week. Of the S type the first 15 will gradually be put through, and probably will be ready for road service by the middle of December. It is intended to test out the ,whole scheme with these 15, and then, if satisfaction is given on the various paints at present in doubt (such as whether it pays to put so large a bus on the roads, whether the conductor can collect all the fares, etc.), the first .200 of the type will be coiastruoted.