46 Seats in a "Single-deck" Coach
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A Luxury Coach with Tiered Seats and Pullman Comfort
IT would be impracticable to carry 46 seated passengers on a normalbodied coach conforming with the regulation overall length of 27 ft. 6 ins., but in the Crellin-Duplex single-decker body, now being constructed on a modified Guy-Arab chassis, there is comfortable seating space for 46 passengers and room for a card table between each pair of seats.
The Crellin-Duplex body, exclusively described in "The Commercial Motor" on March 19, 1948, has the seats tiered in "brick-wall" fashion with a central gangway and a step up or down to the seats, which are arranged in pairs on half-decks. There is space for 22 passengers on the lower deck and 24 on the raised section.
This prototype is being built as a -luxury coach and has windows of Pullman railway-carriage pattern, Clayton Dewandre thermostatically controlled heater and a G. D. Peters air-operated door. This door, the first to be fitted to a vehicle in this country, is hinged to open outwards from the saloon.
A representative of " The Commercial Motor inspected this model at Scunthorpe and saw a prototype chassisless-construction bus which is being built, with a six-cylindered oil engine and transmission components of Sentinel manufacture.
The Duplex body fitted to the Guy chassis has four longitudinal members, two of which are within the frame width to carry the gangway platform. It is designed so that the main floor is secured to the chassis frame by crossbearers, which are spaced between the seats. The gangway is 20 ins, above and below the lower and upper floor levels. There is a 10-in, step between the gangway and floor levels.
Ample space is provided between the seats and in the gangway. Where the conventional body has a gangway width of 1 ft. 2 ins., the Duplex gangway is 1 ft. 5 ins, wide and there is a minimum of 1 ft. 7 ins, leg room between the seats on the lower deck. As the seats arc Arranged back-to-back, there is a generous luggage spnce under the seats, in addition to racks between the backs of the scat frames.
There is no restriction in headroom, because the distance between the floor and roof of the upper section is 6 ft., whilst the lower-deck passengers have 9 ft. 4 ins, headroom. The overall height when unladen is 11 ft. 6 ins. Because of the seating arrangement, the centre of gravity is low and no difficulty is expected in passing the tilt test.
Six main windows, 5 ft. long and 2 ft. deep, are provided for each deck, with additional small lights arranged for the convenience of passengers when standing. Corner panels of Perspex, at the front and rear of the body, add to the attractive appearance of the vehicle and give further visibility to the passengers on the raised deck. It is a full-fronted model with a light screen covering the radiator.
Preventing Body Drumming
There is a filling of fibre glass in the roof and side panels of the body, to prevent drumming. Aluminium panelling is used throughout. The poweroperated door is positioned immediately behind the bulkhead panel, whilst art emergency exit is formed in the rear panel at the end of the gangway.
The chassis is a Guy Arab 17-ft. 6-in. wheelbase double-decker model with an extension at the rear to increase the overall length to 27 ft, 6 ins. There is a 7-ft. 5i-in. overhang at the rear and the body length is increased to 22 ft. 5 ins.
The suspension has been modified to carry approximately two-thirds of the normal double-decker load and the lower-deck floor height is 2 ft. above ground level when unloaded. The vehicle is powered by a Gardner 6LW oil engine and there is a preselective gearbox. A single-decker finaldrive ratio of 4.7 to 1 is employed in the transmission.
The Guy-Duplex will be operated by the Falga Motor Co., Ltd., Preston. The builder of the prototype is the Lines Trailer Co., Ltd., Scunthorpe, which is the sole licensee for this Pattern of body.