II If you were in London's West End a couple
Page 76
Page 77
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
of weeks back you may have witnessed a convoy of Routernaster double-deck buses loaded up with various celebrities making their way to the charity gala performance of the new musical, "The Phantom of the Opera".
Mystery of mysteries, the leading bus did not have any celebrities on board. In fact the bus was so empty that it did not even have a driver. An expectant crowd waiting outside Her Majesty's Theatre gasped in amazement as the ghostly vehicle glided to a halt. After 'dropping off its passengers' the Routemaster moved on as if controlled by forces unknown and vanished into the night.
The forces unknown turned out to be none other than that well known body, the London Regional Transport. To be exact, the buses belong to London Buses Limited (LBL) which is a subsidiary thereof. The Phantom Bus was converted to driverless operation by LRT Bus Engineering Limited and took four days to complete. A separate steering column attached to the driver's cab was rerouted upstairs and other controls were similarly converted allowing the specially trained driver to operate the vehicle from upstairs without being spotted. Just when I thought I'd seen everything. . .
I Is it a bird . . . ? Is it a plane. . . ? No it's a cock-up. It seems that while my colleagues and I have been busy basking in the free lunches, drinks and general fun at the Motor Show I have become a slack hack and reported certain stories with less than my normal accuracy.
Not only have I upset one of my news team by telling you that the man had passed his HGV 1 in a 7.5 tonner (it was in fact a Ford Cargo 2417), but I have also incurred the wrath of Euro Commercials of Cardiff who supplies a certain German make of truck. I suggested last week that a coach of this particular make broke down in Calvados, France and had to be pushed along by its passengers. I even had a picture of it so I offer no excuse. T'was an lveco. • Have six settees and 12 chairs, will travel. Or so thought James O'Brien who loaded these on to the roof rack of his car in Birmingham with the intention of driving them down the motorway to London. The load reached a height of almost 3.65 metres (12 feet) and was later described by the police driver who brought the offending vehicle back to the station as being totally unstable and 'there was a complete loss of overall control'.
O'Brien was fined £150 with 22 costs. After the hearing, O'Brien's father Mr John O'Brien explained that his family were Romanies from Ireland who had been in the country for 20 years and ran a furniture business from Soho. He said: "He feels a bit sick about being fined so much". I think he should go home and put his feet up.
• Brendan O'Brien (a relative perhaps?), pilot extraordinarie, has clinched a sponsorship deal with lveco Ford to attempt a European first — landing an aircraft on a moving truck and then taking off from it. The vehicle in question is an lveco Ford TurboStar, fitted with a 40ft trailer.
During rehearsals Mr O'Brien made 20 approaches toward the TurhoStar, which was travelling at 55mph. After the practice Mr O'Brien commented: "I was impressed by the smooth laminar air flow produced by the cab's fairing, and the vehicle's rapid acceleration." Ile said that?
• Here is the latest news on the important subject of spray suppression, direct from the British Standards Institute: "Manufacturers and users of heavy goods vehicles will be interested to learn that Parts 1 and 2 of BS AU 200 Spray reducing devices for heavy goods vehicles have recently been amended by the issue of AMD 5448, relating to Part 1 and AMD 5449, relating to Part 2, and both Parts raised to issue 'a', ie, their correct reference is now BS AU 200: Part la and BS AU 200: Part 2a, respectively.
Got that? For the meaningful news on spray suppression, turn to Operators' Handbook, whose team of "Garblese" experts stayed up all night translating the BSI documents.