30-ft. Double-deckers Seven Years Ago
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A LTHOUGH four-wheeled double-deckers rA 30 ft. long may not legally be operated in Britain until July 1, their construction is not new to British bodybuilders. Back in 1949, Metropolitan-Cammell-Weymann, Ltd., built a prototype double-decker 30 ft. long for South African Railways and Harbours Administration. Eighteen were later taken over by City Tramways Co., Ltd., Port Elizabeth.
Fifty bodies were built on Albion four-wheeled chassis. One prototype, which passed the tilting tests required by British law, was constructed by the parent company in England. The remaining 49 were built in the works of Bus Bodies (S.A.), Ltd., from material supplied by M.C.W. These vehicles have been operating since the middle of 1950. Each has averaged 250,000 miles.
A recent South African report says that some of the vehicles regularly work over an " appalling" road, where they have been subjected to abnormal stress. The main route includes sections of road "which urban buses should not be called upon to negotiate," but despite this rough treatment, and although the vehicles carry 84 passengers (86 up to December 31 last), the bodywork had given no structural trouble.