PLANS FOR PROPANE-POWERED BUS TRIALS
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AT the instigation of a newly formed company—Northern L.P. Gas Ltd.— the general manager of Newcastle upon Tyne Corporation Transport, Mr. F. S. Taylor, has promised his department's co-operation in making service trials of a bus powered by liquefied propane gas (L.P.G.). The experiment is dependent upon the taxation status of L.P.G. being satisfactorily agreed with Customs and Excise, and the provision of a suitable power unit by Leyland Motors Ltd.
L.P.G. is a tax-free fuel whose exact position in regard to use for propelling vehicles has yet to be established; there is a general assumption that it cannot legally be used to propel road vehicles and even if this were not true, any attempt to employ it widely as a vehicle fuel would almost certainly bring its inclusion into the dutiable -fuel category.
Northern L.P. Gas Ltd. — formed jointly by the Northern Gas Board and British Oxygen Co. Ltd.—is understood to be seeking Customs and Excise dispensation for the experimental .L.P.G. road operations. Meanwhile Leyland Motors is working on the, engine, tank and pressure-tested pipework necessary for the bus installation; the bus which Newcastle will provide for conversion is it Leyland PD2.
The engine will be a Leyland diesel converted to spark ignition, with a gas carburetter; this is not a new departure for Leyland, as the company has been supplying 0.400 parts to Brossel Freres in Belgium, for building up into L.P.G. units, for some long time. Leyland reports that Continental experience with these, and trials in the U.K., have proved satisfactory.
L.P.G. is already used as a vehicle fuel in the U.S.A., where it is duty free.