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A FILLIP or the Passenger Operator

28th September 1956
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Page 96, 28th September 1956 — A FILLIP or the Passenger Operator
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By Andrew Seacombe

GREATER seating capacities— with a lower weight-per-seat ratio —in buses, and more comfort in cnaches, -form the central theme of the passenger bodywork exhibits at the Commercial Motor Show at Earls Court. It is a heartening theme at a time when passengers are being lost to private cars and other means for transport, and it indicates the acute awareness of bodybuilders of the problems of the industry.

A secondary factor, but one of importance to the bodybuilding industry, is that by designing bodies to alleviate the difficulties of the British operator, the bodybuilder is improving his chances as an exporter. This is particularly the case in the hitherto restricted market for double-deckers. The radical design of the Leyland Atlantean 78-seater—a perfect example . of a vehicle born of the industry's difficulties at home—answers most of the criticisms levelled at double-deck buses by operators in countries where they are rarely, if ever, used.

In coaches, there is marked attention to detail, and therefore to passenger comfort, and superfluous features and costly and unnecessary styling devices_ have almost been banished. Very properly, this is in keeping with current trends in home furnishing, and a welcome innovation in this respect is the use in a number of vehicles of contemporary patterns for seat upholstery.

Plastics appear still to be suspect as structural materials, but their advantages for interior decoration are widely realized. In a few instances, the use of. glass-fibre for roofs, corner panels, doors, front ends and inside casings is revealed. Formica . is extensively employed for facing dash panels and in some cases, for side casings, roofs

and quarter-panels. Other attractive. and easily Washable jnaterials, are seen to a degree on all the coaches. The ultimate in this direction is exemplified in the Ghia-styled Casaro coach on a Leyland Worldmaster chassis (Stand 85), the' bodybuilders recommending the use of a hose for washing out the interior.

Greater attention to passenger safety In 'buses is also strongly evident. This is achieved either by placing entrances at the front under the driver's observation or, where they are at the rear. enclosing them with doors under the control of the driver or conductor..

Accessibility is a notable feature on most of the exhibits. Entrances are wider, arid steps are kept to a mini. mum; in some cases they are even eliminated Sliding doors are losing favour on coaches. one-piece hinged inwardor outward-opening doors being seen on the majority of the vehicles exhibited. .

Seat design in coaches has improved. and there is a strong tendency to give an effect of individual seating. In at least one instance, this has resulted in improved forward visibility. Close attention has been paid to foot-rests, and both adjustable and fixed designs can be seen.

Vision for both drivers and passengers has been increased by greater expanses of glazing. Many of the exhibits with front entrances have glazed panels in the lower portions of the doors to improve kerbside visibility. Weathershields glazed lift-up vents in roofs arc generally employed, these now having displaced the conventional opening roofs. Ventilation hasimproved, a number of innovations in this field being on show for the first time.

Individual lighting is still generally a luxury reserved for travellers in Britishbuilt vehicles operated overseas, but new general lighting designs are available on some of the coaches for the home market.

For bus operators, the highlight is the Atlantean (Stand 85). Measuring overall 29 ft. 10 in., long, 7 ft. 10 in. wide and 13 ft. 5 in. high, it has an unladen weight of 7 tons 10 cwt. Of semi-integral construction the Leyland-designed body, built by M.C.W., is attached to a light fabricated frame. The many unusual features of the chassis were described in The Commercial Motor on September 7.

By mounting the engine at the rear, it has been possible to place the entrat)ce forward of the front axle. When the bus is laden, the platform step height is only 14 in. There are no step's to the lower saloon, the platform being slightly ramped to give a gangway height of 171 in. from ground level when laden.

Most of the 34 seats in the lower saloon face forward. There are longitudinal seats for three persons over the front near-side wheel-arch and over both the rear wheel-arches, a roomy luggage compartment being mounted over the front off-side wheel-arch. This compartment is housed below the sevenstep staircase to the Linnet Qaloonl • A seat for five persons is fitted acrop the front of the engine compartment, which is claimed to be effectively insulated from the saloon by a thick sheet of asbestos. Alongside this seat on the off side is a wide emergency exit door. Power-operated doors under the control of the driver enclose the wide platform. In both saloons there is a central gangway.

All windows are fixed, ventilation being provided by a Leyland-designed system which can also be used tor heating and demisting. For ventilation, air is forced into the upper saloon at floor' level and into the lower saloon at roof level, distribution being by means of louvres in the inside skin which are designed to prevent draughtsThe system is also said effectively to demist the windscreen and adjacent windows. Control is by means of a lever mounted on nap of the engine compartment an4 operated by the conductor.

The A.C.V. Bridgemaster 72-seat double-decker shown on the Crossley stand (57) has an unladen weight of 7 tons II cwt, Here, again, the normal step from the platform to the gangway in the lower saloon has been eliminated by using a ramp. Generally, the design of this body follows conventional lines.

Just inside the lower saloon, longitudinal seats for two persons are provided on both sides. The top of each wheel-arch has been used to provide extra space for small luggage, and alongside each is a-seat for one person.

The seating capacity of the lower saloon is 31, seats for 41 passengers being provided in the 'upper saloon. As in the case of the Atlantean, there are only seven steps up to the upper deck. The Bridgemaster is 30 ft. long, 8 ft. wide and 13 ft. 21 in. high when laden.

More conventional designs of doubledecker built to the new maximum dimensions have up to 74 seats. The lightest of these is the M.C.W. Orion 74-seater on a Leyland Titan chassis (Stands 44 and 45), which weighs 7 tons 9 cwt. unladen. The rear dome of this vehicle is constructed in plastics. Incorporated on each side of the upper deck at the rear is a hinged glazed panel which, by screw adjustment, can be employed as an air outlet.

A double-decker built for overseas use is a Guy. Arab on the Park Royal stand (35). In aVicipation of arduous operating conditions, this has aluminium-alloy and steel sections incorporated in the main framing. Although this vehicle is only 27 ft. long by 8 ft. wide, a seating capacity of 70 has been comfortably achieved by arranging double seats along one side and seats for three persons on the other in the lower saloon. Alloy-framed fulldepth sliding windows, with guard rails. are provided in both saloons.

There is no indication of change in the design of single-deck buses for the home market, and it has been left to a chassis exhibitor to show the only bus designed specifically for one-man operation. This is an A.E.C.-Park Royal 44seater for Huddersfield Joint Omnibus Committee, and is seen on Stand 74. The front and rear domes, rear corner panels, front and rear wings and the detachable flap at the front are formed in tinted reinforced plastics.

Burlingham are showing on Stand 37 a 45-seat metal-framed single-deck bus on a Maudslay chassis. This has a front entrance enclosed by sliding doors operated from the driving position. There are two Weathershields extra-long three-way lift-up panels glazed in tinted Perspex in the roof—an unusual feature in a service bus. It has an unladen weight of 6 tons 3t cwt.

On Stand 84, Albion are exhibiting a Nimbus with a Walter Alexander 31seat body which tips the scales at 3 tons 17t cwt.

Although crush-loaders have not so far proved popular in Britain, the home operator may be interested in the design of a vehicle of this type on the Park Royal stand. Built for use in New Zealand, it has seats for 37 passengers and a front entrance and centre exit• A high proportion of high-duty aluminium alloy is employed in the main framing members, In their new all-metal welded-frame body for export on an Austin chassis, Mulliners (Stand 27) have installed 44 seats within a vehicle 26 ft. 1 in. long and 7 ft. 6 in. wide. Forward-facing

seats for three persons. are provided along the off side, longitudinal seating being fitted on the near side.

The Yeates Europa (Stand 47) typifies the vertical line of most of the coaches displayed. Exterior treatment irs clean and simple, aluminium mouldings with thin, coloured plastics fillers being conservatively employed as an integral part of the scheme of decoration. Emphasis is placed on the vertical by encasing the rear wheels with an easily detachable flap. This effect is strengthened by arranging the top sliding portions of the pan-type windows to give a continuous line.

Formica, p.v.c. and other easily washable plastics materials are extensively used in both of the Europa models shown. In the body on a Commer Avenger chassis, the casing panels and the undersides of the parcel racks are lined with a light grey sponge rubber-backed material, Vynide lining the roof and pillars. Although constructed generally in pairs, the 41 seats have been given a distinct individual effect by tapering the shoulder and head-rests and by the clever use of p.v.c. reliefs. The tapered design also has the added advantage of greatly improving forward visibility.

Although it is a matter of individual taste, I found the contemporary pattern of the moquette upholstery in this vehicle particularly pleasing and a refreshing change.

Like the other Yeates Europa, on a Crossley chassis, the new Plaxton Consort 41-seater exhibited on a Commer chassis on Stand 30 has glazed roof quarters along each side, the parcel racks being suspended from the edges of the roof centne-piece. Canary yellow moquette, with small black squares superimposed, covers the seats, reliefs being of lime green and black Vynide. This coach, at 5 tons 134 cwt., is 14cwt. lighter than the Commer-Yeates 4iseater.

Gold and cream Florestin is. extensively and tastefully employed in the A.E.C.-Willowbrook Empress 37-seater (r.:tand 40), the side panels and the underside of the roof and the parcel racks being lined with this material. Indeed, its employment extends to the floor; a rubber-backed strip running the length of the gangway is attached by means of press studs. Wine-coloured crimped velvet fines the rear and roof quarters.

Another style leader is the Harrington Contender all-metal chassisless 41-seater, which, incidentally, weighs only 5i tons unladen. Unlike most of the other coaches displayed, this has slightly raked pillars, the streamlining effect being strengthened by a red flash on the largely cream exterior, Apart from three narrow strips of polished aluminium, with cream and red plastics fillers, just below the windows, and one aluminium strip with cream filler below floor level, the sides are devoid of embellishment. The five main windows on each side have top horizontally sliding sections.

The bumper, consisting of two strips of polished metal with a black rubber c 1 7

insert, has been cleverly conceived as an integral part of the design of the new front end. Below the windscreen is a polished aluminium panel incorporating three ventilation grilles and Spaces for the operator's name and the destination. Air passing through these grilles is distributed in the saloon by two ship-type punkah louvres mounted in the Formica-faced front dash. Below this panel, the front is slightly raked back, the main relief being provided by two decorative grilles, each formed with eight narrow horizontal polished aluminium bars.

The roof is slightly raised behind the two front quarter lights, an aperture for air intake being incorporated. Control of the air entering the saloon by this means is provided by three horizontal manually adjustable grilles built into the underside of the raised roof. This vehicle can be seen on Stand 91.

On Stand 32, Duple have three coaches, on Bedford, A.E.C. and Commer chassis, in which there is a number of new features revealing a close attention to detail. Notable among. these is the combined use of Formica and .Rockite, which is a scratchand burn-proof plastics material, for the window finishers. •

Duple have on show in the demonstration park a new metal-framed

• 43-seat coach the styling of which is similar to that of the established composite-built Britannia. It has a Leyland Tiger Cub chassis.

Beadle and Plaxton both have in the demonstration park new 29-seat coaches. Known as the Canterbury, the Beadle design is of steel-framed construction and employs a modified Karrier Gamecock chassis with a Rootes petrol engine mounted below the floor at the front. Overall dimensions are: length, 26 ft.; width, 7 ft. 6 in.; the unladen weight being 4 tons 8 cwt.

The entrance, behind the front wheels, is enclosed by an outside sliding door.

• The wide emergency door on the off side at the rear is notable for its accessibility.

The Plaxton 29-seater, employing a Bedford 5-ton long wheelbase chassis converted to forward control, is only 24 ft. long. The body design is that of the Consort, which I described earlier.

Outstanding among the British coaches designed for service overseas is the M.C.W. Arcadian on a Leyland Worldmaster Series II chassis (Stands 44 and 45). A development of the Fanfare, which was introduced on the home market two years ago, the Arcadian is 34 ft. 14 in. long, 8 ft. 2+ in. wide, and 11 ft. 9 in. high.

Of all-steel construction, the body has only three main windows on each side, affording exceptional passenger visibility. The exterior treatment is simple, and symbolic of strength, the main colour of grey being relieved by green round the windows and along the skirt. Polished mouldings, with red plastics fillers, are conservatively employed around the windows and along the skirt panels.

Doors to the two underfloor luggage lockers, which have a capacity of about 77 cu. ft., are provided between the axles. There is another locker at the rear, with a top horizontally hinged door, having a capacity of approximately 85 cu. ft.

An atmosphere of cool comfort is evoked by the interior finish. The flat floor is completely covered with grey carpeting material, P.V.C. material of the same colour lining the front and rear corner panels. Yellow P.V.C. is employed as a relief for the roof centrepiece and the undersides of the cantilevered parcel racks: The side casings and roof quarters are lined with a dark green cloth. Two tones of green moquette are provided on the 40 individual adjustable seats.

The coach is air-conditioned, the Stone-Carrier equipmen t—costing between £1,500 and £2,000—comprising a compressor with its own power unit, a condenser mounted beneath the body, and an evaporator in the front end of the roof which takes in air through a grille and passes it into the saloon through trunking running the full length of the ceiling.

Robust framing in aluminium-alloy and steel sections is employed in the 37-ft.-long by 8-ft.-wide Crossley coach body on an A.E.C. Regal chassis built for use in South. America (Stand 57). The roof finish in blue is strikingly emphasized by corrugated anodized silver panels up to waist level and a gold anodized band above. Individual seats, adjustable. to two positions, are provided for 41 passengers.


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