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Attention t
Page 94
Page 95
Page 96
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etail
By A. A. Townsin, A.M.I.Mech.E.
ROM the point of view of passenger bodywork on display, this year's Commercial Motor Show t be described as a thoughtful one.
are ncr " revolutionary " exhibits, .ural design is generally orthodox there are few gimmick features. ite, or perhaps more probably 'Sc of, this there is much that will f interest to operators. Quite a per of new trends are evident and it likely that many of these will ne accepted practice before long. hough a distinctly practical )ach to such problems as the reducof maintenance and ease of entry exit is apparent, there appears to renewed interest in styling. This subject in which personal opinion ievitably involved, but my own ssion is that an appreciable step .rd has been made, and that this Ire generally true of the Show as a than at any previous occasion in Lst decade.
astructional methods are generally !ntional, and I think this can now id to apply to the almost universal
use of glass-fibre mouldings for the frontand rear-end panelling involving threedimensional curves. Steel and aluminium, either singly or in varying proportions, are very widely used for framework, but composite construction, using timber framing for the metal panels, is still to be found in quite a number of exhibits, including the new range of Duple coaches, for example. An example of the long established use by Roe of teak framework is present in the form of a single-decker on A.E.C. Reliance chassis for Leeds City Transport. Panelling, apart from the end sections already mentioned, is generally in aluminium alloy, although steel is quite often used for stress panels and in some cases, including some of the M.C.W. bodies, is used for most of the exterior.
Aluminium is used very extensively on the London Transport Routemaster 69seat double-decker exhibited on the Park Royal stand. This follows the general specification of production Routemasters, with integral construction, but a forward entrance with folding doors is used in place of the open rear platform and the length is 30 ft. instead of 27 ft. 7 in. as on production models. The unladen weight, 7 tons 14 cwt. 2 qr., is 9.5 cwt. more than the standard 64-seater and 2 cwt. more than the 72-seat 30-ft.-long rear-entrance model, of which 24 were built a year ago. None the less, this is the lightest double-decker in the Show (with the possible but unlikely exception of one vehicle for which no weight is quoted), a fact which is made more significant by the absence of any sacrifice of the usual high London Transport standard of trim.
The London vehicle is purely experimental, but it is by no means alone in incorporating special features in connection with its entrance layout. Operating experience of some of the earlier designs of frontand forward-entrance double-deckers has led to significant modifications. A drawback of some front-entrance layouts has been the internal bottleneck in passenger flow caused by the need for streams of passengers, moving to or from both decks, to cross the space between the driving position and the nearside front wheel arch. If insufficient width is provided at this point for both streams to move independently, the rate of flow is reduced to a one-at-atime level.
The special body on Leyland Atlantean chassis built by Metropolitan-Cammell for Liverpool Corporation attacks this problem from two points of view. The gangway width is. increased a little by moving the driving position slightly to the right and reducing the projection inwards of the small bulkhead immediately to the rear of the entrance. A further improvement comes from raising the floor level of the lower saloon to that dictated by the Atlantean's orthodox rear axle. This has, in effect, eliminated the bottom step of the stairs and the need for a step for the seat over the nearside front wheel arch, both of which are needed, in the standard design, to clear also the kick-up of the frame sidemembers over the front axle. The result is an appreciably more spacious layout.
The body for Manchester Corporation on Daimler Fleetline chassis, also built by Metropolitan-Cammell, incorporates a different means of achieving a similar result. In this case, the staircase, of spiral formation, is shaped so that its lower end is directed towards the forward part of the platform. Separation of passengers into streams for each saloon is enforced by a tubular, barrier built as an extension of the doorway centre stanchion.
Forward or Front?
Operators opinions on the merits of front or forward entrances for doubledeckers are sharply divided. Whilst some greatly value the direct supervision that a driver can have over an entrance immediately to his left, others dislike the interference to his vision caused by passengers which are about to leave the bus standing in this position. A further point is the undesirability of encouraging long conversations with the driver, with possible distraction of his attention as a consequence.
Some forward-entrance exhibits incorporate a small curved-glass window in the bulkhead, whilst a normal glazed full-height. bulkhead is provided behind the driver on the body built by East Lancashire for Wolverhampton Corporation. This is based on a Guy Wulfrunian chassis modified to permit the mounting of a forward-entrance body in place of the front-entrance design normally associated with this chassis. The general layout is thus comparable with that of the Albion Lowlander and the A.E.C. Renown low-floor front-engined models. Two of the former and one of the latter are displayed, with bodywork by Alexander, Northern Counties and Park Royal respectively, all being of the forward-entrance layout.
Raised Seats The Albion Lowlander normally requires a slightly raised upper-deck floor level at the front to give adequate headroom for the driver. On the Alexander body this is achieved by raising both pairs of front seats by 6 in. The original versions had upper-deck front windows level with those along the sides. On the latest model, exhibited on the Albion stand in East Midland livery, the forward-facing windows are raised, improving forward vision, and also allowing adequate height below them for a normal-sized destination indicator display.
The Northern Counties body on similar 'chassis for Central S.M.T. has only the seats directly over the cab raised, the proportions of the body permitting the remainder of the floor and the window lines to be level. The A.E.C. Renown chassis has a lower driving position, and the Park Royal body is thus able to have a level floor throughout the upper deck. On the other hand the transmission layout makes the platform area slightly less spacious, so that each of the two front-engined low-floor double-decker models built by concerns in the enlarged Leyland Motors group has advantages and disa,'vantages from the bodybuilder's viewpoint.
A more radical approach to the problems of double-deck bus design and
body layout is seen in the spe shortened Daimler Fleetline with No ern Counties bodywork, built to requirements of Walsall Corpora Transport. In essence this consists ( Fleetline rear-engined model with n of the portion projecting forward of front wheels removed. The driving p tion is moved back to a point over front axle, the entrance is positio immediately behind the front wheels the length is reduced from 30 ft. 25 ft. 7 in., this being undoubtedly shortest British double-decker built s the 'thirties. The vehicle is designed use on a route covering narrow, win( roads.
This, the most unusual double-de( at Earls Court, has already been the ject of some keen debate. In addi to the points already mentioned, the si case is of the forward-ascending vat and the front screens on both decks of the wrap-round type. Mr. Ed Cox, the general manager at Walsall whose specification the bus has been b considers that rearward-ascendipg st are potentially dangerous in the even an emergency brake application. 0 forward-entrance double-decker on or dox chassis this type of staircase can I he incorporated if the foot of the s' is some 3 ft. or so behind the bulkh which generally means that it is opp( the rear of the entrance doorway, in turn implies interference bets upperand lower-deck passenger stre and all other forward-entrance doe deckers at Earls Court have rears ascending stairs.
In this case the foot of the stair opposite the front of the entrance, w should help the passenger flow, alth( the entrance width is itself hardly en( for two passengers to board simult ously. This is one of two drawback this design, in my opinion, the o: associated with it, being the some) tight seat spacing. To provide 64 on so short a vehicle is no mean achi nnent, but I wonder whether a slig more spacious 60-seater on similar might prove more practical. In any
the vehicle's performance in service be closely watched by operators manufacturers alike. In its present I (Continued on page 103)