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A NOVEL RAIL MOTOR COACH.

29th June 1926, Page 14
29th June 1926
Page 14
Page 15
Page 14, 29th June 1926 — A NOVEL RAIL MOTOR COACH.
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Brief Details of a Type of Vehicle Being Used to Obviate the Necessity for East Trains Stopping at Unimportant Stations.

MHE Hungarian engineering firm of Messrs. Gans and Co., of Budapest, have recently completed for the DanubeSave-Adria Railway Co. a number of novel rail motor coaches for service on the standard-gauge railway between Sepseny and Gyorgy, a distance of about 53 miles. The service links up the small towns and villages lying at the side of Lake Balaton, a long, narrow lake about midway between Buda pest and Warasdin. The lake district is a popular inland holiday resort, and the reason for the use of the coaches is to avoid too frequent stoppages of the through express trains to pick up and set down passengers at local stations. The expresses now only stop at important stations on the main line, the new rail coaches providing the intermediate means of conveyance.

As will be seen from the accompany.

lug illustrations the vehicles are constructed very much on the lines of an ordinary single-deck bus as used for road transport work, but are fitted with steel flanged wheels, these being 29; ins. in diameter. The motive power is supplied by a four-cylinder petrol engine rated at 50 h.p. at 1,100 revs. per min, and set under a bonnet at the front of the chassis in the usual way. The cylinders are cast in pairs and have a bore and stroke of 130 ram. and 160 mm. respectively. The engine is fitted with Bosch magneto and electric lighting and starting set (12-volt), and the fuel mixture is delivered to the engine by a Pallas carburetter. The petrol tank is located-at the rear of the vehicle and has a capacity of 44 galions; this quantity is stated to he sufficient for 500 miles' running.

The transmission is .on standard motorbus lines, the onlY deviation from the usual practice being the fitting of a five-speed gearbox and two reverse speeds, of 7 m.p.h. and 12/ m.p.h., a separate hand lever being provided for the auxiliary reverse. The propeller shaft is provided with Hardy flexible couplings at both front and rear, and the final transmission is by bevel gearing.

The shape of the body has been designed to afford the minimum wind resistance ; the frame is built of ash, no iron corner plates being used. The exterior is fitted with 1i ram. sheetiron panelling, and the interior with triplex plywood, of which material the roof is also constructed. The cab is entirdy enclosed and is fitted with door:-; on each side; three seats are provided, one for the driver and two for railway service men.

The passenger compartment is provided with two doors on each side, with two-stage mounting steps, and has seating accommodation for 20 passengers. There are five rows of transverse seats divided by a central gangway 1 ft. 5 ins, wide, this being closed as the hinged seats extending across it arc brought into use.

At the rear is a semicircular space for the accommodation of luggage and four emergency seats. The hitter, which measure 3 ft. from back to front, are fitted with springs and upholstered in plush; parcel nets are provided in front of each seat and hat and coat hdeks on each window post. The -windows are frameless and of plate glass, two on each side being adjusteble. All windows are• so arranged that in the summer, months they can be readily removed and their places take".

by roller blinds extending along each side of the passenger compartment.

Each of the wheels is fitted with a tyre brake, the four brakes being compensated and actuated by a hand wheel and brake screw in the driver's cab. A

separate hand wheel actuates Ferodofaced brake shoes working within drums secured to the rear pair of wheels. Saud boxes operated from the driver's cab are also fitted in connection with the wheels. As the coaches are intended to be used alone,. no buffers or connecting hooks are provided. Fenders, however, are fitted at both front and rear, whilst each of the wheels is equipped with a lifeguard of the usual locomotive type. The interior of the vehicle is electrically lighted, whilst provision is made for the utilization of the engine cooling water for heating purposes. • It is stated that the coaches are each covering a distance of about 200 miles per day, and that so far they have given complete satisfaction, both as regards regularity of running and cost of operation. On the level, it is Claimed that a coach of thiS type is able to attain a speed of from 40 to 47 miles per hour, whilst gradients of

7 per cent. can be covered at 37,1 m.p.h. Each of the coaches has a wheelbase of 18 ft. 8 ins, and an overall length of 31 ft. 2 ins., the weight being given as 6 tons 7 cwt. The total height is 9 ft. 2 ins„ the inside height 6' ft. and the maximum width 0 ft.

8 ins.

Such a vehicle as this could well be built in shops producing the heavier classes of motor chassis. It should be valuable for branch-line traffic where ordinary steam equipment would be uneconomical.

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Locations: Budapest

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