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THE NEWEST IDEAS IN PASSENGER BODYWORK.
Page 82
Page 83
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Considerations Which Affect the Choice of Bodywork. The Disposition of the Seats. The Types of Door Available.
WHEN deciding' upon the type of passenger bodywork to be selected the first consideration must be that of
• seating capacity. As the scale of taxation on seating capacity has, this year, been increased, affecting chiefly the provincial public-service-vehicle proprietor. who has a vehicle accommodating fewer than 40 passengers, it is natural that a pattern
of body will be chosen which takes full SLOPING SORUN advantage of the schedule laid down. The various limits of seating capacity, excluding the driver, and rates of duty are as follow :-8 passengers (£15), 14 passengers (£30), 20 passengers (£45), 26 passengers (£60), 32 passengers
gers (£96), 56 passengers (£108), 64 (£72), 40 passengers (£84), 48 passen passengers (120), an additional charge of 30s. being payable for each person in excess of 64.
It will be seen, therefore, that the tax on a 15-seater is 145, or £15 more than on a 14-seater, whilst the additional seat for a 21-seater costs also £15 per annum. It should also be remembered that under the Hackney Motor Vehicles (Seating, Capacity) Regulations, 1927, the accommodation is strictly defined so as to cover the maximum seating
capacity. IC. length of 16 ins, is allowed per seat, and nothing is deducted on account of temporary divisions of a seat, such as folding armrests.
If seats are provided by the side of the driver, a seat space is reckoned as so much of that seat as extends 18 ins, from the centre of the steering column,unless the licensing authority is satisfied that the space beside the driver will not be used by the travelling public. Deck or floor space must be provided only for the reasonable use of passengers entering or leaving the vehicle. Any excess of deck space beyond this is likely to be taxed, even if not equipped with seats.
If a bus body be under consideration and the seating capacity has been deteemined, the next question is that of entrance. The front entrance is the most popular for buses holding 20 passengers or fewer. The modern body has a D1.2 folding or " jack-knife " door operated from the driving seat and reaching to the bottom step. If the upper part of the door be flush with the main portion of the body, it will project at the bottom, because the doors are flat and the body has a turnunder. The alternative is to make the doors flush at the bottom and to recess them all the way up. Then the door itself is panelled without concealing the framework and stained and varnished in contrast to the colour of the main panels, or it may be flush-panelled and
2.14C‘IPENVA the whole side painted alike.
If a single door be required it must be mounted on the edge of the platform, because it is too wide to revolve on a step tread. The objection to an ordinary type of door, opening outwards, is that it is likely to be damaged in collision with obstructions on the footpath, or it may fly open accidentally if it be not fitted with a safety catch.. It also requires a hinged flap to fill up tht gap made by the steps behind it. Its chief advantage is that the appearance of the body is enhanced, because the turn. under of the body can be continued across the door. For this reason it is used for private-hire vehicles and for coaches.
If no door be fitted at the step, then one is hung in the entrance way of the front bulkhead. It is hinged if fitted with a pay window and shelf, otherwise it should be of the sliding pattern. When the door is hinged on the windscreen pillar the front of the body is usually flat. The bus proprietor may wish a distinctive feature to be introduced here, so that, instead of having a narrow window of rectangular shape between the door and the screen, a triangular window is inserted and a sloping screen adopted. There may also be the opportunity for displaying a small and shapely scuttle dash. The sloping screen smartens the appearance of a forward control driver's cabin.
The back entrance must be close to the hind wheel, because the length to the back of the body, measured from the centre of the hind wheel, should not be greater than 7-24ths of the overall length of the complete vehicle. Even if this regulation be not enforced, undue overhang is. always undesirable.
When a door is fitted to the hind entrance, it is seldom Mechanically operated. There is a bulkhead available on which the operating handle could be mounted for control by
the conductor, but the objection to it is probably owing tothe extra space which would be taken up by the mechanism and folded doors. However, it is a point which should not be overlooked when there is plenty of body space available. In most instances the door opens at the platform level, a usual pattern being a single door hinged on the left-hund side and opening against the rear bulkhead.
With a back-entrance body it is necessary to examine the position of the door and to consider its influence on the seating plan. The best place for the door is right at the back of the body. Then there is a more or less definite rectangular spaoe remaining for the disposal of seats. The continuous seat round the off side and back gives the body an inviting aspect, but it does not seat comfortably any more than can be accommodated on one longitudinal and one cross-seat with a suitable allowance for legroom.
If a rounded corner be set out beyond the back entrance, then the near-side corner is merely large enough for a locker, unless the length from the door to the back of the body is 3 ft. or more, allowing a rear seat to be carried right across. '
It should be remembered, however, that if one or two seats are lost owing to the seating plan at the rear, there is often the chance of making up for them by partitioning off the driving seat and adding a longitudinal seat on the near side in .front.
The combined front-and-rear-entrance bus is ideal from the point of view of saving time at stoppages. It may also be regarded as having an unobstructed emergency exit 'which is not likely to get out of order owing to infrequent use. The drawback is that one cannot have two doorways without sacrificing one or two seats.
The middle-entrance bus is only suitable for a large body, and if it be not wide enough to make a combined entrance and exit an emergency door at the rear should be provided.
The seating plan consisting entirely of scats facing forward is seldom possible on a modern low-loading chassis, and long seats must be used over the wheel-arches, unless one is prepared to have a single seat only on each side at this point.
Before considering any further details, the seating Plan of the proposed body should be carefully studied, since the comfort of every passenger and the facilities for entrance and exit and movement inside the vehicle are of greater importance than the external appearance. Having settled the seating plan, the elevation may now be considered.
There is the ehoice between the type with main windows having ventilating frames above, and the other type where these are omitted, the roof usually having its camber increased so that the windows are not unduly high. The ventilating frames increase the efficiency of the ventilation, and, if the simplicity of the style of large windows only be preferred, then their absence should he compensated for by, say, three goad roof air extractors. Then the side panels may be finished With or without a belt panel. This panel
is useful not nly for adding a contrasting band of colour, but it breaks up the somewhat large expanse of panelling. The side panels may extend only to the top of the chassis, or, perhaps, a short distance below it, with only a small lifeguard (if this fitting be made compulsory), or the side panels may be brought down level with the step. This last-named method of construction is used to make a body mounted on a low-loading chassis appear still lower, or it may be used to camouflage a body mounted comparatively high.
Only the smaller type of body is fitted now, with transverse seats awl a separate door to each row, for the greater majority of the larger coaches, as well as for many of the
smaller ones, is built with a central gangway, Appearance being of greater importance with a coach than with a service bus, the doors are made with a turn-under to match the rest of the. panelling and, therefore, must upon outwards. It is possible, however, that before long the mechanically operated door will be applied to the conch body so as to ensure safety and to alley, the door to open across the step. Such a door would only be waist high. In the Metropolitan Police area the coach must have two near-side doors, so that similar problems arise with regard to the setting out of the seats as with a back-entrance bus. The wheel-arch difficulty is surmounted by placing a seat for three passengers in the gangway and between the wheelarches, so that the passenger is able to step over them. According IO the length of the body, this centrally placed seat is followed by a seat for four, leaving a gangway on the near side, and, finally, there is a seat right across the back.
Another good idea is to isolate the driver's seat, so that, although there is room for a passenger on his left hand, there is a small gangway on the off side. The passengers may then use the driver's off-side door if necessary.
For weather protection the coach may have drop glass windows and a sliding hood, or an extension hood with cellnkid side screens, those over the doors opening with them. There is no doubt as to which style is the more attractive.