PASSENGER TRAVEL NEWS.
Page 19
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The Latest Doings and Developments in the Bus and Coach World.
LOW LOAD-LINE BUSES PROVING POPULAR.
Recent Deliveries from the Karrier Works in which Chassis with Low-loading Levels are Employed.
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TFIF1 chassis with a low loading line hag obvious advantages for all types of passenger-carrying vehicle, but none concerns the public to 11. greater extent than that which ensures easy ingress
to and egress from the vehicle. To some people the difficulty of mounting and dismounting from a bus or coach, especially when the floor level is several feet from the ground and the steps leading to and from it have deep risers, has, in the past, proved very fatiguing, but such troubles are being quickly removed by the growing popularity of the Tow load-line vehicle.
Most of the prominent commercial vehicle manufacturers are now listing one or more chassis incorporating this useful characteristic, and amongst them are Karrier Motors, Ltd., Karrier Works, Huddersfield, whose CL-type low load-line chassis is being supplied in in creasing numbers for passenger service. Two of the company's recent deliveries in which this chassis is employed are Fhown in accompanying illustrations, one being a saloon bus for the Kippax Motor Co., Kippax, near Leeds, and the other a municipal model forming the nucleus of an order for six vehicles of a similar pattern placed by the tramway authorities of the Chesterfield Corporati on.
The vehicle for the Kippax Motor Co. is of the one-man-controlled type, and is fitted with a saloon body of pleasing and attractive design. It is built to seat 24 passengers, and special attention has been given to seating design and arrangement in order to provide adequate riding comfort. The seats all face in the forward direction, and are built up on deep spring cases and upholstered in grey leather.
The body has six windows of the full-drop type which, with the assistance of roof ventilators, maintain a supply of fresh air for the interior. The appearance of the coachworkis most distinctive, being, as; it is, carried out in yellow and maroon. . The lines of the
body are good, and a bulbous rear preserves the symmetrical contour.
The equipment of the vehicle includes a 12-volt lighting set, speedometer, mirror, spare wheel and tyre, and a V-shaped
windscreen. The fittings are nickelplated and the bonnet is in aluminium This bus is shod with Dunlop pneumatic tyres of 34-in. by 7-in. dimensions. An emergency exit is provided" at the rear, and it cOntains a small panel through' which the lever for-operating the door can be reached.
The bus for the Chesterfield municipal authorities is also of the 'one-mancontrolled description, and it 'embodies several interesting features in design. The floor level IS only 1 ft. 8 ins, above the ground, from which it is divided by a single 'step. The opening at the front is very wide, and a noticeable feature of the design is the entrancedoor which is fitted. This doer separates the p05
senger compartment front the driver's cab, but it is so arranged that when opened inwards it Mt-ma a partition between driver and passengers who are entering the interior, and as it is provided with a " pay " opening, the task of collecting fares is facilitated.
The body is built to seat •20 passengers, 8 of whom are accommodated in a separate compartment, intended for smokers, at the rear. The seats are arranged on each side of a central gangway which provides a clear passage to the emergency door at the rear. They have spring backs and are upholstered in green Duratex. The scheme of colouring favoured for the bodywork is green and white. Three drop windows are provided on each side of the body, and these, in conjunction with roof ventilators, allow of ample ventilation. As in the case of the other bus, this vehicle is shod with 34-in. by 7-in, pneumatic.. tyres.
The Karrier CL-type chassis, which forms the basis of each of the buses we have briefly described, has a 30-48 h.p. engine and an underslung wormdriven rear axle. Its wheelbase is 13 ft. and it track 5 ft. 1 in.