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Military government builds double-decker

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2nd May 1969

Page 97

Page 97, 2nd May 1969 — Military government builds double-decker

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ALTHOUGH there may be a trend to move away from the use of the double-decker bus in this country, elsewhere in the world—especially in areas of dense population—a greater interest is being taken in this type of vehicle for public services. Indonesia is a typical example where in its capital of Djakarta—the world's ninth largest city—a double-deck bus is now undergoing trials.

A British-built vehicle was a natural choice for this prototype operation, as this country is still regarded as the home of the double-decker and a large number of Leyland single-deck buses were already operating in the country. An order, therefore, was placed with the British Leyland Motor Corporation for a Titan PD3 chassis while Metropolitan-Cammell-Weymann Ltd., was instructed to supply a Mark 7, '23seater body.

The choice of a front-engined half-cab bus was made because the local roads have deep gullies and open culverts in the area of operation, which make them unsuitable for a bus of the rear-engined Atiantean type, with its lower ground clearance and rear overhang; it was also considered that the PD3 would be a more manoeuvrable machine.

At the time the order was received, a batch of rear-entrance buses was being completed by M.C.W. at its Elmdon Works, Birmingham, for Blackpool Corporation Transport. This was just the type the Indonesians wanted, so an assembled body, with some modifications to suit local conditions and all the necessary accessories was shipped out.

Military administration Indonesia has a military government and the principal local bus undertaking has a military administration, the title of which is P.N. Pengang Kutan Penumpang, Djakarta, and the director is an army lieutenant

colonel. The most difficult part of the project for the administration was its inexperience in. the assembly of such a vehicle and the only premises available consisted of a part of the repair shop in one of the bus depots.

To supervise the assembly, M.C.W. sent Mr. Jack Guanuori, one of its planning and method engineers. His local team consisted of eight men, most of whom, with the exception of a Eurasian electrician, were unskilled. Apart from the language barrier, another problem was the incapacity of the workmen to readily adapt themselves to all-metal construction. They had so little confidence in approaching or doing certain jobs that instruction had to be given on almost every process, followed by supervision of the assembly.

The local labour also seemed prone to employ delaying tactics and to pilfering; the latter was so rife that everything movable was locked up! Completion of the bus on time was undoubtedly due to the stalwart efforts in the sweltering heat of Mr. Guanoon and and Mr. T. Brindle, the Leyland service engineer.

As no jigs were available, the body had to be erected straight on to the chassis. Fortunately, the body sizes had been preassembled at the factory and only required panelling. Fabrication of the roof was a floor job after which there was the mammoth task of manhandling it into position.

Much of the M.C.W. structure is hot riveted. But the heating of the rivets had to be done with a welding torch. This slowed down the operation to the extent that some of the joints had to be made with hightensile steel bolts and lock nuts. The main variation in the body from the Blackpool specification was in the ventilation and full-depth half-sliding windows were used in place of the usual top sliders. The Titan also had an opening windscreen, and the seats were tubular framed and covered in plastics cloth.

Considerable publicity had been given locally to the introduction of the doubledecker, and the fact that it was similar to a London bus. This made it necessary to paint it in the well-known red livery, with a cream band above the lower saloon windows. In such a dust laden atmosphere it was difficult to obtain a good finish, and according to Mr. Guanuori, painting was the most difficult part of the whole job.

Advertisements However, an air-pressure spray system was available although this was not equipped with either regulators, gauges or filters. The smart livery, however, is almost obliterated by the advertisements with which the bus has been adorned. These are pre-painted on 26-gauge aluminium and hot riveted to the panels. They are changed at regular intervals so that the body sizes could soon have additional ventilation through the numerous holes which must appear!

Excellent co-operation was received from the administration in endeavouring to overcome some of the problems of equipment shortage and despite the hazards, the new bus was delivered within seven weeks.

The handing-over ceremony was attended by high-ranking army officers, government officials and the British ambassador. This was followed by two demonstration runs which were greeted by local crowds lining the route. Before the actual service started, some road improvements had to be made over the five-mile route.

So great was the demand to travel on the bus—it was carrying about 150 passengers—that a military guard had to be carried on the rear platform. From first assessment, it appears that the double-decker could be an answer to Djakarta's traffic problems in both passengercarrying and in relieving congestion and augurs well for future orders for similar buses.