A LUXURIOUS TRAVELLING HOUSE.
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A Type of Outfit Which Possesses Certain sCommercial Possibilities.
ALTHOUGH the vehicles to which reference is made here are intended for private work, there is scope for the employment of similar machines in a commercial way, such as for the conveyance of tourists. Parties could be accommodated in similar motor carevans and all their needs for long holi: days met on board. Undertakings of this kind must cater, of course for a select few, and the nature of the equipment described in these , paragraphs shows what can be done in this direction.
In view of the great expansion of motor coach tours in recent years, patronized by holiday makers from abroad as well as British residents, it is only going a step farther to provide the same travellers with sleeping and fc2ding facilities on board, instead of conveying them from one hotel to another. In this way the vehicle owner would keep the business in his own hands and customers would appreciate the reduction in the amount of business formalities, such as paying hotel bills daily.
Some may hold the view that caravan comfort is necessarily of a limited order, but the employment of a pair of coupled vehicles gives double the space and operating costs are not much greater than in the case of tho sin* machine. When larger space per person was desired the fares would naturally be higher, as the total number Per trip would be reduced. Even so, the travelling and living costs charged in one coin would probably be below those of separate fares and
hotel bills, not to speak of "pourboires."
The vehicles illustrated comprise a long wheelbase (16 ft. 6 ins.) 50 h.p. Thornycroft, model J, and an Eagle trailer. Bodies of the same size, namely, 20 ft by '7 ft. 6 ins., are mounted thereon, both being designed and huilt by Melville Hart and Co., St. Stephen's House, Victoria Embankment, London, S.W.1. A spring coupling joins the two machines and the gangway between them can be converted into a covered passage, thus forming, in effect, one long building on wheels. From front to rear the compartments are in the following order : Driver's cab, lavatory, and dining saloon on the towing vehicle, and three bedrooms on the trailer.
Being intended for work in the tropics, double walls are used, the outer one consisting of compressed woodfibre and the inner wall of oak, which is the interior finish throughout. Sufficient headroom is given for a six-foot man, even at the lowest points in the roof arch, which is of clerestory form.
Doors are fitted to the driver's compartment, the rear end of the Thornycroft and.both ends of the trailer ; the communication doors are of the twopiece type. Windows are-metal-framed,
and the use of rich blue curtains is reminiscent of a house rather than of the usual run of caravans. Silk settee upholstery, floor coverings and rugs all harmonize with the blue, end a gold flower pattern is worked into the cushions.
Electric lighting from the vehicle dynamo is provided for the interior, roof and wall lights being effective but not obtrusive. Folding tables are used in the dining-room compartment and capacious food lockers are fixed below the chassis frames of both machines. A 50gallon water tank is similarly mounted and space is allowed for camping equipment to house the members of the Maharaja's entourage the outfit being
built to the order of entourage, late Highness
the 3ela4iaraja Scindia of Gwalior, for hunting and shooting expeditions.
Sixteen persons can sleep on board, four on the Thornycroft and 12 on the trailer. The upper bunks can be folded so as to form backs for the lower ones, thus making seats, or they can be turned over on special fittings and slung up to the roof so as to leave the window spaces absolutely unrestricted. Below the seats are drawers capable of holding large quantities of luggage and corner cupboards in the dining compartment house glasses and suitable table equipment.
Below the chassis are carried sets of steps which can .be dismounted a n d fixed to the respective doors when the party decides to camp. Cream is the colour chosen for the bodies, the under-carriages behag painted chocolate and the roofs white.