Building a Coach Around an Oil Engine
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OW operating costs on bus routes in .1.4 America for both long and shortdistance work were forecast a few days ago after the completion of the first American bus to be designed from the ground up to accommodatekan oil engine. The vehicle is a new Twin Coach, designed and built around the Hercules DRXB oil engine by the Twin Coach Co., of Kent, Ohio, U.S.A. It holds 37 passengers, has separate entrance and exit, and is now in the service of the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Co., of Boston, where it is the first of a new fleet.
The engineers of the Hercules Co. explained during a recent demonstration that oil engines, whilst being much more economical to operate than petrol engines, have not hitherto been used to any great extent for bus service in America, due to the objectionable smoke and odour associated with the earlier types, but recent progress and improved design have resulted in remarkably complete combustion, which, as scientific tests have disclosed, has cut down to the minimum the carbon monoxide in the exhaust gases.
It is believed by the Hercules Motors Corporation that the completion of this bus marks a revolutionary advance in passenger road transport, and that the rapid and general use of oil power for this purpose will follow.
The engine-and-gearbox unit is mounted transversely at the rear of the chassis frame.