THE
PARK ROYAL-ROE SALES DIVISION, which handles the products of Park Royal
Vehicles Ltd. and Charles H. Roe Ltd., has plumped for an
all-double-decker display at the Commercial Motor Show which opens at
Earls Court, London, on September 20.
A
total of seven vehicles, all two-door buses for one-man-working on rear-engined
chassis, will be on display, either on various stands in the exhibition
building itself or in the demonstration park. On the adjoining Park Royal
and Roe stands there are to be four vehicles-a 33ft Leyland Atlantean for
Sheffield Transport Department, a 31ft Daimler Fleetline for Manchester
City Transport, a 33ft Daimler Fleetline for Leeds City Transport and a
30ft Daimler Fleetline for Birmingham City Transport.
A
second identical Leeds Daimler will be on the Daimler stand, while on the
Leyland stand there is to be a 33ft Atlantean for Plymouth City Transport.
The seventh vehicle is to be a 33ft Atlantean for the Leyland
demonstration fleet.
Although
it is fair to point out that all the vehicles have been on order since
long before the Ministry of Transport's standardization scheme was
published, wide variety of thinking is evident, and four quite distinct
designs, with few parts in common, have been used.
The
Sheffield, Plymouth and demonstration vehicles are to the new Park Royal
standard design, which incorporates what may be described as
"medium-large" side windows, together with a vee-shaped
treatment of the driver's windscreen and upper-deck front windows using
flat glass. The glass-fibre domes are of the type giving a smooth finish
on both outer and inner faces.
This
design broadly conforms to the Ministry of Transport standard for a 33ft
double-decker and it is hoped that it will not require more than
detail modification as the standard is developed in the coming year or
two. The floor is almost flat, with a height of 2ft 4in from ground
level over most of its length but rising to just over 2ft 6in over the
rear axle.
The
Manchester vehicle will, of course, be to that operator's own recently
introduced style, with generally rectangular lines, long window bays and
an ultra-deep curved glass driver's windscreen. Much of the design is
broadly in accordance with the Ministry specification, but the staircase
faces the wrong way and the overall length lies between the 9.5 and 10
metre standards. It is anticipated that later 10-metre vehicles for
Manchester will have forward-ascending stairs.
The
Leeds vehicles are to be developments of the ultra-long-window
double-deckers already in service in that city, but adapted to the
centre-exit layout. The staircase is of the forward-ascending type but
differs from the others in being of the straight form favoured on Leeds
buses for some 32 years.
The
Birmingham design is derived from that of earlier Fleetlines in that
city, with short windows of differing depth on the two decks. The
staircase is a forward-ascending unit but the vehicle does not quite
meet the dimensional standards, being slightly too short and having a
floor about 3in too low to comply fully, for example.
All
the vehicles will have provision for ticket-issuing machines to be
fitted. The Sheffield bus is to have a Setright machine with a Peters
coin dispenser, a Smiths public address system, a S.B.K. passenger
counting device operating from two stair treads, a periscope and
"Bus Stopping" signs in both saloons which light up when the
bell has been rung and remaining on until the exit door opens.
The
Manchester bus will have Bell Punch Autoslot coin-operated self-service
ticket machines each side of the entrance gangway together with a
driver-operated Setright machine, Smiths public address, a
passenger-counting system and periscope.
The
Leeds vehicle has a driver-operated ticket machine and coin dispenser, a
ticket-cancelling machine, public address, radio telephone, S.B.K.
passenger counter, periscope and transmission interlock to prevent the
exit doors being opened with the vehicle in motion.
The
Birmingham bus will have a T.I.M.
ticket machine, a Lock passenger-counting device and periscope. The
Plymouth vehicle will have a Setright ticket machine and coin dispenser
for the driver, a coin-operated Setright machine for passengers, and a
periscope. A.A.T. |