A Visit to the Paris General Omnibus Co.
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1000 Single-deck Motorbuses to be Running by December Next. Drivers Not Allowed to Touch Their Engines. Standardization the Order of the Day.
Now that the Paris omnibus concession, which is held by La Compagme Generale_ des Omnibus de Paris, has finally abolished the use of the horsed vehicle in that connection, and that the new single-decker machines are being put into service exclusively in large numbers, it is instructive, from the point of many users, to examine in some detail the excellent organization which controls these new services in the French capital.
A large fleet of Schneider chassis is already being employed, and the numbers will be increased in the near future. Some of the old twodecker motorbuses have been converted to conform with the latest regulations, and a very good job indeed has been made in respect ot this alteration.
Twelve Garages.
The General Omnibus Co. of Paris at present has 12 garages. These are as follow: Croix Nivert, 200 buses ; Clichy, 125; Bastille, 1'25; Poissonniers, 120; Lebrun,
110; Montrouge, ; Malesherbes, 100; Bagnolet, 65; Chaumont, 65: Allemagne, 50; and Mozart, 50. Another depot at Belliard is at present only a temporary one. For the most part these depots are excellently equipped, especially in relation to the provision for rapid inspection and overhaul, and washing of the vehicles and replenishing of the fuel tanks.
In charge of the company's organization we find that the personnel is as follows : a general manager ; a garage superintendent, who is also assistant. man
ager ; a works manager, who is really the technical expert of the company ; two assistant works managers, who take it in turns to be on duty day and night and an outside inspector.
;Systematic Maintenance.
The arrangements NV 1 tich are made for the periodical inspection and adjustments of the chassis, now that the Paris Operating Company has been "through the mill," are instructive. Every night each machine is, of course, carefully inspected in accordance with a pre arranged schedule which is in the hands of the garage staff. Additionally, in rotation, the buses in each garage receive a very comprehensive survey. When such examination is due, the machine is.
run over a pit, its oil. shields are taken down, the engine is gone over with special care, as is also the gearbox, the wheels are dismounted, the bearings examined and the journals thoroughly lubricated. This methodical inspection falls to the lot of each bus about once in every 10 days, and, according to the amount of adjustment required, occupies between four and five hours. Over and above this, every month each machine is still more thoroughly overhauled, and this generally occupies the whole of a working day. When this monthly inspection falls due, gears, pistons, and other details which are not so easily dismounted are subjected to close examination and attention, if necessary. It is claimed that this comprehensive system of periodical overhauls and inspections avoids the necessity for any lengthy detention each year, for, as a matter of fact, it is corn puted that, at the end of 12 months of operation, the machine is in just as good order as when it was first put into service. New parts are added, during the various examination periods, as necessity arises.
Careful organization of this kind necessitates the periodical withdrawal of each machine from service ; as a matter of fact, it is provided that each vehicle is withdrawn on one day a month, that is to say, 12 times a year, for overhaul, and in addition to that, for another seven days for a thorough cleaning, painting and overhaul of upholstery and coachwork. To make up for this periodical withdrawal, spare vehicles are kept on the active list. About 85 per cent. of the total number of vehicles belonging to the company is always out on the road.
Fuel Supply and Measurement.
We reproduce two photographs herewith which are in themselves evidence of the care and thought which has been given to the arrangements for fuel supply, now that the company's operations are on a permanent and substantial basis. In France, no matter what precautions may be taken for petrol storage on a large scale, premises on which such installations are found are classed as "unhealthy and dangerous," and in -that respect are classified with the big petrol-storage depots belonging to the supply companies ; they are then subject to most rigorous regulations on the part of the authorities. The isolated filling stations at the entrances to the wellplanned garages are instances of the care which has been taken to avoid anything like disaster in respect of fire. Our detail illustration of the supply and measuring apparatus discloses these points satisfactorily.
Drivers are Not Mechanics.
With regard to the drivers, these, so far aspossible, have been chosen from the old horsed-bus drivers who so long served the company, and who had become thoroughly accustomed to the unique confusion which is a customary state of affairs in the central thoroughfares of Paris. It takes a man who has been driving many years in Paris to be able to control heavy motor vehicles satisfactorily in that city without clashing with the other users of the road whom the gendarmes invariably fail to control. A very careful line has been drawn between those who drive the buses and those whose duty it is to maintain them. The drivers are not in any way supposed to understand the mechanism. They are ant even allowed to change a plug on the road! The company takes great pains to train its own seechanies, and actually puts them through a course of special training before de.(Initely engaging them. Road mechanics make any adjustmerits that are necessary on service. The drivers, as a rule, are required to be on duty 10 hours a day. When anything goes wrong with the machine, they are instructed to draw to the side of the road and immediately to telephone for a relief bus, which arrives with the utmost
speed, manned by a breakdown gang. The original driver then takes on the new bus, and the relief party takes charge of the. derelict and if possible gets it under way and drives it back to the garage.
First and Second Class.
The maintenance department of the company, as distinct from the garages proper, is a most comprehensive one ; it comprises coach shops, lamp-repair shops, oil stores, a depot for the repair of splashguards, and lavatories and clothes store-reams for the employees ; of course, too, there is a fine organization in respect of machine and repair shops. The central depot, where exceptional repairs are executed, is in the Rue Olianmionnet.
At the end of the year the company is to have in operation no fewer than 1000 buses. At present the fleet comprises about 650 macilium The fleet itself will eventually comprise: 520 35-seaters, for 16 first-class and 19 second-class passengers ; 120 with accommodation for 12 first-class and 23 second class passengers ; 100 vehicles which have been re-constructed from the old machines, having 28 seats, eight first-class and 20 second-class ; and 260 31-seaters, 12 first-class and 19 second-class. Altogether there arc four types of buses, and all of them are Schneiders.
Four-cylinder Schneiders.
The latest machines have four-cylinder engines, 125 nun, bore and 140 mm, stroke, running at 900 rpm,, Brine carburetters, Eisemann high tension magnetos, circular Goudart and Mennesson radiators, thermo-syphon cooling, and HeleShaw clutches. The gearboxes provide for three speeds forward, the top speed giving 22 kilom, per hour. Wooden wheels are fitted, mid these carry 900 mm. by 160 mm. twirl tires on the back and 900 mm. by 140 ram. single tires on the front ; Continental, Bergougnan, Dunlop and Torrilhon tires are in use. The older converted types of chassis have engines with 125 mm, bore and 140 atm. stroke.
So far as constructional improvements are concerned, the only one of considerable importance, apart from the abolition of the " imperiale " or top deck, is the adoption of the Schneider' live axle and the use of the back springs as radius rods. The whole policy of the company is towards standardization.
Service No. 90.
In conclusion we may add that eventually the company will operate itt motor services, of which the length will vary between 6 kilom. and 7 kilom. Each Paris motorbus runs about 116 kilom, a day ; sometimes, however, a total of 180 kilom. is reached. There is no special speed limit for motorbuses in Pares ; they cannot exceed 22 k.p.h. ; their mean speed is about 12 k.p.h. The company has to record a remarkable increase in receipts since the supersession of the old three-horsed bus, so familiar a sight in Paris, was decided unon. it will be observed that, whilst some points agree closely with London practice, many are different.