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A SIMPLE AND EASILY OPE RATED ALL-WEATHER HEAD.
Page 96
Page 97
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WHEN one considers the vagaries of the English climate it is not really surprising that the ail-weather motor coach has replaced, to a marked extent, the earliest type of open vehicle .which, in its original form, merely had a top covering to protect passengers. There are still certain popular places in this country where, at the height of the holiday season, any coach but the open type is eschewed, but for touring work as distinct from purely local half-day runs there is little doubt that the all-weather vehicle has considerably strengthened its position of recent years. There are several types of head on the British market which enable complete protection to be given from the element; but one of the neatest and simplest we have inspected is that for which the Wilton Carriage Co., Ltd., 254, London Road, Croydon, is responsible. in the course of a recent visit to the company's works we noticed that this type of head was being used for bodies built on chassis of several different types and sizes, and we were able to secure pictures of an example of it as fitted to a Daimler coach. We reproduce these pictures on this page, together with a -detail illustration which serves to indicate a salient feature of the body design. The company makes several strong claims for its method of construction, one of the most important being that it ensures maximum strength in spite of the use of aluminiumalloy pillars at the sides. This represents a great saving in weight as against the ordinary timber pillar, as can be gauged from the fact that the main side pillars weigh only 9i lb. and the door pillars only 6i lb. The pillars are constructed by the British Aluminium Co., Ltd., and by reason
of their use with the all-weather head are of a special design. They are of robust build and adequately strengthened at the most vulnerable point. The pillars extend well into
the body and are securely bolted to cross-bearers. An advantage of a pillar of this type is that it can be standardized for a variety of body types, irrespective of their seating capacities, and, by reason of its light weight, it is equally practicable to use in the construction of a 14-seater body as in a body of double that capacity. So far as the all-weather equipment is concerned, the tubular supports (usually three on each aide) for the cant rails work in tubes fitted in these side pillars. The tubes are spring-loaded, so that by releasing the plungers which hold them down the cant rail is automatically raised. When the maximum height is reached, the supports are again locked in position and firmly held by setscrews. Very little effort is required to raise the framework and it can just as easily be lowered. The rear portion of the head is also spring-loaded and can readily be operated. The hoop sticks for carrying the hood fabric slide on the cant rail, to which they are fixed at intavals, their Dumber corresponding with the number of pillars. The hood covering is firmly stretched. over these sticks and made secure at the front. . The side glass wintloWs are, of course, made to be raised or lowered independently, and the type of fitting employed allows the light to be held perfectly rigid in any desired position. The windows are silent in operation and work in velvet-lined grooves in the special pillars. The metal screens for the windows are nickel-plated, as are all the metal fittings of the head. When the side windows are down and the cant rail with its supporting pillars lowered so that the rail is flush with the elbow rail, the body is, to all intends and purposes, an ordinary open type. Apart from this guise and that of the totally enclosed coach, how
ever, the vehicle can be used with the side windows up and the top covering down, or with the hood fabric in position and the lights down. Thus, it will be seen that a vehicle equipped with this head can be used in four distinct ways. The body on the Daimler coach, which we illustrate, is a 28-seater, and it has been built to the order of a Staines Bridge (Middlesex) user for touring work. The body certainly has a neat and workmanlike appearance, whether the side framework be raised or lowered. Such a body as this is of great utility, as it provides the maximum comfort in all weathers.