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148 
First 36-footer in Daily Service
Page 51
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'T'HE first •36-ft, by 8-ft. 2i-in. coach to go into regular long-distance daily service in this country left Victoria Coach Station, London, at midday last Friday, bound for Cheltenham. It was the 47-seat "Cheltenham Queen," a Plaxton Panorama model on the Leyland Leopard chassis, and is the first of nine such coaches purchased by Black and White Motorways, Ltd. Seven are already licensed and the last two arc due to enter service by June 1.
As an exterior photograph shows, the clean modern lines and very large glass areas (each main window is 6 ft. 4 in. by 2 ft. 6 in.) tend to disguise the true size of this vehicle built to the latest box dimensions. All windows are fixed, passengers receiving fresh air through the new Smiths "Jet Vent" system, which is now also used on other Panorama models. This ventilation system takes in fresh air through a scoop on the roof and feeds it via ducts within the parcel racks to individual aircraft-type vents, one above each seat. Passengers can adjust the vents or shut them off individually, and four Smiths Mk. II centrifugal blowers can provide boost for the air, which is also fed to demister slots at the top of each main saloon window. For tropical use, a refrigeration unit can be installed in the system.
Completely separate from this ventilation system is theheating, comprising a large (7 kW.) Smiths heater at the front of the coach to warm the driving corn
partment and feed the six demisting slots below the huge windscreen, and separate Clayton under-seat heaters distributed at points throughout the coach. An unusual feature is that all flow and return pipes are within the coach, concealed by a flanged rail running along the coach sides at ankle level, thus contributing extra heat and avoiding the possibility of frozen pipes, such as may be experienced with under-body pipes in extremely cold weather.
• Trim and fittings arc attractive, but the finish of the driving compartment seemed not to match the fine exterior and generally pleasing interior design; such items as a fluid reservoir-can fitted to the exposed steering column and a clumsily thick, black steering wheel seemed especially out of place in a luxury vehicle. However, the steering itself was reported by driver A. J. Mossman to be commendably precise, a feature which, with the exceptionally good all-round visibility, he found valuable in becoming accustomed to the new size of coach. In fact, he said, apart from having to remember to •take a wider line than normal on tight corners, he had had little trouble in getting used to the vehicle, which he nevertheless regarded as primarily suitable for trunk routes. Though the vehicle may not look especially large from the outside, the fact that it has no fewer than 15 scats aft of the rear axle gives perhaps a truer picture of the size of this impressive coach.
H.B.C.