DAYS OF STEAM
(Page 2 of 2)
November/December 1997
J.C.B. MacKeand
The all British motorbus made news in 1905 because of the large
number of German built chassis in use at that time. Although
bearing a Birmingham registration plate, this Thorny croft 24 HP
bus was owned by the London Motor Omnibus Co., Ltd., and leased by
them to the Birmingham Motor Express Co., Ltd. The total passenger
capacity was 36, including two alongside the driver, and the bus,
which had a top speed of 12 mph, cost 900, with tires and body.
RELATED CONTENT
A novel feature of this 1905 Maudslay double decker was that the
40 HP engine had mechanically operated inlet and exhaust valves, an
overhead camshaft being employed. The bus was built for the
Scottish Motor Traction Co., Ltd., and carried 16 passengers in the
saloon and 18 on top. Ventilation was stated to have been
'carefully considered,' but upper-deck passengers are
likely to have called this an understatement. The radiator cowl was
neat for this period and the mud guarding was thought to be
particularly comprehensive.
Specialized transport for the Army; a 1905 ambulance built for
the Royal Army Medical Corps. The chassis was a Straker Squire and
was similar to the bus chassis, but had a shorter wheelbase. The
sides, roof and floor were lined with 1 inch felt, presumably to
deaden the noise of the vehicle in motion, and a slight form
of.
It was not until the later years in the life of the steamer that
attempts were made by some manufacturers to tidy them up. For
example, the Foden Speed 12, produced in 1930, was similar in
appearance to a modern oil engined six-wheeler. The boiler was
behind the driver, so that it was not difficult to bring the
frontal styling into line with that of current combustion engined
vehicles.
Apart from Government policy, driver recruitment presented
difficulties, as the driver of a steamer had to be of an entirely
different calibre from those who had started out on petrol engined
vehicles. The fire had to be carefully watched, as did the water
level in the boiler if the correct head of steam for all
emergencies was to be available.
In the Clarkson steam vehicle, which was produced both for
passenger and goods work, a water tube boiler was employed. On bus
work this was oil fired, but in 1914 a coke fired version was
introduced on a goods chassis. The coke was preheated and fed to
the boiler automatically.
Although a steam driven vehicle is ideal in many ways, there is
little chance of its revival unless improvements can be made in
steam generation.
Page:
<< Previous 1 | 2 |