NEW RAIL BUS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 938, 7 December 1933, Page 5

NEW RAIL BUS.

Vehicle Resembles Huge Airship. BRITISH DEVELOPMENT. (Special to the 44 Star.”) LONDON, October 24. A stream-lined rail bus—an entirely new departure in railway rolling stock —is shortly to be put into experimental service by the Great Western Railway between Reading and Slough. With its flush-fitting observation windows merging into a sloping control cabin at either end. it looks more like , the cabin of some huge airship than a rail coach. The sides of the car. which is 62ft long and lift 4in high, extend to within a foot of the track. The 130 h.p. engine, driven by non-inflammable oil, is almost identical with those in many London omnibuses. Speedometer dials in the paneling will tell passengers accurately within one mile an hour the speed at which they are travelling. That may be anything up to 60 m.p.h. Lower Fuel Costs. A microphone enables the guard to communicate by loud speakers either with the driver or the passengers, and an emergency lever accessible to the guard and passengers stops the engine and applies the brakes. A G.W.R. official said: “Streamlining will reduce wind resistance to one-fifth of that encountered by a similar square-ended car. The fuel cost of a steam locomotive is about 2d to 2id per mile, whereas the fuel and maintenance costs of this rail bus will be about Id per mile. If the experiment proves a success, such rail cars should have a great future on suburban and local services.” It is not expected that the car will j be put into service until the end of December.