Bogie bus

[tonyp]

This photo and concept (front bogie) rings a bell but I can't put my finger on it. Anyone know what this bus is, the story behind the concept and where they were used?

http://i54.tinypic.com/2nrgio9.jpg

[REIDm8]

A little bit more info on this here.
http://www.busaustralia.com/forum/viewt ... us#p599715
Pete

[tonyp]

Many thanks Pete.

[Newcastle Flyer]

Looks like the bus body is put on back to front. The front looks more like it's the back.

[Rclasstramcar]

SBM has a similar bus, but with a US (GM, Chevy or Ford) prime mover.

Ben

[boronia]

The bus at SBM is a conventional semi-trailer, where the driver sits in the prime mover. It has a White tug.

[Rclasstramcar]

Thanks Boronia.

Ben

[GM]

An article on the Cheetah appeared in Truck and Bus Transportation in the February, 1946 Issue.
I think there two other articles which I have not been able to locate at this moment. GM

[GM]

An article from November, 1944 issue of T & BT with the concept of the Cheetah. GM

[Myrtone]

Why not have two bogies, one under each end?

[boronia]

The nearest equivalent I've seen to that bus was a car carrier truck in Sydney in the 1990s.

It used a Leopard prime mover which was poitioned under two levels of cars. The poor driver had to sit almost horizontal to drive it !!

[eddy]

I just do not get how it gets around corners. It must have an incredibility long turning circle and what happens when the steer wheels reach the side of the body? I would imagine the front bogie can only turn about 10 degrees.
PS I think i jumped the gun i just noticed that the bogie section below is seperate from the bus body. It must be interesting how they have the steering connected.

[Alonzo71]

Here is how the bus was made.

It uses a AfX Specialty chassis this one is non-mag. I used two pickup shoes and soldered them facing the rear, I then worked them to follow the contour of the rear chassis. This is where the actual electrical contact is made.
The one on the left is the first one I made in the early eighties, I found it this summer in my moms garage. I had the Dodge Van which I still have mounted on it then.
For the guide pin I used an Aurora pin taped to a strip of aluminum cut from a pop can. You will have to work the aluminum strip to have just the right tension to get the bus up at takeoff.

[tonyp]

I just do not get how it gets around corners. It must have an incredibility long turning circle and what happens when the steer wheels reach the side of the body? I would imagine the front bogie can only turn about 10 degrees.
PS I think i jumped the gun i just noticed that the bogie section below is seperate from the bus body. It must be interesting how they have the steering connected.

It was hydraulic steering eddy. That was what scared the Victorian authorities off - there was no mechanical backup for the driver to take the steering if the hydraulics failed. Which they did a couple of times in its WA service. With a combination of low speed and those wide-open WA spaces the bus just ran off the road, no harm done to anyone. Would definitely not be the go for peak hour service in Sydney!