|
|
|
Set browser full screen Best viewed 1024 x 768 and not guaranteed at less than 800 x 600
LOTHIAN LEYLAND ECW OLYMPIANS
Information and inquiries always welcome.
|
LAST LEYLANDS LOWER DECK INTERIOR
Drop-centre rear axle This, replacing a straight axle with a differential in the middle, allows a flat floor all the way to the rear of the bus. It also allows a low-height body (between 13 feet 4 inches and 13 feet 8 inches high) to be fitted, maintaining enough headroom. Bristol were the first to produce a drop-centre rear axle, in the 1950s on their Lodekka front-engined bus. Daimler produced one for the Fleetline in 1960, which was used for low-height and full-height bodywork. The Leyland PDR1/2 and PDR1/3 Atlanteans in the 1960s for low-height bodywork used a drop-centre rear axle from the Albion Lowlander front-engined bus. This could only handle restricted torque, so only the 600 engine could be fitted. The PDR1/1 for full-height bodywork used the standard Leyland straight axle. The drop-centre axle on the 1980s Olympian was a new Leyland creation to handle much higher torque. As with the Daimler Fleetline, the same Olympian chassis was used for low-height or full-height bodywork. The Lothian Olympians, like all Lothian double deckers, are 'full-height' (14 feet 2 inches).
Rear wheelarches Instead of being boxed in, the rear wheelarches on the ECW body are fairly obvious as to what they are. They give decent legroom for those seated above and behind them. There is a 4-inch deep protrusion on the inner body side alongside the wheelarch seats, where the chassis perimeter frame rises to clear the rear wheels. On this protrusion there is a red PVC top (like the seat covers).
|
