Double-decker bus "Pickwick Stages System"

pipopak · April 23, 2012, 03:08:35 PM

Did anybody ever saw one of this:

CrabbyMilton · April 23, 2012, 03:15:39 PM

I never saw one in person but I have an article in an old BUS WORLD magazine from many many years back. There was also a post on here about it a few years ago. Interesting bus to say the least. Just imagine the possibilities an operator like that could do with a VAN-HOOL 925.

Busted Knuckle · April 23, 2012, 03:28:49 PM

Hopefully with any modern bus they could do away with the wheel chock under the front wheel! LOL!

BK

bkelly1011 · April 23, 2012, 03:42:12 PM

Very neat. Pretty sure your picture is showing the dual engine exhaust pipes which were routed between the two windshields and down the length of the bus across the roof, it that's the same model that is pictured in the Motorcoach Milestones book I have.

Take care,
Brad

Oonrahnjay · April 23, 2012, 04:18:06 PM

See http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/p/pickwick/pickwick.htm

Lots of good info. But wouldn't a double-deck coach be uncomfortable? And they'd be sure to fall over in the least little breeze ...

Busted Knuckle · April 23, 2012, 07:44:35 PM

Quote from: Oonrahnjay on April 23, 2012, 04:18:06 PM
See http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/p/pickwick/pickwick.htm

Lots of good info. But wouldn't a double-deck coach be uncomfortable? And they'd be sure to fall over in the least little breeze ...

siberyd · April 23, 2012, 11:26:56 PM

A couple of years ago, thinking 1992 either someone was restoring a coach like the one in the picture
or building one from scratch in San Diego. APTA (American Public Transit Association) was having their annual conference there.

One of the tours available to the atendees was to view antique buses, we had the oppourtunity to see an old double deck Pickwick rig. Memory fails where exactly in San Diego.

Jon

chev49 · April 24, 2012, 12:05:44 AM

im not quite that old to have seen one...
but
im pretty senile....

Iceni John · April 24, 2012, 09:36:33 AM

Those buses were so far ahead of their time. Integral (or at least semi-integral) design, aluminum bodywork, air suspension, quick-release engine mounts, toilets and running water, cooking facilities, an ingenious use of interior space. Wow! I would love to see one today.

John

Jeremy · April 24, 2012, 11:27:40 AM

For comparison, here's a photo of a British double-decker from the same period:

The caption to this photo reads "A Guy 6-wheeled double deck long distance coach - In 1928 Guy pioneered the 6-wheeled double deck sleeper coach, which ran between London and Manchester"

Jeremy

Oonrahnjay · April 24, 2012, 11:46:36 AM

Quote from: Jeremy on April 24, 2012, 11:27:40 AM(snip) In 1928 Guy pioneered the 6-wheeled double deck sleeper coach, which ran between London and Manchester"

Yes, notice that both of these buses (the Pickwick and the Guy) were set up as "sleepers" in line with railway accommodation for long trips of the time. It would be interesting to see an original and figure out what they did to have food/sleeping/lavatory arrangements in a 1920's bus.

BH, now NC (but formerly living about 4 miles from the Guy factory near Wolverhampton)

(PS I still live closer to the Guy factory than the Pickwick factory.)

Jeremy · April 24, 2012, 12:12:46 PM

Here's the sleeping accommodation from the Pickwick bus - pretty plush - long distance bus travel was obviously a luxury option back then:

And incidentally - here are (sort of) the modern equivalents - triple-decker hotel buses are quite common in Germany:

Jeremy

Iceni John · April 24, 2012, 03:25:34 PM

The Pickwick bus slightly reminds me of Amtrak's Economy Bedroom in their Superliners, or even the traditional Pullman sleeping car arrangement with a curtain separating one's berth from the central walkway. Either way, it looks much nicer than the much-reviled sleeper buses used today in China that have three rows of hard couchettes, and little else for creature comforts. Even that modern German Rotel bus looks like a cross between a morgue and a pigeon loft.

In 1936 Crown built some sleeper coaches for All American Bus Lines, with high roofs and underfloor Hall-Scott 160 gasoline engines, but I don't know if any survived. There was a recent post on CCJ about them, and a postcard on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320888498206&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:US:3160

John

siberyd · April 24, 2012, 03:47:16 PM

A 2-story version of the Rotel bus travels up Cajon Pass often. I have seen it atleast once or twice a year over the ladt 10 years.

Oonrahnjay · April 24, 2012, 04:58:10 PM

Quote from: Iceni John on April 24, 2012, 03:25:34 PMthat modern German Rotel bus looks like a cross between a morgue and a pigeon loft.

Quote from: siberyd on April 24, 2012, 03:47:16 PMA 2-story version of the Rotel bus travels up Cajon Pass often. I have seen it atleast once or twice a year over the ladt 10 years.

I could never get my head around the "Rotels". The original versions had little "capsules with a mattress" that were about 3 feet wide by 2 1/2 feet tall. "Morgue" is right - how anybody could sleep in one of those things I don't know. I'd never be able to close my eyes. I think that 2-story US type is to give more cu capacity for US customers (although I think that even now most of the customers are Germans).