GT2827 Elizabeth | |
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Overview | |
Manufacturer |
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Powertrain | |
Engine | Steam |
Capacity | 30 |
Transmission | Chain |
GT2827 Elizabeth is a steam powered combination bus that operates in the English seaside town of Weston-super-Mare, and previously in Whitby. [1]
The vehicle was created in 2002, when a tourism transport operator, the Northern Star Motor Carriage Company, converted a 1931 Sentinel steam-powered DG6P flatbed lorry into a 30-seat bus. [1] It is used to take people on a tour of the town, providing up to ten trips per day over the summer months. It is the only steam bus in revenue-earning service in the world and has become something of a tourist attraction in its own right. [2] In around April 2015 it was purchased by Crosville, a public and heritage bus operator in Weston-super-Mare. [3]
It has two gears, chain transmission, six wheels and ten pneumatic tyres, and a body made from white ash and mahogany. [1] It was a flatbed lorry and then a tar sprayer in its original commercial life, before being bought from a scrapyard for preservation in 1962. [4]
Before the bus could carry fare-paying passengers, it had to undergo a 35° tilt test and required an amendment to legislation since the exhaust was not sited at the rear of the vehicle. [5] [note 1] In November 2011, it took part in London's Lord Mayor's Show. [6] The journey from Whitby to London, via York, Leeds, Bradford, Burton upon Trent and Rugby was all by Elizabeth's own steam power.