Desert Bus

While sheiks gaped, burros reared and camels stopped chewing their cuds, over the long yellow ripples of the Syrian Desert at 65 m.p.h. last week whizzed a vehicle the like of which neither Iraq nor any other place in the world had ever seen. It was the world's first stainless-steel sleeper-trailer bus, built in Philadelphia by E. G. Budd Manufacturing Co. for the 600-mile run between Bagdad and Damascus. On this long trip with its one watering place--the oasis at Rutba Wells--the road is marked for only 200 miles.

Rest of the way is over the trackless sands. Lightness was therefore a prime consideration. E. G. Budd Co. followed the formula that has made it the most successful U. S. builder of lightweight streamline trains. Some 57 ft. long, its desert car consists of a shiny, Diesel-powered tractor to which is coupled a 36-ft. trailer shaped much like the observation car on Budd streamline trains. Operated by Nairn Transport Co., the new busses, of which there are two, make the journey in 15 hours instead of the 24 it took the heavy, conventional busses Nairn has been shuttling across the desert for 14 years. A passenger boards the bus late in the afternoon, takes a seat in a modern interior designed like a standard Pullman. Until nightfall he watches the flat Syrian terrain from, one of 17 windows. After a box supper, a native steward makes up the 14 upper and lower berths. To guard against sandstorms, the whole machine is airtight. To guard against temperatures varying from zero to 140DEG F., there is air conditioning. Fare: $50.

*Example: The owners of Chicago's Merchandise Mart paid $2,500,000 to Chicago & North Western R. R. whose yards the building straddles.

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