Berlin Coach (TL5)

When traveling on uneven roads, coaches frequently proved a precarious mode of transport, since the suspension system was inclined to collapse when subjected to a particularly severe jolt, causing the vehicle to topple over immediately. A new kind of carriage, called the berlin, emerged from attempts to solve this problem undertaken in Berlin at the court of Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, at the end of the 17^th century, and constituting a major technical advance. The wheels of a berlin are connected to twin shafts parallel to the body, which lie directly on two strong leather straps stretched between the wheels by means of a winding mechanism, with a brake show mounted on the rear. The coach is entered with the aid of a step attached to the shaft.

Subassemblies: Body +3, four Wheels +0.

Powertrain: Six ST 40 horses generating 4.8 kW.

Occupancy: 2 XCS, 4 RPS.

Cargo: 0 cf.

Armor: 2/2W overall

Equipment:

Body: Luxury interior.

Statistics:

Size: 19'x7'x9.5' Payload: 0.76 tons Lwt.: 1.36 tons

Volume: 162 cf. Maint.: 131 hours Price: $23,304

HT: 5. HPs: 134 Body, 19 each Front Wheel, 38 each Rear Wheel.

gSpeed: 14 gAccel: 1 gDecel: 10 gMR: 0.75 gSR: 4

Ground Pressure High. 1/6 Off-Road speed.

Design Notes:

The berlin was designed as 4 luxury roomy seats on wheels. The crew rides outside of the coach on cycle seats. Six horses are attached using a whiffletree harness. Structure is Light, with Expensive materials. Armor is DR 2 Expensive Wood. Empty weight is 1,518 lbs. Due to the unequal size of the wheels, wheel HPs were divided by 6 and distributed as shown.

Variants:

A variety of processional berlins were created to transport holy relics in a glass case. They were not used as personal transport.

From the Aerodrome for GURPS