Goods Transport
Page 7
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by VAN, WAGON arid TRACTOR.
The Record of the Alco Truck.
Some few weeks ago, our readers: may rem ember, we published a short., paragraph stating that an American Alec truck was engaged in a record-breaking performance. Further information as to the run is now to band, and we supply the following later particulars. The truck, which was a 345-ton standard Alco, covered, during the 336 hours it was in service, 922 miles. The separate trips made totalled 198, and the stops amounted to 1284. The total load hauled was 441,135 lb., and the longest run in any single day was Sti miles ; the heaviest day's load was 43,978 lb. The total petrol consumption was 361 gallons. Ten five-horse teams were replaced, and a labour saving of six men was effected.
Electric Aid for Overladen Horses.
A peculiar kind of haulage, the units of which may be termed electric street tugs, has been introduced at Altona on the Elbe. Many heavily-laden cars pass over the Grosse Elbstrasse, which has a gradient, of 1 in 20. It .has been the custom hitherto to keep horses in readiness to give assistance to heavily-laden horse-drawn vehicles which desire to surmount this bill. 'Electric tractors have now superseded the horses, and each around journey occupies 15 minutes, so that four trips can be made per hour. The locomotives are each fitted with one electric motor, developing 40 h.p., with a maximum speed of six m.p.h. A noteworthy feature in the installation is -filature uncoupling takes place while the loaded truck is moving. It is anticipated that about 500 commercial-vehicles. will take part in the second annual Motor Truck Parade to be held in New York City on 13th April.
Commer for Winnipeg.
Our correspondent in Winnipeg writes : " Many sales of light delivery vans and two to three-ton trucks have been made in Winnipeg d uri rig the, past fortnight; including a Commer truck to Tees and Persee, Ltd., wholesale merchants."
The Truck Stunt.
We cull the following example American descriptive methods both on account of the special interest attached to the haulage and of the amusing language that is employed. The extract is from the Packard house journal and con
cerns the special scenery wagon which is illustrated below, " The Packard truck has gone into vaudeville. It takes some versatility for an ore carrier, a piano mover and a beer keg distributor to get a life contract on first-class time like that of the Percy G. Williams circuit in Greater New York.
" Ordinarily a headliner like the Packard is looking for two shows a day. What would George Primrose say to ten shows a day and all changes in the alley. The truck stunt is a near approach to the real thing in continuous " We'll admit we needed a lot of props before we could put on the act. But it went big after we got it started. In fact it is about the biggest thing in the business.
" The first theatre we were .booked at was the Colonial. We rambled up there with a load of special scenery which included, we suppose, a river with cakes of ice in it, a drawing room set and Windsor on a Busy Day. We picked up twelve wardrobe trunks, Annette Kellerman's tank or something that looked like it and two roaring lions for a short jump to Hammerstein's. That was just a curtain raiser. Before the evening was over we had visited the Orpheum, the Alhambra and the Bronx, Greenport, the Hotel Bartholdi and the Grand Central Station. At several of the theatres we played a return engagement the same night. It was 9.45 Sunday evening when we got the first call and at noon Monday we returned to the hotel.