Answers to Queries.
Page 16
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Oaf readers wall be informed by Ike Editor t PH any points connected with the constructitm or use of commercial moioys. Where a direct reply is desired, a stamped and addressed envelope should be enclosed : if a request for privacy is sot specially made, any query awl answy may be ,i)uNished. Some rephes, owing to pressure on our Sprit?, are held several weeks.
Motorbus Results in Provinces.
[1,498] " MUNICIPAL ENGINEER " writes " My committee has under consideratiou the running of a service of motor omnibuses. 1 shall he very pleased if ■ ou would refer me to any service in the country which has met with any degree of success. 1 should like particular reference to a municipal undertaking if possible. The Widnes Corporation I am well acquainted with."
ANSWER.—The results from Eastbourne were published in our issue of the 17th June, together with certain comments. You can have a copy if you will send six stamps. We also recommend you to write to Mr. W. E. Hardy, the general manager of the Bath Electric Tramways, who might he able to spare a copy of a paper which be read before the Society of Road Traction Engineers iLL December, 1907, Aliampshire Project: Experiences in sucks,
"I 499] " HANTS " writes :—" T am thinking of starting s a motor char-it-bancs service in this district, and I am writing to ask you if you would be good enough to give me some costs, etc., for approximate running.
" You may be interested to have partiNdars of a most vindictive and unjust fine inflicted on my firm at Leighton Buzzard, a short time ago, fur three purely-technical
offences (with our Little Giant under the Locomotives Act. We were engaged to haul a load of furniture from Bedford, and, at the last moment, found that it could not all be carried on one trailer; we, therefore, used an -ordinary horse pantechnicon in addition, and wrote to the various counties through which we passed for the daily permits. Through a clerical error, we applied for licences on the 6th and 7th, instead of the 6th and 8th (in the case of Bucks only). We were stopped and sununoned for : I, No licence; II, Not having two men on engine III, No -tare painted on pantechnicon: we wrote fully, pleading guilty 'in I and III, and e Not Guilty ' in IL We re-ceived a reply, the following day, to the effect that we had been convicted on all three charges, and asking for a cheque by rctutn: the fines were 9s. 6d., and costs
will bring it well over In regard to the second charge, if the law is carried out to the letter in this manner, no tractor can run under the Locomotives Act, as, on the majority of footplates, there is barely room for the driver, let alone an unnecessary assistant.' Our .second man was as close as he could get to the engine, viz., on the drawbar of the first trailer, attending to the brakes, and we maintain, therefore, assisting in the control of the engine.' A third man was at the back of the second trailer. The curious part of the rase was that our driver was originally stopped for not having a hack number; when he pointed out that this was not necessary under the Loco. Act, they took voluminous notes, and, after a considerable time (spent, apparently, in reading up this Act) they issued the summonses."
"Reverting to the cbar-à-banes idea, I mean to run a passenger and goods service—two journeys a day in eavh
direction, from to —. The district is growing rapidly, and it has very round about rail communications."
ANSWER... --We are much interested to note the hard experience you had in Buck,s. Sonic of these Benches do take advantage of a technical breach. The point about the use of tractors as traction engines is one which we shall consider, although a good many foot-plates now have rsmni for two men.
(In the projected char-'a-hancs service, do not take less than Pd. per mile for short distances, and 10, per mile for long distances. Although, in the summer-time, you may find your receipts exceptionally high, you may find
them drop as low as 6d. or id. per ear-mile in the winter, and that has to be covered. We should strongly recommend you to develop a booked parcel business with some goodclass shops, such as the leading stationers in the towns named, whilst you might also take on the. conveyance of tradesmen's parcels. This last course, however, involves you in the necessary organization of local delivery at each end, as the char-k-banes cannot go round the different towns, owing to the delays involved. I should think if you wrote to any of our advertisers, they would give you the names of customers whose work is more or less on a par with that which you contemplate. From $fd. to lid. per mile usually meets all costs.
On Scottish Hills.
[1,500] " NORTH BRITAIN writes ;-Whig of opinion that au ripening exists hero for a motor char4-bancs service in the summer months, I should be very pleased to have your opinion on the following points. The country about here being very hilly, would you suggest the use of a steam-propelled vehicle ; also, what power would be required for a machine seating about 24 to 26 people, and to give a good average speed ? Further, I want the probable cost (all purposes) for the running of such a vehicle, including insurances.
" I notice. steam chars-a-banes are not greatly used, in this part of the country at any rate. and would like to know whether they are found unsatisfactory in practice, and whether the steam generator is idle principal factor at fault. I am greatly inclined in favuur of steam.
"I may state that this town is generally well filled up with visitors during the summer, and I eonsider that a (liar-a-banes would do well during that time by running back into the country. The distances from here to useful places vary from nine to twenty miles, and the machine would probably have to run about 60 or 70 miles per day. If the vehicle were on the spot, a trade might develop to keep it going during the rest of the year (as carrier). The machine would have to be able to take the hills at a fairly-good speed, so that a good power would be required for this purpose, and a good average speed maintained, There would be no such thing as frequent stopping to pick p passengers."
Axswen.—We think you would be well advised to purchase a steam-propelled vehicle; this is in view of your own preference, the hilly district, and because you want to maintain a good speed on the gradients. It will, of course, be necessary that you employ a driver with a fair amount of intelligence, as, with a man who is careful to clean the burners and generally to keep the various parts of the chassis in a proper state of adjustment and cleanliness, we do not think you would experience ally trouble with a modern type of steam-propelled vehicle employing highlysuperheated steam and flash or semi-flash boiler. A member of our staff has recently been making some tests with the type of chassis which should meet your purpose, and an account of the test runs is given in our issue of the 7th October. It may be run either as a wagon or as a char-a-bancs. As a wagon, it. is capable of taking a load of two tons; as a char-a,-baries, it may be arranged to accommarlate 20 or 24 passengers. The cost of running such a vehicle works out at about 8d. per mile (exclusive of insurance—Which should not exceed another 14d. per mile rim). The 8d. includes tires and all running costs, garage, depreciation, interest on capital, martagement, etc., and is based on the assumption that you would run the vehicle between 350 and 400 miles per week.
We cannot. emphasise too strongly flue advisability of your keeping the vehicle in shed at feast one half-day per to clean the chassis, and to make adjustments.