PASSENGER TRAVEL NEWS.
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The Latest Doings and Developments in the
BUS and Coach World.
GIVING THE PUBLIC WHAT IT WANTS.
Another Motor Coaching Novelty, A Birkenhead Company's Experiment.
"ND' ladies and gentlemen, name the place you would like to go to." The coach had just loaded up at the'Birkenhead ferry sand, and each of the passengers had paid 10s. for the pleasures of what was advertised as a 'patrons' tour," yet not one of them could say with any degree of certainty iii what direction their afternoon's joyride would take them, So the coach owner decided to invite suggestions, and to put the various proposals to the vote of the party. Llandegla Moors, Ruthin and Llangollen were some of the places mooted.
With the ready resource of the enterprising coach owner, " the chairman," who was perched on the footboard,pooled the suggestions in a grand circular tour to embrace all the destinations named, with the journey through the famous Horse Shoe Pass thrown in —and everybody was delighted; as a matter of fact, when descending the precipitous Horse Shoe Pass, enthralled.
Between Llandegla Moors arid the only motor coach seen that beautiful Sunday afternoon was the one in which the writer travelled—ft brand new 20-seater Straker-Squire, owned by W. B. Horn, Ltd., of Birkenhead, who operate a fleet of Straker-Squires with seating capacities of from 20 to 33 passengers.
That afternoon there was a fairly longline of coaches on the stand, but whether it was.coincidence or not, it was a fact that the 20-seater (on pnenrpatics) allocated for " the patrons' tour " was tile first to start oft, So far as cart be ascertained, this is the first patrons' tour to be run by any of the Merseyside coach owners, and it was the happy medium between the now out-of-date, but at one time novel, mystery tour" and the runs to familiar places in the district, always more or less . easy of access, fn the organization of the mystery tour the arrangements were known only to the coach owner, whose instructions to the driver were issued in a sealed envelope, which was not to be opened until a certain point was reached. The idea underlying the patrons' tour can best be expressed in the words of the promoter (Mr. W. B. Horn), with terseness and brevity :—" We supply the coall. You say where to go. Fare 10s.
That the first of these fixtures was a success is indicated by the booking, and before half-past two, the startingoff time,applicants for seats were disappointed, and selected as an alternative tour the one to Llandegla.
After leaving Birkenhead, instead of proceeding down the New thester Road for Hooton, the coach turned off at Rock Ferry, and, journeying through Port Sunlight and some of the nestling villages of the Wind l Peninsula—unfamniar despite their close proximity to the tourists' home-towns came to Queensferry. Here there is a bridge across the River Dee connecting the counties of Cheshire and Flintshire.
At the week-ends there is an unending stream of vehicles, motori sic preferring this route to the one which takes them through the dangerously congested streets of Chester, where the acute turnings and concealed cerners are direct enticemenls to" mishap. The Queensferry Bridge is of only sufficient width for one vehicle to cross at a time.
After passing through the leafy glades of Hawarclen—where the late William Ewart Gladstone resided—the coach came to the beautiful wild moorlands of Llandegia, clothed with a beautiful spread of heather as far as the eye could reach. -1.7pward and onward journeyed the coach at a nice steady speed, the engine emitting a pleasantly
inellifluous hum, until the suminit was
reached. Here the chivalrous gentlemen of the party descended, to collect bouquets of heather, whilst the other sex indulged in a friendly chat. Llanclegle Moors, by the way, are a venue favoured by motoring picnic parties, and motorcyclists and private ear owners could be counted by the dozen enjoying a spread in the open, their vehicles being turned into the side of the road. Nevertheless, all drivers had to pay due regard to the question of road space.
When the heather-gathering streg-gime hadbeen reassembled a start seas made for Horse Shoe Pass—so hamed because of its profile. At the Llandegla end it is at the top of a steep hill, from which one obtains an excellent bird'seye view of its course—the great white road that goes on and on, bends to elm left in eemrcircular style, and then runs
parallel with the high road. Between the tworoads is a valley of immense depth. Such was the panorama that presented itself. The slow descent along the narrow road and the inamenvring
that was required to pass vehicles coming from the „opposite direction did not cause any fears to be expressed as to the " safeness " of the journey, despite the undue emphasis which the lay Press, with its defective perspective, has been giving to recent acci•dents. As a matter of fact, this was a tour which the passengers -.in the Straker-Squire 'thought well worth .experiencing. Llangollene:perhapS the most popn la r motor criaching town in North Wales, was next reached about 5 p.m, for tea, the driver advising the party that at 6.30 p.m. sharp the -homeward journey would. commence.. Llaneollee is visited daily by coaches from Liverpool, Bi rkenbead, Wallaseye Manchester and the North WaleS coast towns, and the local council has set aside the Smithfield Cattle Market for the garaging of roaches. • Although the passengers by Messrs. W. B. Horn's motor coach had freedom of choice in the selection of their afternoonmeal, there is no dearth of suitable accommoe. dation at Llangollen, where two import: ant motor coach concerns—C. F. Bymer, Ltd., of Liverpool and Wallasey, and the 1-Aiwa:shire VAii°,4 Tramways. Ltd., of Atherton, Manchester and Liverpool— have catering eStabfishments.
The journey homeward was via more or less familiar scenery by way of Huabon, Chester, New Ferry, etc. Motor users, by the way, are displaying much interest in the progress which is being made with the widening. of the new Chester Road between Birkenhead and Chester, The stretches which are now receiving attention; when completed, will certainly be appreciated by road users, who, owing to the greatly increased traffic on this road, for along time have considered the improvement much overdue. Birkenhead was reached at 9 p.m. The tour, for .which to little preparatien was needed, yielded its full quota of pleaSure. Messrs. W. B. Horn's first " patrons' tour " was certainly a eiery happy solution'of the difficulty all coach owners leave e.itneriericed—" giving the public What it really wants,"' Was it also not strange that the free choice of the passereiers should indicate a preference _tor a. LUC that _ revealed scenery such as no railway journey could provide?
PRESTON BUSES BUSY,
Elaborate Arrangements to Cope with Enormous Traftic During Guild Week.
T T IS hardly possible: for the meter 1 coach and bus proprietor far removed from the throb of the industrial North adequately to appreciate what Preston Guild means to the conductors of the Lancashire passenger road services. The statement of one simple fact
will suffice to drive the point home : one million people visited Preston over the week-end preceding Guild Week to view the extravagantly decorated town, and many thousands of them travelled by road.
So far as the volume of road traffic is concerned, the Guild was a magnetic attraction, arid it is almost Unbelievable that on Monday morning-of: last week coaches began to arrive in the town at 4 o'clock, the passengers haying travelled overnight from inland towns to make sure of getting a goad sight of the proceedings.
The Preston motor omnibus proprietors were not slow to seize upon the opportunity with which the Guild presented them. Very elaborate arrangements had been made by the Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., whose 33 vehicles —A.E.C.s, Karriers, Weans, Daimlers, five of. them being donble-deckersewere all run on a special programme, an Sunday (September 3rd), commencing at 2 p.m., and at frequent intervals in accordance with requirements, the doubledeckers and motor coaches left Lord Street and ran over the line of route of the processions, to enable passengers to view the decorations, the fare for the circular tour being 1s. On the subsequent days, up. to Saturday last, the usual terminus'of tleeecornparty's buses in Preston was Onset' to traffic, and, except during the time of the processions, Lard Street was the terminus for all routes.
During the processions, which were
held daily, termini nearer the outskirts of the town were used, these varying forthe different routes. They were about six in number for traffic from Chorley, Bolton, Westheughton, Wigan, Horwich, Blackburn, Leyland, Southport. Longridge, Blackpool, L-ytham and St. Antics. Owing to the time ta-ken by the processions not being quite certain', the exact hour at whirl terminal were changed could not be guaranteed. For instance, on the Monday, between 1.15 p.m. and 6 p.m. the termini were outside the town, whilst on the Tuesday the hours were between 8.45 anti, and 6 p.m.
The police were so busily employed in watching the general road traffic, the Volume of which was staggering, that they were unable to accord privileges, but, under the tentative arrangements that existed, the police authorities consented, whenever traffic allowed, to permit a terminus nearer the centre of Preston. The purely local bus services had to he adjusted to the exigencies of tho moment.
The Ribble Motor Services, Ltd.,
charged extra fares to passengers travelling on any bus leaving Preston after 11 p.m_ oit any day during Guild Week. Thus, for any journey of which the ordinary fare is 1s, or tinder, twice the ordinary fare, with a minimum of 6dr, was charged, and for ally journey of which the ordinary. fare is over 1s. an amount of is. in excess of the ordinary fare.
During an 'aVerage, normal week the Ribble Motor _SerVices: -convey about 52,000 passengers, the mileage of the fleet of buses being -9500. In a
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subsequent issue. we hope to be able to give the figures for Guild Week, during which period there was ai-Call--ronrid speeding up. The company employed 30 -extradrivers and conductors to lighten the task of others and in order not Unduly to prolong the-hours'of the regular staff men. At some of the outside towns like Wigan and Blackpool, several of the vehicles were garaged, so as to he ready
for service in the early mornings. .
During Guild • Week, extra,' services
were put on many of the routes worked by the company. On the Preston, Barnher Bridge and Chorle3r route, the first bus. started at 7 a,M.,,and from 10 a.m. there was a, half,hourly' service' until 11,30 P.m:, and a last:Biis at 12.30 a.m. Extra buses Were run between Bamber Bridge and Preston at intervals of approximately 15 mins. From Wigan, the buses ran hourly; Blackburn, halfhourly (during busy periods every 20 minutes). The Pilot. Motors, Ltd., who operate Mendslay and Leyland buses, including a. 43-seater Maudslay "toast rack," operated a 30-minutes' service on all routes.
THE DEMAND FOR THE SMALL SALOON BUS.
THAT the light saloon bus shod with pneumatic tyres is steadily gaining favour is indicated by the fact that many large provincial bus-operating concerns, who have hitherto solely employed • vehicles with a large passenger capacity, are putting such machines into service; either in sparsely populated areas or in districts Where the roads are in a bad state of repair. Some people are bold enough to predict that the small saloon bus will eventually succeed the existing types in service in country districts, and offer support for their argument by pointing to the recent regrettable acci -dents, the action of a Northern county council in obtaining an Order prohibiting the use of larger than 14-seater passenger vehicles in certain districts, and the growing tendency of S0111€ road Authorities to look with disfavour upon the heavy, solid-tyred machine. The travelling public in many country districts also exhibit a preference for the small pneumatic-tyred vehicle, on the grounds that it provides the maximum of
riding, comfort and enables speedy journeys to be made. From the small bus proprietors' point of view, capital outlay, runnitig costs, and the fact that the 14-seater is more often running to full earning capacity than a larger motorbus are certainly in favour of the lighter vehicle. •
The demand during recent months for the light pneumatic-tyred bus has led Harold J. 'Willett, Ltd., of Kendall Road, Colchester, to evolve the type of vehicle illustrated on this page, which, apart from its attractive appearance, possesses -Ilse merits of comfort and low price.
So far as the general design of the bus is concerned, the pictures show that the entrance to the interior seats, which are of the garden type; is through a wide dour on the near side of the driver's cab. A sliding door separates the passenger cab compartment from the drive:.
The body is, as is apparent, mounted on a Ford ton chassis, and the complete price of the vehicle is £207 10s.'
A Preference for Pneumatic.
• tyred Buses. •
The attractive-looking vehicle shown in the illustrations at the foot of this page is the property of the White Star Motor Services„ who have their head
quarters in Boston, Lincolnshire. The body, which is of neat design and has a well-equipped interior, is mounted on a Wallace chassis fitted with giant pneumatic tyres, and has been constructed by the well-known coachbuilders, Messrs. Chalmers .andSons, of Redhill.
It is the intention of the White Star Co. to put a higher-class vehicle on the road than has hitherto been run for this particular class of service. They already operate buses in Boston, Spalding and the surrounding districts, ' Up the smaller villages with the larger towns. • The company is run under the direction of Mr. .W. Waterfall, who has had considerable experience of passene
ger-carryingwork. In an interview, Mr. Waterfall stated that it was his company'sintention to run pneumatictyred vehicles in preference to .solidtyred buses, as he has found this type is preferred by the public; and is far more comfortable.
The bus illustrated was supplied by Mr. P. S. Haythorpe, of 143, Great Portland Street, W. 1.
The vehicle is certainly a good example of modern -saloon bus construction.