WHEELS of INDUSTRY "The wheels of wealth wilt be slowed
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by all difficulties of transport at whatever points arising, as a carriage is by the
roughress of the roads over which it runs."—John Beattie Crozier,
Big Plans of New Association for Hauliers.
The National Haulage Contractors Protection Society, to which reference was made in last week's issue, has a comprehensive schedule of plans. In addition to safeguarding the interests of all persons using road transport for theconveyance of livestock or other goods, and the provision of funds for legal purposes, the objects of the society include : To obtain improved loading and cleansing facilities at markets. To provide adequate representation to the Government in all matters concerning transport by road or water. To provide a lower rate of insurance. To arrange for repairs to members' vehicles at a special rate agreed with recognized garages. To provide clubrooms, with facilities for the reception of information, in many parts of the country, and make accommodation for vehicles and drivers at special rates. To purchase petrol, oil and spare parts at special figures.
• R.H.A. Meeting at Gloucester.
The Western Regional branch of the Road Haulage Association recently held a meeting at Gloucester, when Capt. J. W. Jones, the chairman of the area, presided. A number of hauliers from different parts of Gloucestershire attended, and a committee of the Association for Gloucester was formed.
Mr. L. W. Gupwell, a member of the National Council, dealt with the objects of the Association and the work it had carried out; he pointed out that the Association now had well over 2,000 members. He referred to the Road and Rail Traffic Bill, and said that. speaking generally, there appeared through it, to be the prospect of a stabilizing of the industry for those who could stick the course.
Mr. G. Smart, vice-chairman of the Western Regional Area, said that, whilst the Bill might be a charter for road haulage, there were definite difficulties to be overcome.
A Racing Car with an A.E.C. 011 Engine.
The name of Captain G. E. T. Eyston is well known in racing circles, and it is interesting to hear that he now proposes to seek records with an oil-engined racing car. The power unit to be used is the A.E.C. 130 b.h.p. six-cylindered model, in practically standard form, except for the addition of a scoop to the main air-intake to give a slight supercharging effect at speed. It is supported in the frame on Andre Ploatex mountings, and no fewer than four pairs of Hartford shock absorbers are incorporated in the chassis suspension system, one set being dash-controlled.
To supplement the cooling effect of the main radiator a second one is placed between the dumbirons, under the cowling. Because of the comparatively low speed of the engine, a back-axle ratio 1120 of 1.96 to 1 is need, and the dutch is operated through a servo mechanism.
The vehicle is to have a streamlined four-seater saloon body, and it will weigh, complete, 21 tons. It will carry enough fuel for runs of six-hour duration at speeds of over 100 m.p.h.
Another Meeting of Alliance of Owner Drivers.
A mass meeting is being held by the Alliance of Owner Drivers on Sunday next, July 16, at 11 a.m., at the New Inn, Westminster Bridge Road, London, S.E.1. The Alliance is an organization formed to help small hauliers, and full particulars of its objects can be obtained from Capt. E. H. B. Palmer, the honorary organizing secretary, 6, Norfolk Mansions, London, &Wit
Scammell and Nephew Opens Manchester Office.
G. Seammell and Nephew, Ltd., Fashion Street, London, E.1, advises us that, owing to the increase in the demand for its rigid six-wheeler extensions, it has opened an office at Midland Bank Chambers, 77, King Street, Manchester. Mr. J. S. Dunn is in charge.
Coachhuilder Requires Outside Representative.
A progressive concern of coachbuilders in the north midlands has a vacancy on its staff for a young and energetic outside representative to further its interests with municipalities and large operators. Some previous experience of municipal sales is essential, but not necessarily in connection with coachwork. Letters addressed "Bodybuilder's Representative," care of the Editor, will be forwarded.
Taxation Receipts and Licences .Issued.
According to figures issued by the Ministry of Transport, the gross amount received in payment for licences for road vehicles issued during the six months ended May 31, 1933, was f92,011,973, compared with £21,720,720 in the corresponding period of last year. The return also contains particulars of the total number of licences issued and surrendered during the six months to May 31. 1933, and of the approximate number of licences current on that date. The total number of motor vehicles was aproximately 2,130,000, compared with 2,078,000 last year. Comprehensive Report by Traffic Advisory Committee.
The seventh annual report of the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee to the Minister of Transport, for 1981-32, has now beau published (price 2s. 6d.) by H.M. Stationery Office. The report deals with the various matters considered by the Committee, including road-improvement schemes, the layout of road junctions to enable " roundabout " traffic systems to be introduced, the control of bus services under the provisions of Section 7 of the London Traffic Act, prescribed routes for traffic where " roundabout " and one-way traffic systems have been put into operation, and regulations with regard to parking places, waiting vehicles, disabled vehicles, etc. Traffic-control signals are also given much attention. Included in the same volume are the Minister's report to Parliament under Section 8 of the London Traffic Act, and statistics relating to the operation of buses in London and to tramways and the Underground Railways, as well as a statement respecting street accidents.
Mr. 0. C. Power Criticizes the Bill. At the annual general meeting of the West Midlands division of the Commercial Motor Users Association, Mr. 0. C. Power, traffic manager of the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Co., Ltd., in referring to the Road and Rail Traffic Bill, said there should have been a much greater outcry by operators.
He spoke of his experience of the operation of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, and said that clauses in the draft Bill which were ultimately embodied in the Act, although they seemed innocuous at the time, have proved, in the hands of officials and lawyers, to be much more serious, and different interpretations have been given by legal authorities.
Important Maker Produces Oil-engined Rai !car.
The Associated Equipment Co., Ltd., Southall, is demonstrating until July 26 on a section of the G.W.R. between the Southall works and Etrentford, the chassis of a 78-passenger 60 m.p.h. railcar of new design, incorporating the
A.E.C. 130 b.h.p. ,oil engine. The design has been conceived with special attention to low first cost, low weight per passenger, streamlining of the body, and accessibility. The chassis weight is 13i tons, and the weight with 78seater body will be 19-20 tons.
The car is carried on two fourwheeled bogies and is 62 ft. long and 9 ft. wide. All the driving units are accessibly mounted on the outside of the frame on the left-hand side. The engine is just ahead of the centre of the coach, and the drive is taken from an hydraulic clutch by means of a proPeller shaft to -a pre-selective gearbox and thence by another shaft to a reverse box. The final drive is by two pairs of worms and wheels contained in the axle boxes and connected by a shaft. A Safety-first Pocket Book.
For several years a safe-driving pamphlet, published by the National "Safety First" Association and approved by the Ministry of Transport, the C.M.U.A., the R.A.C. and the A.A., has been issued with driving licences. A new departure has recently been made, whereby applicants for renewals of their driving licences will receive a small handbook containing a series of brief articles by well-known personalities in the motor world.
Mr. F. G. Bristow, the general secretary of the C.M.U.A., contributes a foreword as chairman of the .National Road Safety Committee ; Sir Herbert Austin writes on "That Speed Complex " ; Sir Herbert Blain, president of the National "Safety First" Association, on "Whose Fault?" and Sir Henry Maybury, chairman of the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee, on "The Necessity for Care in Using the Roads." Other contributions are by Sir Stenson Cooke of the A.A. and Commander Armstrong of the RAG.
A copy can be obtained, price 4d. post free, from the National "Safety First" Association, Terminal House, 52, Grosvenor Gardens, London, SAVA.
Big New Oil Depot in Wales.
Work is proceeding at a site adjoining Penarth Harbour, and leased from the Great Western Railway Co., with the erection of a large oil and petrol depot, to serve South Wales and a portion of the West of England, for Trirsi-
dad Leaseholds, Ltd. It is expected that the depot will be ready for use in September.
This is one of the six import and distributing depots whkh the company has decided to construct in Great Britain.
The oil will be pumped direct from sea-going vessels to the tanks.
Mr. Palmer Phillips on Salesmanship.
An address on "Salesmanship" was delivered to the Cardiff Rotary Club, at its July meeting, by Mr. A. F. Palmer Phillips, director and sales director of Vauxhall Motors, Ltd. He dealt with all aspects of salesmanship. There was a tendency, he said, in advertising of to-day to be too clever at the expense Of forfeiting the fullest opportunity of describing the product.
A vote of thanks accorded to Mr. Phillips was proposed by Mr. Norman W. Nash (Nash's Motors, Ltd.), the Vauxhall dealer, of City Road, Cardiff.
The Cardiff Rotary Club accepted Mr. Phillips's invitation to visit the Vauxhall works.
An Addition to the Mobiloil Range.
The Vacuum Oil -Co., Ltd., Caxton House, Westminster, London, has added another grade to its range of motor lubricants. This is known as lvlobiloil EP, and it has been introduced for the lubrication of hypoid gears.
It is a specially compounded gear oil of mineral base, and although introduced primarily for hypoid gears, it will be •found useful by certain classes of commercial-vehicle user, especially where strenuous load and speed conditions are encountered. We understand. that the new lubricant is approved by David Brown and Sons (Huddersfield), Ltd., for use with its worm-driven axles.
A New Book on Road Transport in America.
"To present the picture of motor transportation in all its phases, for the information not only of those engaged in this field, but also of the interested observer and the student," is the object, in the author's own words, of a work entitled "Principles of Motor Transportation," by Ford K. Edwards (McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., Ltd.; 24s. net).
Although the book deals entirely with road transport in America, the bulk of its contents should be of use and interest to those engaged in the roadtransport industry on this side of the Atlantic, for Mr. Edwards's chapters on the operation of fleets, the supervision of drivers, maintenance and cost
jug—to mention but a few, of the matters on which he writes with obvious knowledge and at considerable length—are full of instructive matter.
'Containing some 360 pages, the book is well illustrated, attractively produced and comprehensively indexed.
Personal Pars. .
We learn that Mr. E. S. ShrapnellSmith, C.B.E., was recently elected n vice-chairman of the Royal Automobile ,Club.
Mr. Roy Mumford, of W. Mumford, Ltd„ the well-known Plymouth concern of motor engineers, bodybuilders and garage proprietors, has recently quail fled as a pilot.
We understand that Mr. G. H. Nelson has been appointed chairman of the English Electric Co., Ltd., also retaining his position of managing director of the company.
Consequent upon his appointment as. chairman of the London Passenger Transport Board, Lord Askfield has relinquished his position as director and chairman of the board of the Associated Equipment Co., Ltd. The new chairman of the company is Mr. H. A. Vernal, director of the important banking concern of Robert Benson and Co., Ltd.; he is also on the board of a number of other concerns, including British Power and Light Corporation (1929), Ltd., Central Argentine Railway, Ltd., Metropolitan Trust Co., Ltd., and Traction and General Investment Trust
Mr. G. Vivian Davies, B.Sc. (Eng.), F.C.S., A.M.I.Meeh.E., of Neath, haa joined the South Wales area staff of Shell-Mex and B.P., Ltd. He has both chemistry and engineering degrees, and was at one time with the National Oil Refineries, at Llandarcy, and later was in Iraq and Persia under the AngloPersian Oil Co., Ltd. He was educated at Christ College, Brecon, and the Universities of Sheffield and Birmingham.
Mr. J. Veitch Wilson has joined the staff of Carrimore Six Wheelers, Ltd., and will act as its London and southern representative. He has had extensive experience of vehicles of the articulated type and recently resigned from the sales staff of Karrier Motors, Ltd„ where for two years he had been in charge of the department dealing with the sale of Cob and Colt machines.
We publish on this page a portrait of Mr. C. Morton Lomax, who has been appointed chairman and managing director of Chrysler Motors, Ltd., and Dodge Brothers (Britain), Ltd. Mr. Lomax has been connected with the Chrysler concern since the early days of Maxwell Motors, and his appointment is a logical sequence to many years of good service to his company and the motor trade. He is a Devonian, and is a Fellow of the Society of Accountants and Auditors.
To cope with the increasing business at the company's factory at Kew, a further appointment has been made to perfect production facilities, Mr. R. Lawrence Vaniman having been made a director of both companies and general manager.
Mr. Vaniman has had a long association with the motor trade and has an, intimate knowledge of production detail all over the world. He will devote his energies and knowledge to the manufacturing side of the business.
Big Savings from Gas Fuel.
The first instalment of a series of half-yearly summaries dealing with the progress of methods of utilizing coal and its by-products, has been issued by the Institution of Mining Engineers.
The report outlines experiments with the use of coal gas as a fuel for motor vehicles, and states that a bus company has estimated that, by adopting this fuel for 300 vehicles, a saving of £43,500 would result.
The New Sentinels Described.
The Sentinel Waggon Works, Ltd., Shrewsbury, has issued a loose-leaf folder containing an illustrated description of the new model 84 and SOT Seutinel wagons. Both of these are shaftdriven vehicles, the 84 being a fourwheeler (of which we published a roadtest Oescription in our issue dated June 16), and the other a six-wheoled three-way tipper. The salient features of each model are referred to and there is a table of leading dimensions.
Van Distribution Preferred to the Post.
For the distribution of showcards and advertising display-material, the Dunlop Rubber Co., Ltd., is now using a fleet of motorvans instead of relying upon snail distribution, which is considered wasteful.
It was some years ago that the company realized that a more efficient method of distribution was necessary, and it is now using a fleet of 24 vans for the purpose, each vehicle being in charge of a driver who is an experienced display man. The vehicles operate from London, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Southampton, Bristol, Cardiff, Berfast and other important towns, each van working to a definite itinerary.
Stimulating Interest in Civil Aviation.
The British Hospitals Air Pageants have been organized to give financial aid to British hospitals and to stimulate a wider interest in the development of civil aviation. They are under the patronage of H.R.H. Prince-Arthur of Connaught and, in addition, are supported by Sir William Morris, who has given the whole of the transport, including eight Morris-Commercial vehicles, with capacities ranging from two tons to four tons.
These machines are used for carrying equipment, including wireless loudspeakers, from town to town and, in an accompanying picture, three of them are shown at the pageant recently held in Birmingham. The Colmore Depot, Birmingham, linked up with this activity by exhibiting posters and taking clients
to the ground to inspect the latest Morris-Commercial products.
Fifteen pilots are giving a series of exhibitions in about 200 towns throughout the country, the object being to raise a sum up to £100,000 over a period of five years.
D.E.U.A. Summer Meeting.
The annual summer meeting of the Diesel Engine Users Association will be held at Portsmouth on Saturday, July 22. Members desiring to participate in the meeting should communicate with the joint honorary secretaries of the Association, 307, Abbey House, Westminster, London, S.W.1.
Petters Trading Results.
During the year ended March 31, 1933, Petters, Ltd., made a net loss, after charging depreciation, foreign exchange losses, etc., of £23,381, which reduces the balance brought in to £21,209. The interest on the funding certificates for the year to July 15, 1933, is to be paid and will absorb 11,261, leaving £19,948, which is to be carried
forward. In the previous year there was a net profit of £13,136, after writing off £30,197 for special depreciation of foreign consignment stocks, losses on foreign exchange, etc.
A Heavier Theed Tipping Gear.
For several months Hamilton Motors (London), Ltd., 466-490, Edgware Road, London, W.2, has been working on the details of, and testing under actual working conditions, a heavy-duty model of the Theed pneumatic tipping gear, which we dealt with in our issue dated April 28.
The new model, which has greater power and lifting capacity than the earlier type, is being placed on the market immediately. It is built for dealing with loads of 4 tons and the details are similar to those of the lighter model, except at. the construction is heavier.
Briefly to describe the apparatus, a single-cylindered air-cooled pump is driven from the gearbox by a power take-off. Air is pumped to a three-way valve situated accessibly on the near side of the driver's seat. Apart from the use for tipping, the supply of compressed air can also be employed for Inflating tyres, spray painting, etc.
For the present the new gear will be available on only the Bedford chassis. We understand, however, that it will shortly he adapted for other makes of vehicle. The price of the gear and body, fitted complete, will be £47.
Price of Dennis 4.ton Oiler.
Dennis Brothers, Ltd., Guildford, es.,11 us to point out that the price of its oilengined 4-tormer with hinge-sided lorry body is £975 and not £875, as published in the company's advertisement appearing in our last week's issue and in this issue, the page for which closed early for press. Toll Bridge Owners versus Bus Company.
The owners of the Loftsome toll bridge were unsuccessful in an action in the Chancery Division, before Mr. Justice Bennett, last week, when they maintained that East Yorkshire Motor Services, Ltd., had, by using the new county bridge over the River Derwent, in place of the toll bridge, infringed the provisions of an Act of 1803.
The Act empowered the plaintiffs to charge tolls for the use of their bridge, and East Riding County Council had built a public bridge a short distance
away from it. Previously, the bus
company had paid tolls, ranging from £4 10s. to 110 a week, for the use of the older bridge. The Act provisesd that no person should carry for hire or recompense any person across the river, within a mile of each side of Loftsome Bridge with the intent to evade the payment of tolls.
It was submitted that no court had power to grant an injunction to prevent the use of the King's highway in the normal manner, and Mr. Justice Bennett considered that there had been DO breach of the Act. The case was dismissed with costs.
increased New Registrations in May.
A return issued by the Ministry of Transport shows that the totakInumber of mechanically propelled road vehicles registered for the first time in May, 1933. was 29,466, as compared. with 22,206 in the corresponding month of 1932. This year's total includes 4,546 goods vehicles and 549 hackneys, compared with 3,511 and 834 respectively a year ago. The big increase in the 1933 figure is brought about by the fact that 6,660 more cars taxed on horsepower were registered.