A Two-tonner Built in Lancashire.
Page 19
Page 20
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The Latest Model from the Pagefield Works of Walker Bros., Ltd., at Wigan.
It was our pleasure, on Saturday afternoon last, to examine the latest product of the Pagefield works, Wigan, at which factory Walker Bros., Ltd., is turning out
n excellent four-cylinder chassis for commercial purposes. This company now has behind it several years of experience with regard to its earlier two-cylinder model, and that experience has been happily embodied in the new chassis. The first Pagefield vehicle of the fourcylinder type was completed in Sept ember last., since which date a batch has been put through, and it deserves to be recorded that the company is in a position to give reasonably-early delivery. Intending purchasers will do well to a% ail themselves of that opportunity.
We were met at the Wigan L. and N.W.R. station, shortly after half-past two, by Mr. E. B. Walker, one of the directors, and Mr. W. 11. Williamson, the designer and engineer in charge of the company's motor-vehicle department. The open-platform lorry had upon it 12 pigs of cast iron, and these. with three passengers, gave a. load well in excess of a couple of tons net, which is the rated capacity of the model. We drove it from Wigan to Manchester. through 'Hindley. Walkden. and Swinton, ever some stretches of road whirr
were in very bail condition. In places, the surfaces were extremely greasy ; in others. they were bumpy and irregular. The steering of the ;machine proved to be remarkably easy, and the same remark holds geod in respect of gear changing. We ran smoothly, and the use of Cary's open-plate springs undoubtedly contributed to an ease and flexibility of susnension not often met in commercial models. This class of springing clearly provides it step in the direction of automatic adaptation to variations of imposed load, impact, and road shrieks. .1 pressed-steeI chassis is empleyed. in nhtee of the channel -members which are found in the I wo-cylinder model ; they take a standard body ii ft. in length by
ft. 9 in. in width.
The engine pulled splendidly, and stowctl beyond question that it possessed the qualities of rapid aeceleration and ample power for the load behind it—in fact, we should say that the engine is fully powerful enough to deal, through suitable gear ratios. with loads of three tons or fom. tons. Ti is built hroughout at the Pagefield works ; it has friar cylinders, cast in pairs. with ii closedvalves. The inlet and exhausi valves are on opposite sides. Unusually-large sections an, provided in all the piping and conngetions, and the h.p. equivalent of the radiator is higher than usual. It should dissipate all waste heat put through it, even at low vehicle speeds, up the longest and steepest hills. The crankshaft is of highgrade nickel steel, with hearings ground to size ; each of the crank pins is 2 in. in diameter by 2 in. long, and the main crankshaft bearings and the central bearing are of exceptional area. Generally speaking, the engine should prove to wear well in hard service. All the valves are interchangeable, and the tappets are provided with casehardened rollers at their lower ends. Two ignitions are fitted, and the firing for each can be acceler
ated or retarded. Lubrication is by means of a gear pump, and this pump is placed in a position to
secure its constant flooding. The filter is easily accessible and removable, and a constant level of oil is maintained in the crank chamber,. by way it auxiliary to the forced lubrication through the drilled crankshaft, whilst the provision of webs inside the crank chamber insures uniform distribution should it at. any time be necessary to rely solely [tram the splash method of lubrication. The water jackets are ample. and the engine castings clean t h roughout.
The drive to the magneto is arranged through the centrifugal pump, and the equivalent of a vernier means of is in geniously provided between the pump spindle and the armature spindle. This consists of 16-dog and Pi-dog driving plates, with an interposed locking disc having three dogs on each side. Adjustment of the ignition, in steps of about 2i degrees, can therefore be given, by the simple exercise of additional pressure with the fingers against the spring which holds the driving plates in contact with their locking disc. Throttle control alone is provided, and there is no foot accelerator. A White and Poppe carburetter is fitted, and that fact is all the guarantee needed that average fuel consumption will be consistently low.
An ordinary leather-faced cone clutch, with three light, springs on the Humber principle, is employed to transmit the power to the threespeed-and-reverse gearbox. Selection is of the gate type, and the change-speed lever is disposed in a manner which renders it handy for maniptilation. The same good quality is noticeable in regard to the pull-on lever which operates the internal-expansion brakes on the back wheels. The foot brake acts on a drum on the eouetershaft. Both brakes are compensated in a simple and effective fashion, and are adjustable for wear. whilst; a. ratchet. spra.g is provided to facilitate starting from rest on steep inclines by drivers who may not he particularly smart in handling vehicles under that condition. Before leaving the engine, we may mention that all the crankshaft bearings are of phosphor bronze, lined with high-grade antifriction metal, and that the guides for the valve stems are longer than is customary. The tappets are split, and provided with contact pieces for the sake of quietness, and the aluminium plates, which enclose the stems and tappets, are readily detachable. The startinghandle shaft and engine startingclutch are enclosed. Finally, the eccentric adjustment for the cooling fan is good.
Side-chain transmission provides the final drive, the chains being of Hans Renold manufacture and of in. pitch.
Writing about one of these fourcylinder Pagefield lorries, which has now been in service for upwards of two months, an owner who is a well-known provision merchant in Bolton, expresses his considerable satisfaction with the type. In the course of his letter to the makers, we read: "The motor is simply shouting for more and more work. Its capacity for work is indeed a revelation to me. I don't mind telling you that everything has gone so smoothly and comfortably that I thought I would see if I could burst it, and I put on it a load it was never intended to carry, but I wanted to see for myself if, under certain conditions, it would jib like a baulky horse, You must know that Bolton lies in a hollow, and all the roads mount going out of the town. Well, as I said, I did my best to break the thing: I put on it as much as I could crowd of heavy provision stuff, and I quite thought that we should have a message from the middle of Derby Street to send. a horse lorry to take some of the stuff off. We received no such application, only, in an incredibly short space of time, it was back, having delivered its load ten miles away." The principal dimensions of the chassis are : wheelbase, 11 ft. 3 in. ; track. 5 ft. 3 in. ; width of frame, 3 ft. 2 in. ; overall width, 6 ft. 2 in. ; and overall length, lB ft. The wheels throughout are 34 in. in diameter, and shod with rubber tires. The bare chassis weighs a little under two tons. Not only will it in our opinion prove highly satisfactory for goods purposes, but it should be an acceptable model for purchasers who desire to undertake motorbus or char-à-banes services, and whose requirements can be met with a seating capacity of from 19 to 22 persons.