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MOTORS AND APPLIANCES FOR MUNICIPALITIES.

A Brief Preliminary Report of the Outstanding Exhibits at the Roads and Transport Exhibition of Direct Interest to Our Readers.

YESTERDAY, November 14th, the Public Works, Roads and Transport Congress and Exhibition was opened at the Royal Agricultural Hall, Islington, London, N., and, as in past years, there is a most comprehensive display of motors, appliances and machinery intended to simplify and assist in the performance of the many-sided tasks associated with the various branches of municipal work, more especially that concerned with road construction and maintenance. We give in the following pages a pre

liminary report of the exhibits g within the province of this jourtta, ,t1 in our next issue supplementary comments will appear after we have had a further opportunity for close inspection of the machines on view. Most of the power-propelled vehicles and appliances are to be found in the Main Hall, but several interesting exhibits of this kind are also displayed in the Gilbey Hall. The Exhibition closes on Saturday next, and during the week many interesting papers will be read at the conferences which have been arranged.

JOHN ALLEN AND .SONS (OXFORD), LTD. , Stand 33, Main Han.

THIS company owns and operates a big fleet of municipal vehicles and appliances apart from possessing well-equipped workshops for the maintenance and repair of such plant at

Cowley, Oxford. A standard 10-ton compound steam roller shown which has been completely overhauled and modernized, gives a. good idea of the company's methods and workmanship in this direction. • What will assuredly attract many visitors is the patent road roller in which the wheels have been replaced by girder tracks. The engine shown is. a conversion of a standard roller and serves merely to demonstrate the prin ciple. The girder tracks, both front and rear, are designed to he equivalent to a wheel of 18 ft. diameter.

The engine is purely experimental and has admitted drawbacks in its present form, but it is the company's intention that future designs should incorporate a double high-pressure engine, power steering and.other modern features, including a low centre of gravity. The machine can travel over ground quite impossible of negotiation by the ordinaiy type of road roller.

The steel plating of roller wheels comprises a branch of. the company's work, and examples of wheels so treated are shown. Road roller users should also inspect the patent Allen scarifier.

AVELINO AND PORTER, LTD. Stand 84, Main Hail.

THE steam-roller products of this prominent Rochester concern need no introduction to our readers, and at the exhibition the company is represented by three • rollers, two being steam-propelled and the other driven by a crude-oil engine.

The first is known as type C and has a nominal capacity of eight tons. The boiler is of the Belpaire type, 'with square top over the firebox, which gives the maximum steam capacity and good support to all the shaft bearings. The cylinder has piston valves in lieu of the usual flat slide valve. The roller is fitted with a Price two-tine scarifier, a feature of which is a shock-absorbing device.

The other steam roller is classified as type P and is of the quick-reverse tandem pattern. It should particularly interest road surveyors who are concerned in any way with bituminous carpeting and tar macadam. The en gine of this appliance has two highpressure cylinders. The boiler is of the vertical pattern and of a new type, the upper portion of the outer shell being made conical, increasing in diameter upwards so as to afford a good surface area of water between the smokebox and outer shell.

The third exhibit on this stand of interest to our readers is the crude-oildriven road roller, which incorporates in its design a single-cylinder fourstroke engine of the horizontal type, fitted with an efficient type of governor. The clutch has been specially designed for road-roller work. -Two speeds are provided, both forwafd and reverse,' giving 24 and 1i m.p.h. kit normal engine speed.

BARFORD AND PERKINS, LTD. ' Stand 85, Main Hall.

AMOST comprehensive range of road rollers is shown on the stand of Barford and Perkins, Ltd, of Peterborough, and during the period of the exhibition interest will undoubtedly centre around the two new types which are displayed. One of these is a three. roll water-ballast roller, fitted with a Berliet-Imbert wood-burning, suction gas-producer. The weight of the machine complete with water ballast is approximately 14i tons. The fourcylindered engine develops 34-35 b.h.p. and is capable of being changed over

quickly to run on. petrol or producergas. Three speeds are provided in the forward direction and two in reverse. A three-tine scarifier of the Price resilient type is fitted. An important feature is the power steering gear.

The second exhibit of outstanding merit is the. type THIY roller, which is Diesel-engined ; this weighs, in work

ing order. 10 tons. In this base, too, the high-speed engine, which runs on heavy oil, develops 30-35 b.h.p.

A range of the conipany's standard rollers is shown, these including a qiiickreverse tandem model which is designed for work on asphalt and tar macadam, a similar model of much lighter build, which is constructed for cross-rolling of asphalt and for work on footpaths, and a type-A three-wheeled roller, for footpaths, patching and light road work. The two last-named rollers are each equipped with a 12 b.h.p. internal-combustion engine.

ELECTRICARS, LTD., Stand 4, Main Hall.

T OW-LOADING is nowadays recog

nized as an essential feature of the vehicle intended for the work of refuse collection, and a machine embodying this desirable characteristic is in evidence on the stand of Electricars, Ltd., Landor Street, Birmingham. A bare type VC chassis is on view, as well as a similar model carrying a refuse body. The specification includes a single high-etlicieacy motor, which drives through a propeller shaft and flexible couplings to a semi-floating worm-driven rear axle, the worm being carried overhead. Two foot brakes take effect on drums in the rear wheels and one pedal is provided with a retaining ratchet. The controller is totally enclosed, but is easily accessible for inspection; it gives three speeds in each direction. The battery may be either of the steel alkaline pattern or the lead acid type, and a feature to note is the provision of an ampere-hour meter which indicates the state of charge of the battery at till

times. The wheels are of the steeldisc type and carry single solids (20 ins. by 3i ins.) at the front and twin solids (20 ins. by 3 ins.) at the rear.

The low-loading feature of the Electricar refuse collector is exemplified in an accompanying illustration. The height of the loading line is 4 ft. 9 ins. The vehicle exhibited has an all-steel body arranged for end tipping, the operation of raising and lowering naturally being controlled electrically.

FODENS, LTD. Stand 80. Main Hall.

BIC reason of the fact that Fodens, Ltd., of Sandbach, occupies a prominent position in the steain transport industry it is safe to say that its exhibits will attract much notice. The company has one of its latest overtype steam tractors on view.

The boiler of this machine is of the horizontal multi-tubular locomotive type and is tested for a safe working pressure of 220 lb. per sq. in. The total heating surface is 90 sq. ft. The engine is of the compound type, the high-pressure cylinder having a . diameter of 4i ins. and the low-pressure cylinder a diameter of 7 ins., the stroke being 7 ins. The company's patent high-pressure gear is fitted,. whereby the engine can be converted to double high pressure. The maximum speeds arranged for are 3, 0 and 9 ,m.p.h.

The drive is transmitted from the crankshaft to a fixed stud shaft and thence la:V a stout roller chain to the compensating gear on the rear axle, which is equipped with a winding drum. The steering gear is of the Ackerman type and the wheels2are shod with solid tyres, twins being used on the driving wheels, which are 5 ft. In diameter.

The winding drum, which carries 100 yards of g-in,-diameter rope, consists of a large cast-steel ring made in halves, fixed to the compensating centre and running on a bearing on the rear axle..

A loose slip drum runs on the ring to carry the wire rope, and this may be connected to the steel ring by placing a driving pin in a pair of holes provided on the two castings. The advantage of the slip drum is that the wire rope can be paid out quickly to the object to be hauled, without the need for running. the engine. Whenever it is found necessary, 12 steel shoes can be fitted to each of the rear wheels, these being held in position by bolts passing between the twin tyres and tightened up with nuts against bosses cast on the inside of the wheel rim. .

The length of the Foden overtype tractor is 16 ft. 2 ins., its width 7 ft. 6 ins, and its height 9 ft., the ground clearance being 1 ft

JO-ILN FOWLER AND CO. (LEEDS), LTD. Stand 43. Main Hall.

WELL to the fore on the stand of this old-established Leeds concern is the Fowler steam gully emptier, the equipment of which includes streetwashing and sprinkling apparatus. It consists essentially of the maker's 6-7ton steam-wagon chassis, carrying a rectangular main tank and a separate vacuum tank mounted above it. The latter has a capacity of 170 gallons and the sludge is drawn into it through a flexible suction pipe, the neceasary vacuum being— created by a steam ejector.

The main tank has two compartments, the sludge section being of 900 gallons' capacity and having a steeply sloping floor to secure easy discharge of the contents. Below this tank at the front end is the tank which holds clean water for resettling the gullies ; its capacity is 1,020 gallons. A portion of this tank. is divided off as a waste-water section, so that surplus liquid from the sludge tank can be drawn off.

Street washing is carried out through five spray nozzles carried beneath the chassis, water being forced through. them by a. reciprocating steam pumP. One of the nozzles is conveniently arranged for gutter washing or channel damping. The same pump provides the necessary pressure for the sprinkling -apparatug.

The Fowler road-spraying and resurfacing plant is a time-saving and econoinical outfit. Visitors to the company's stand will note that it is built on a compound steam road roller and arranged for spraying tar and bitumen mixtures at high pressures, covering the surface with grit or chippings immediately afterwards by the use of a gritting machine which is hauled.

The company builds motor locomotives frora 30 h.p. to 100 h.p. and a specimen of the 40 h.p. model is on view. This machine will, it is claimed, haul 350 tons on the level or 110 tons no a

gradient cif 1 in 100. The drive is through a three-speed gearbox, running in oil, to a jack shaft and thence by coupling rods to the driving wheels. ,

F. C. HIBBERD AND CO., LTD. Stand 34, Main Hall.

1DETROL-PROPELLED locomotives

are largely used in connection with road construction, and contractors and municipal engineers who are concerned with such work will find several types displayed on the stand occupied by F. C. Hibberd and Co., Ltd., 98, Great Tower Street, London, E.0.3. The Planet locomotive is to be seen in two sizes. The 10 h.p. model is essentially a petrol locomotive, but, in certain climates, it can be run on paraffin. The engine is a four-cylindered overheadvalve water-cooled unit, having a bore of 69 mm. and a stroke of 100 mm. The power it develops is conveyed through an inverted cone-type clutch to a two-speed gearbox and thence to the axles by roller chain, through a central countershaft which carries the brake dram.

A Dorman type-JO engine is used in the 20 h.p. model, its bore and stroke being 120 mm. and 140 mm. respectively.. Here, again, the drive is taken through a cone-type clutch and a two speed gearbox, the final drive being by roller chain from a double sprocket on the final-drive 'shaft of the gearbox to chainWheels keyed to the axles. The means by which equal tension is maintained in the chains to each axle should be noted.

The third exhibit of interest is the 20 b.h.p. Simplex-type locomotive, for the propulsion of which a Dorman en: gine and a DiXon-Abbot gearbox, giving two speeds in each direction, forms part of the transmission.

LACRE MOTOR CAR CO., LTD., Stand 69, Main Hall.

nNE of the first road sweepers to be X./placed on the market was that built by the Laere Motor Car Co., Ltd., Letchworth, and this make is still

largely used by municipalities. The L-type is the latest model of this useful machine and an example is exhibited in company with a Leer° E-type chassis carrying a special lorry body.

The sweeper and street cleaner is a three-wheeler propelled by a fourcylindered engine which develops about 12 h.p. The clutch, is of the leather faced cone type and the gearbox gives two speeds forward and a reverse. The final drive to the rear wheel is by roller chain. The drive for the brush, which is mounted in a semi-circular guard and carried at an angle between front and rear wheels, is taken direct from the gearbox by a totally enclosed gear via a universally jointed shaft to a chaindrive attached to the side of the brush shaft. A water tank, holding about 100 gallons is fitted ahead of the driver's position.

The Lacre E-type chassis is particularly interesting by virtue of the remarkable degree of accessibility which is afforded for the engine and transniission details. In the vehicle on view it is clearly shown that the, engine-clutchgearbox unit, complete with radiator, petrol tank and silencer, can be withdrawn very quickly from their normal positions and without disturbing other parts of chassis or body, the sub-frame on 'which the units are carried twills supported front and rear by 'caster wheels on a trussed frame. The engine is a four-cylindered unit developing 30 b.h.p. and it drives through a coneLtype clutch and a four-speed-and-reverse gearbox to a worm-driven rear axle. R. A. LISTER AND CO., LTD. Stand 1, Main Hal' NTArtious models. of Auto-Trucks V produced by this concern at Dursley are displayed with tipping bodies of dif ferent designs. Building contractors and. road-construction engineers should find such machines of Much value for transporting concrete or concrete aggregates to and from' a central mixer. The speed of the truck, fully loaded, is 7-S m.p.h, and its running costs are claimed to be under id. per ton-mile.

The truck is propelled by a 600 c.c. J.A.P. air-cooled engine which is carried in a strong steel casing with detachable covers. It is so mounted in the truck frame that it can be swung round for the full circle, thus enabling the machine to turn in a radius of less than its own length. Reversing is effected simply by swinging the engine unit round so that it drives in the reverse direction through the single forward rubber-tyred wheel. This wheel' is driven through the medium of roller

chains and a single-disc clutch. Efficient brakes operate on all wheels and a safety cut-out is provided on the handlebar.'

MARSHALL, SONS AND CO., LTD. Stand 76, Main Hall.

Q TEAM-ROLLER manufacture has

been an important branch of this Gainsborough company's activities for many years and its products in this direction are represented by three notable examples. There is a 10-ton standard roller on view, this having a single-cylindea engine. A feature of this appliance is the new type of road wheel in which the hub and spokes are combined in a steel casting. Then there is a tandem-type roller having vertical boiler and quick-reverse engine, which is completely enclosed, this machine being particularly constructed for bituminous and similar carpeting.

Perhaps the most interesting machine, however, is the Company's steam roller with articulated axle, the cylindrical rolls being adjustable to any road camber by means of positive and automatic locking devices. The main axle is made in two parts, each supported on horizontal trunnions. The front rolls will lock in the horizontal position ' for flat surfacing. The engine is of the quick-reversing type as used in the tandem roller.

The company is opening out on broad lines in the manufacture of specialized machinery required in the preparation and application of road-making materials and in road construction and allied works, evidence of this policy being found in the wide range of machinery and plant exhibited.

MILLARS' MACHINERY CO., LTD. Stand 81, Main Hall.

HERE will be found examples of Millers' Tructraetor, which in man' ways is unique. It is a petroldriven three-wheeler for general-utility purposes. The machine is capable of carrying a 2.ton load and of hauling up to 20 tons. The engine is a four-cylin dered unit with a bore 0.75 mm. and a stroke of 1:30 mm., and it develops 20 b.h.p. at its governed speed of 1,500 r.p.m.

An outstanding feature of the machine is its manosevrability, for it possesses a steering lock of only 10 ft. and can, therefore, be used in places inaccessible to ordinary vehicles or appliances. Normally the Tructractor is a front-driver, steering with the third wheel, but the driving axle may be reversed so that the small pinion engages the crown wheel in the opposite direction. When this is done the driver's seat is turned round and the third wheel comes in front. The transmission gear consists of a cone clutch, a three-speed-and-reverse gearbox and a bevel-driven axle iiicorporat'ing a dif ferential.

ROBEY AND (XL LTD.

• Stand 92, Main Hall.

THR-EE products of the Lincoln 1 works of this company which are of particular interest to public authorities and road-construction concerns merit . attention, on this stand. The 10-ton general-purpose roller has not previously been exhibited and embodies a

number of interesting features. The engine is, of the quick-reverse type and has compound cylinders fitted with piston valves. The boiler is of special design, for it has a stayless firebox and

no fiat surfaces. The barrel is continued right through, having machined angles riveted to both ends to which the front saddle and casting containing the crankshaft, second-motion shaft and back-axle bearing are attached, thus obviating the use of horn plates and the necessity for drilling holes in the steam chest. The attachment of the scarifier is also unusual. It is hung only from the axle boxes and no stress is imparted to the boiler.

Another 10-ton roller shown has tandem rolls and is provided with an in

stantaneous reverse. It has a compound engine and is fitted with a simple steam steerage engine which greatly facilitates the work of the driver, enabling, as it does, circling and crossrolling to be readily carried out

The unique feature of the 3-ton petrol roller exhibited—it is known as the Clear-side Tandem model—is the use of the tandem principle for front and rear rolls, with a perfectly clear side free from projections, thus enabling the machine to produce a properly relied surface right up to walls, etc. This is an excellent feature.

MIELVORE AND DREWRY, LTD. Stands 128 and 129, Main Hall,

THE success which the S.D. Freighter has achieved in municipal circles is, in itself, sufficient to draw attention to the exhibits of this Letchworth company's stand. There are four different municipal vehicles on view, and the new dust-cart, which is designed expressly to secure dustless loading, is worthy of particular note.

In this machine the roof of the body has a series of openings on each side, covered by light metal shutters, each being connected to a foot-bar a few ioches above the pavement level and operated by slight pressure. The shutters open when the loader places his foot on the bar while raising the bin for unloading, and release of the pressure thus exerted results in the shutters closing. The motion imparted to the shutters is partly sliding and partly lifting. In other respects this machine is the same as the standard S.D. Freighter dust-cart and is fitted with hydraulic tipping gear. The vehicle shown has a capacity of 7 cubic yards.

Another exhibit bears the name of the City of London Corporation. It is a Standard water-cart of 750 gallons capacity, the tank of which is detachable. The sprinkler-fed pressure heads are capable of spraying to a width of 40 ft. when fully opened.

The dust-cart for the Tynemouth Corporation is specially designed to work in narrow places. The body is of 7 cubic yards capacity and is equipped with standard covers, cable-operated rear door and new radial tipping gear. The last-named allows a greater clearance between the bottom of the body and the ground at the maximum angle of tip-16 ins, actually, as compared with 9 ins, in the case of the singleram gear.

The fourth vehicle is a dual-purpose outfit for the :Priem Barnet Urban District Council. The chassis is a standard model equipped with end=tippingbody,

E30 TUKE AND BELL. Stand 46, Main Hall.

A TWO-TON two-wheeled endtipping trailer constitutes the main exhibit an the stand occupied by Messrs. Tuke and Bell, Lichfield, Staffs. The capacity of the unit is 160 cub. ft., and it has been designed for house

refuse collection work on the tractortrailer system, the trailers being horsedrawn during the Lime that it is securing a load and then being hauled to the destructor by a tractor. This combined method of horse and mechanical power has much to recommend it and has been adopted by many municipal authorities.

WALLIS AND STEEVENS, LTD. Stand 93, Main Hall.

WE have had many occasions in the past for dealing with the standard products of this Basingstoke concern, and at this exhibition one of them is to be seen in the shape of the 10-ton

Advance roller, but what interests us most—as we feel sum it will many visitors, too—is the new 3-ton Simplicity roller, which, as an accompanying illustration shows, is of unusual construction. It is a single-cylindered machine, the cylinder (bore, 4 ins.; stroke, 6 ins.) being mounted directly on the boiler, which is of a new and patented design. The boiler consists of a plain cylindrical outer shell with cylindrical firebox, so that there is an entire absence of internal projections. Both tube plates are inclined, so that the tubes at their front end are, under normal conditions, fully covered, and even on severe gradients, unless the water level is abnormally low.

The oblique mounting of the boiler enables the crank saddle box, shafts and

gears to be kept at a much lower level than with the ordinary loco.-type—a feature which is advantageous for rolling work. The machine is well named, for simplicity is the keynote of the design. It is light and handy and possesses a wide range of use, being particularly suitable for the consolidation of lightly constructed roadways, rolling of footpaths, drives, etc., patching work and the setting of gritted tar dressings.

The 10-ton Advance roller is a welltried product, a special feature being that the front rolls can either be left• free to adjust themselves to variations in the surface or, alternatively, held rigidly parallel to the rear rolls without interfering with free steerage movement. The boiler is of the loco, multitubular pattern, and the double-cylindered engiisi is mounted directly above it.

In the Gilbey

DrIESSRS. ALLAN TAYLOR AND Co. show on Stand 122 a combined outfit for golf courses and clearing gas siphons, the basis of the machine being a Ford chassis, as well as a patent pump in section. The exhibit of the CHASESIDE ENGINEERING CO. on Stand 117 consists of a Hi-Lift loading shovel, the framework carrying the scoop being superimposed upon a Fordson tractor. The scoop is tipped at a maximum height of 9 ft. Another time-saving appliance which the company has on view is a tractor-crane. PRY BROTHERS, LTD., indicate the features of the Multibin—a refuse container—on Stand 109. The bin provides a convenient, quick and economical means of dealing with refuse, in conjunction, if necessary, with motor vehicles. Permac compressor-tractors are on view,on the stand (155) occupied by PERKLNS MACINTOSH PETROLEUM. TOOL AND BORING CO., LTD.