The Necessity for "The Motorcab Special."
Page 1
Page 2
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Our first and original announcement, on the zoth February last, to the effect that a special number of this journal, dealing with motorcabs was to be published on the 3oth April, immediately attracted a considerable amount of attention, as we have before had occasion to point out. The necessity for the addition of this particular special number" The Motorcab Special"—to our already long list of such productions has been rendered more and more evident to us during the intervening period of eight weeks. For example, we have collected a not inconsiderable number of cuttings from provincial papers, by which the most ludicrous statements have been put into circulation as to the possible earnings, rates of charges, constructional features, and general requirements of the trade. We have not come across a single effort, other than our own criticism of the prospectus of the Provincial Motor Cab Company, Limited, to point out the essential differences which exist between London and provincial conditions, which factors must themselves account for a not inconsiderable portion of the number which is now in preparation for publication a fortnight hence. There is no question that the motorcab will pay in the Provinces, provided the right class of vehicle is put in service by the right class of man. We are no believers in the operations of the "big London company," and we staunchly adhere to our view that it will be the established jobmaster and garage owner who will be able to secure the cream of this business, as much by reason of the absence of excessive management charges as by reason of their local knowledge
and touch with patrons. It is, of course, perfectly clear that every provincial owner will require to supplement his revenue by private hiring and jobbing, and it is equally evident that distinct types of motorcabs will be required for the purposes in view.
"The Motorcab Special " will be complete in itself. It will contain the necessary information and illustrations, and it will be written by men who have practical, commercial, and engineering knowledge of road vehicles and their use, extending over a long period of years. Such an issue must carry conviction to the minds of all who read it, and we trust it will prove as useful as the best of our earlier special numbers, as to the value of which we hold many letters of testimony from both users and manufacturers. Probably the most interesting feature of the arrangements is the compilation, from official sources, of a list of the principal cabowners and jobmasters in all the large towns of the United Kingdom, which work was undertaken by us in conformity with our invariable policy of avoiding wasteful and useless distribution. Until the motorcab trade has developed to a point considerably in advance of that which it has now reached, the small man cannot hope to be able to purchase and drive mechanical vehicles himself, and any wide extension of the co-operative principle, under which such purchases may shortly be possible in London, cannot be extended to the Provinces immediately. We are satisfied that there is an amount of dense ignorance in regard to the motorcab and its prospects, and that undesirable condition we intend to break down.
Our Tenth Protest Against Excessive Speed.
London motorbuses are still driven, as a general rule, much above the speeds which are commercially and mechanically admissible having regard to the surfaces upon which they have to travel, and we again protest against the continued pursuance of a course which must bring further disaster upon the proprietary companies. We cannot too strongly or too frequently insist upon the well-known fact— it's the speed that kills. Noise, wear and tear, and depreciation probably increase as the cube of the speed, for all rates of progression in excess of, say, five miles an hour, yet tens of thousands of pounds' worth of machinery are being hammered to pieces by drivers who either neglect their instructions, or are inadequately supervised. The continuance of this suicidal procedure cannot be witnessed for more than another twelve or eighteen months, as, by that time, the already impoverished resources of the largest of our London companies will have been reduced to a state of comparative beggary. We are at a loss to know where satisfaction is found or expected in this connection. True, the public demands a high point-to-point speed, but that result can be achieved, as well with intelligent variation of pace according to the condition of the surface, as with a total disregard of such discrimination coupled with excessive stops at recognised picking-up points. We do not assert that there has been no improvement, for that would be an incorrect statement, but we unhesitatingly record our view that further improvements will have to be introduced into the organisation of the traffic and running departments before maintenance costs can be reckoned to be properly under control. In the presence of the excessive speeds against which we now make our tenth specific protest, the uncertainties of maintenance are so huge that all calculations on the revenue side are undermined and brought to nought, apart from their being affected in an adverse manner by the temptation to ignore would-be passengers.
Everybody who has experience in road-transport or traction work of any kind must endorse this protest, and every director of an omnibus company who desires to see a return of more than twelve pence for one shilling will take it to heart. We are glad to note that Mr. Worby Beaumont, in his recent lecture before the Coventry Engineering Society, to which we make a few references elsewhere in this issue, spoke most strongly on this all-important subject, and we feel that the financial success of any motorbus undertaking is probably more intimately dependent upon a rigid adherence to more normal speeds than upon any other single consideration in the problem. Neither men nor metal can withstand the unnecessary shocks and jars which are now imposed, and no financial resources can suffice—unless the Bank of England likes to step into the breach.
Improved Road Conditions : A Question of Time.
Owners of commercial motors are finding that the ideas of road surveyors, whether in town or courary, are gradually being adapted to the changed traffic conditions which have so rapidly asserted themselves within the past five years. It is, of course, impossible that there should be any immediate or universal alterations in methods of road construction, maintenance, or cleansing, because public officials are obliged to study the needs of all classes of traffic, whilst they cannot suddenly vary arrangements, which are often based upon years of settled practice, except at grave risk of general unpopularity, and even of failure. Thus, in Lancashire and other industrial counties, the early demands of the heavy wagoner for paved roads were not granted wholesale, because those who drove horses wished for the survival of the macadamised road, upon which both they and their animals travelled more comfortably and with less fatigue; yet, by small and easy additions, more and more granite setts are laid each succeeding year. Again, cyclists and motorists have cried out against excessive camber, and for years without effect, but now, by common assent, surveyors are prepared to " flatten " both macadamised roads and the impervious surfaces of cities, because they realise that distributed wear can be secured by no other means, and because they at last have at their disposal the materials and the arguments to convince the various committees. Macadamised roads will now throw off the water, if waterproofed by any of the several approved methods, with a camber to which no road user can take exception, and practically every repaired stretch bears testimony to the tendency of to-day. In the cities, however, by reason of the relatively enormous horse traffic, a lot remains to be done. In London, unfortunately, and in other cities, too, the surface conditions are foul in the extreme, and adhesion is an uncertain factor except during dry weather. It is amply proved, by calculation and observation, that small percentages of horse manures reduce the co-efficient of adhesion by an amount which varies between 25 and 95 per cent. of the total. This cause of variation in the ability of any motor-vehicle wheels to get a grip of the surface can obviously disappear only at a slow rate, though the huge withdrawals of omnibus and cab horses are being continued. Camber, none the less, has a direct bearing upon the prob, tem, and, so far as asphalt goes, we are glad to see that a progressive German city, Frankfort-on-the-Main, has adopted a mean camber of a in too for this material. When we point out that several asphalted streets in London have cambers—across lengths towards the kerbs—of I in zo, the serious difficulties of the drivers will be appreciated. The propulsion of an ordinary omnibus, taking into account the proportion of the total weight which is upon the back axle, demands a co-efficient of adhesion of 0.027 for work on the level, and greasy asphalt offers a total co-efficient (with rubber) of about o.o6o; the margin of adhesion, to counteract the effects of momentum, sudden braking, and inclination
therefore, under bad conditions, only 0.033, and this is reduced below zero by any camber in excess of I in 30, upon which a driver must perform a series of balancing feats. We look for the time when streets will be cleaner, pari pass u as draught horses yield place to mechanical power, but we plead for the re-laying of asphalt pavement at a much lesser angle than the a in 30 which we name as the marginless slope qua side-slip on a really bad day, and at one more closely rlated to the i in mo which Frankfort has adopted. We hcpe that the City of London Corporation will take these figures into consideration, as also might the Holborn Borouh Council.
Parliamentary Powers f or Municipal Motorbus Services.
Municipal authorities will have learnt with satisfaction of the successful application by the Widnes Town Council, and we hope this portion of the Bill will not be lost. With the abject failure of the Todmorden authorities at hand for ready quotation as the " horrible example," it is by no means bard for astute railway counsel to make out a bad case, as was done in connection with the Merthyr Tydvil application.* Our last week's report of the proceedings in respect of the Blackburn Town Council's motorbus clauses, which were struck out, must have conveyed, to all who read it, the real necessity for the warning which we gave in our issue of the 3rd October last, when we wrote, in regard to Burnley : " We hope . . will not fail to bring proper evidence in support of the Bill, as several municipal applications have failed dismally, during the last session of Parliament, owing to the inadequate steps that were taken to satisfy the Committee that a demand for such services existed." If Blackburn failed on this score, and on the added one of missing estimates, Widnes came off syccessfulty because it had left no stone unturned, and we 1 ope the other councils and companies who have yet to apply, and of whose deposited Bills a complete list and sumne ry was published by us on the 19th December, 1907, will ake the hint which these comparisons provide. In addition, each Bill lost means both a hindering of trade, and a perpetuation of the public inconvenience, in the areas concerned, whilst orders are unnecessarily denied to a branch cif the motor industry which is anything but flourishing. The risk of losing even one „7,000 order, which sum the Widnes Corporation has set aside, cannot be regarded with equanimity to-day.
The Corporations of Ayr, Burnley, and Keighley have yet to unfold their plans, and they will do well to go to the House armed with figures to show that financial success is at least probable. Our arguments, of course, apply equally to the remaining cases of the Croydon and Southern Districts Tramways Company, the Lanarkshire Tramways Company, and the West London Barnes and Richmond Tramways Company,