THOSE EARLY DAYS AND THEIR OUTCOME.
Page 13
Page 14
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Some Reminiscences of the Pioneer Days and the Early Efforts of Those Upon Whom Fell the Brunt of Initiating the Motor Movement.
By Sir John E. Thornyeroft, K.B.E.
IN accordance with the Editor's request that I should write some of my reminiscences of the early days and developments a the commercial motor industry to be published in the 21st anniversary issue of The Commercial Motor, with my readers' permission I will start with 1895 and 1896 and the first exhibition in this country when a demonstration, of vehicles on the road was given. (It will, of course, be undeistood that I refer to the modern period, and do not forget the pioneer work which was done by 'Hancock, (oldsworthy-Gurney and others in the early days of the century, before the –red flag" Act was brought in to restrict progress:) About 1894, one began to hear of the progress which was being made on the Continent with mechanically propelled vehicles, and it occurred to me and my brother-in-law, new :Colonel Niblett, ii). 8.0., that we should like to make one of these vehicles ourselves. Our steam van was on the road early in 1895 and one • or two passenger vehicles of Continental make were also running in the country, but they were not allowed to proceed without a than on foot carrying a red flag.
Someone thought of holding an exhibition at the Crystal Palace, where there were private roads that could be used for demonstration. The total exhibition consisted of three or four Continental passenger .vehteles fitted with single-cylinder horizontal engines and iron-tyred wheels, a small 'steam traction engine with wheels shod with wooden blocks and our steam van of one-ton capacity.
• The Liverpool Trials and Their Importance.
The trials organized by the Liverpool Self-propelled Traffic Association in 1899 really marked the beginning of modern developments. By 1901, really good steam vehicles werebeing built. Few and far between were users who were able to run them sufficiently well to ensure success, but those who did so will be found among the firms to-day with the best organized fleets of modern vehicles, in a grtat many cases made by the same firm S from whom they, made their original par
chases. _
A great deal was learnt by the builders at the first Liverpool Trials, and the vehicles taking part in the third trials in 1901 were vastly superior.
When a thing has once been clone successfully it seems very simple, and it is hard to imagine how it could have been done in numerous other ways which were failures. From this point of view it is interesting to look back on early efforts. There is no doubt that the early progress here was quite rapid. There was no motor lorry of any sort in the country which could have been of any real use for military purposes in 1897. yet in 1901 the War Office had carried out trials and had shipped several to South Africa to take part in the Boer War. The machines did so well that Lord Kitchener thought it worth while specially. to call attention to the work they had done.
It is interesting to see which of the road users in the country were the .first to believe in meckanical transport. Looking back at, the lists of early users, I find that they were generally well-established firms which made and distributed Some form of food or drink, and that the lorries were ordered by firms in which some of the partners or directors were men with considerable engineering or mechanical knowledge. It is curious that the concerns dealing with passenger traffic, such as omnibus companies and char-a-banes owners, were very slow to move, and did not do so until rival concerns were established to run motor vehicles against their horse-drawn ones.
The. Prescience of the Company Promoter.
Company promoters have their failings, but, they must be given credit for sometimes having the capacity to see well ahead. I expect there are few people whO remember the illustrations which appeared in swim of the prospectuses of motor omnibus companies rather, more than 21 years ago, showing the traffic in Piccadilly and Hyde Park Corner ;without a single horsedrawn vehicle(just about as dense as it is to-day), who, believed at the time that they would live to see the conditions aS they werer'pictured. If one looks back now, it is hard to, realize what a rare thing it WaS'tosee a motor Vehiere among the Other traffic, and how. frightened the drivers and horses were of them., The drivers were I think, generally, most to .blame.. I remember very Well one of the early runs with our first steam Van, a very harmless -looking vehicle, as it showed 'no' funnel or machinery, and it Was really Quite silent, • beingfittedwith heliCal_ gearing. When we arrived in-Kensington High Street a horse in a van some distance away proceeded to try to climb up a
lamp-post. Ode met with many interesting and trying experiences on the road in those days.
To indicate the way in which the public and the Press looked upon the early motor vehicle developments, one or two examples of the early paragraphs showing bow the daily Press referred to them may be of interest.
From the Westminster Gazette, November 18th, 1896.
"Much excitement, was caused at Windsor on Tuesday afternoon by the advent of a Thornycroft steam van which, on entering the town, proceeded up Thames Street to Castle Hill and turned near Henry VIII's Gate. The motor greatly interested the onlookers, and was followed by a number of spectators to the Datchet Road, where it stopped for a time. The carriage is available for passengers, parcels or goods, and carries a ton. No smoke or steam was visible, and there was apparently no smell."
From the Evening Standard, April 22nd, 1904.
"W are informed by the Automobile Club that therejs a certain amount of misconception as to the parade of motorvans that is being organized by this Club for the 30th inst. Last yeay a parade was organized by Thornycrofts for their own vans. This year the parade has been taken over by the Automobile Club as an independent body, organized to encourage the industry by every possible means, and it has been thrown entirely open to all types of vehicles and to all makers, and the prizes, amounting to £50, will be awarded impartially to the drivers who appear to have paid the greatest care and attention to their vehicles, whatever the make. The parade will be at three o'clock in the afternoon, on the Thames Embankment, just to the eastward of Charing Cross railway bridge. After the judging there will be a procession down Victoria Street and Grosvenor Place to Hyde Park Corner. Already some 75 vehicles are promised,"
From the Daily Mail, April, 1904.
"Britain is making a bold effcrt to beat France in the motoring industry. There are now about 10,000 motorcars in use in this country, and it is estimated that this number will be doubled by the end of the year.
"Mr. T. F. Woodfine, secretary of the Society of Motor Manufacturers, stated yesterday that cars are imported by Great Britain to the value of about a million pounds sterling annually, and that this year the home manufacture will equal that sum. English makers are increasing, and are steadily evolving a car suitable for English roads, and combining the speed of the French cars with the stability of our own. The light speedy French . cars do not stand our roads well.
" Britain is well ahead in motorvan building, and Thornycrofts have supplied several wagons to the German War Office. Trials are being made with motorvans for the conveyance of mails, and next year the Automobile Club, in conjunction with the Society of Motor. Manufacturers, will hold tilserie.s of light van trials which should considerably advance the industry."
Production Abroad and at Home.
Returning to the present day, one cannot but be a little disappointed at the way in which our foreign rivals have beaten the Old Country in the matter of production. It is very doubtful if America would have been able to get such a strong position if we had not been held back by the War. The grouping of firms with a view to making reduced numbers of types may have helped, but there, as well as here, many who have tried their hands at building vehicles have gone out of business.
We are suffering, at the present time, by not knowing to what extent legislation is likely to affect design, and it is a thousand pities that when a Government inquiry results in certain recommendations, manufacturers are not promptly informed if those recommendations are to be adopted ornot.
The Britiah manufacturers want their own market protected, not only for their own benefit, but for that of . the country'generally. It is/necessary that they do a large export business. Legislation which tends to pro-. duce types in this country which are not generally acceptable in our Colonies and abroad is obviously wrong. It is the fashion to-day to praise the British car with its small engine, which has resulted from the method of taxation, but anyone who has been in our Colonies and abroad knows perfectly well that we have lost. . many of the best markets in the world to the Ameri-, cans, because they were building cars with engines which were not nearly so highly rated.
British makers of commercial vehicles cannot afford to establish their own branches all over the world, and, if they try to find a good agent abroad, the chances are they will find the best for the particular place or country is primarily interested it American production and is loth to represent a British vehicle.
The Commercial Motor andthe technical Press generally have, in my opinion, without question done a great deal for the industry, but I would venture to suggest that they must try to do a good deal more. I will not make any proposal as to how they should do so, but will content myself with congratu la ti ng The Commercial Motor on the good work it has done in the 21 years of its existence and express t h e hope that, now it has come of age, it will go on with the good work it has been doing and prosper for many years to ccime.