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The Effect of the Revision of Railway Traffic Conditions.

17th January 1928
Page 39
Page 40
Page 39, 17th January 1928 — The Effect of the Revision of Railway Traffic Conditions.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

.rpHE Railways Act of 1921 and the, outcome of the official Inquiry into rates and the classification of merchandisehave, from the first of this month (which was the "appointed day" for bringing Part III of the Act into force), brought revolutionary changes in the relations between traders and the railway companies.. When one studies or reviews railway law, one is struck• with the foresight of our early lawgivers. They clearly foresaw.the evil effects of allowing a. tnonopoly of transport facilities to be built up by the railways; and intidduced limitations that excite our wonder and. admiration. The interests of the passenger, • the trader and the shipper have been extraordin arily well safeguarded, and the unhampered recovery of the road as a highway of traffic undominated by the railway companies has followed upon the introduction of the modern mode of independent transport.

The new Act has vitally affecte,d certain principles of working of the railways. _ For instance, the railways have been allowed to alter the, position of any commodity in the General Classification of Goods, but the Classification is now fixed and, with the regulations which accompany it, comes under the purview Of the Railway Rates Tribunal. This is important, first, to traders, because it ensures stability in rates as between one district and another and, secondly (and this we regard as the 'more important), to road transport operators, because the companies are no longer able to reduce the classification of goods as, formerly, they could do if they found the road severely cantpeting with them. The initiative in any change in classification will in future come mainly from traders, any change in the way of' reduction, of 'course, meaning an automatic reduction of rates.

There is so much to be learned about the new condition of railway goods working, every item of which is of concern to the haulier, that we recommend a definite study of the new publications on the subject which are now available or are passing through the-Press. In fact, now is an excellent opportunity for the haulier and carrier to gain a clear idea of the duties, rights, abilities and disabilities of the railways with which he is in competition, and it is worthy of comment that whilst all this information about the railways. is freely disclosed. to him, the methods of operating adopted by his competing fellow hauliers on the road and the rates they charge or can obtain are as a sealed book. Railway methods and principles, classifications and rates, however, set a standard by which the haulier may work and that is why he should study them and the standard conditions for the carriage of goods.

Road Transport Industry Makes the First Move.

TN the coming session of Parliament the appli cations of the four group railways for general road powers will form, so far as the road transport industry is concerned, one of the most important of the matters for discussion, and it is well that every person engaged in the carrying of passengers and the haulage of goods should be fully alive to the nature of the claims of the railways to such powers and to the-effect which the granting thereof would have upon his business. Wide road powers, thanks to the wisdom of our legislators, have always been refused to the railways, being limited to the ancillary services. Pour of the railway companies in the past have, however, secured such powers, but they have never been exercised to any extent. In recent years an extensive traffic has grown up on the highways, and the question arises—Why should the railways require the powers for which they are now asking? Is it contended that the services now provided by private enterprise are inadequate to the requirements of the public? As that argument would be difficult to uphold, then the railways can only duplicate the services now provided, to the detriment of the interests of existing operators and of the highways. The arguments have now begun to be stated, and by a curious set of circumstances the defence has been persuaded to open the discussion, Mr. Shrapnell-Smith being the exponent of the cause of the road transport industry • whether this is good tactics or not on either side remains to be seen. We support the demand for (1) the rejection of the applications on the first reading; or (2) the appointment of a Royal Commission to consider the involved national issues which will arise.

Engine Requirements of the Passenger Vehicle.

TMPROVEMENTS, almost sweeping in their lcharacter, have taken place recently in the design of nearly every class of passenger vehicle. Even the ordinary service bus, which was formerly looked upon as something of a plodder, is rapidly becoming an almost luxuriously appointed conveyance, capable of achieving speeds which a few years ago, would have been considered very high. Much of this advance has naturally been due to the increasing employment of pneumatic tyres, but whatever be the cause the additional-speed and rapid acceleration which are demanded have forced designers to turn their attention to the production of engines capable of meeting these requirements in a satisfactory manner, and units which, until comparatively recently, were looked upon as perfectly satisfactory have had to be relegated to goods work only or redesigned to give greater power per unit of volume and higher maximum speeds. But high speed and greater power alone are not all that is necessary. Rabid acceleration requires high torque at comparatively low engine revolutions, whilst the power curve should rise as evenly as possible to the maximum speed likely to be demanded from the unit. Great attention must also be paid to the question of even running and the avoidance of periods and undue vibration, often resulting from lack of rigidity in the engine construction. Various methods are employed to, ensure that the rigidity 'should be improved. For instance, in the new engine which we describe in the article occupying our centre pages, the sides of the crankcase are brought well down below the level of the main . bearing, but this alone has not been deemed sufficient, and -still further to improve the rigidity a stout web is carried externally around the upper -half of the crankcase at about the level of the crankcase main bearings, whilst, as compared with the type of engine which it supersedes, the crankshaft is much stiffer, the cams are designed for high speeds and Duralumin connecting rods With light-alloy pistons reduce the reciprocating weight and thus assist in permitting higher speeds without unduly increasing the stresses.


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