The Motor Drivers News.
Page 22
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Sacking Found Useful.
" W.W." (East Ham) writes us on the 12th instant as follows :—" I am a steam wagon driver, and a constant reader of the Drivers News,' which I find most interesting reading. One day last week I set out for a run of about 25 miles with a load on hoard. All went well until we got as far as Streatham Common, when, without any warning at all, the engine started to knock very badly, and at last came to a standstill. I could not quite locate where the trouble was, but thought it must be in one of the cylinders, so I proceeded to remove the covers, and found that the nut on the end of the 1.p. piston rod had stripped off, and the junk ring had been smashed to pieces. After removing these pieces, I found that the back end of the cylinder had been knocked out, including, of course, the packing gland. There was nothing for it but to telegraph to my employers, asking them to send our engineer (town to see what could be done under the circumstances. Ile came, and declared that the only way out of the difficulty was for me to offload, and be towed home by a team of horses. So he went and made arrangements with a local carter. I did not like the idea of being towed home in this ignominious manner, so I started to concoct a plan whereby I might get home on the FIT. cylinder alone. First of all I set to work to remove the 1.p. piston rod and piston, after which I withdrew the valve and plugged up the steam ports in the cylinder with pieces of wood. I then packed the cylinder full of wet sacking and bolted the back, and what was left of the front, covers on. When they had taken my load off the platform, I started for home, and ran there in pretty good time, taking all the circumstances into consideration. My only difficulty was in starting, as the engine had no fly-wheel to help it over the dead centres."
Roadside Trials.
" W.N." (Glasgow) sends us the following letter :— " Having seen the letter from ' G.G.' (Scotby) recounting one of his experiences, I should like to relate some of the incidents of a run which I think was almost worse than his. Some time ago I took a Thornycroft wagon out for a trial run, subsequent to a thorough overhauling and repairing. Our run was to a grain mill to pick up six tons of grain—
four tons on the wagon and two on the trailer—which we had to take to a store about nine miles away. Our foreman decided to accompany me—a good thing he did, as it enabled him to see the trouble that we drivers sometimes have—to be able to judge how the vehicle would travel. We had a fearful job to get out of the town, as the paved roads were very greasy and the back wheels kept skidding, notwithstanding a liberal use of sand and coke sacks. Going up a steep hill my injector refused to work, so I started the pump, but found from some unexplained reason that also was out of order. My water in the gauge glass was going down rapidly by this time, so I had to draw the fire and wait until the boiler had cooled down before I could do anything to it. I had a look at the check valve and made it work again, after which we filled the boiler—with a pint can, rather a slow process --and eventually got the fire to light. We then set off again, and got to our destination, taking six hours to do a distance of nine miles. When we arrived at the destination we found the store shut, so my mate had to walk to a village a mile away to hunt up the man with the keys. After some trouble in finding water we eventually arrived home without further incident."
Leaky Tubes.
" W.F." (Coventry) writes us as follows I send you one of my experiences as a steam wagon driver.
About two two years ago I was employed to drive a Mann steam wagon belonging to the owners of a flour mill in Suffolk. One day I had a load of flour and other material to take to a town called Littleport, a distance of some thirteen miles. The wagon went splendidly for the first seven miles or so, when, for some unknown reason, the tubes at the fire-box end began to leak badly. I got some barley meal and put it in the water tank, and then pumped some of the mixture into the boiler, hoping that this would stop the leakage. The result was good, but some of the tubes still gave trouble, so I covered my arm with an old bag and took hold of a hammer and gave the ferrules that requiredeit a light tap. This had the desired effect, and I continued on my way without further hitch. On arrival at the yard where I had to discharge my load I asked if it was free from soft places and drain holes. I was told that it was all right, so I ran the wagon in and shut off steam, but no sooner had the vehicle collie to rest than the back wheels began to sink down, I tried to back, but this only made matters worse, and I saw that the only thing to do was to unload as quickly as possible, jack the wagon up, and put planks under the wheels. This was done, and I was enabled to run into the road. I started for home a short time afterwards, and had got about three miles on the journey when something appeared to have happened to the balance gearing. I had a look, and found that what I had expected had occurred, viz., that the two large gear wheels of the differential or balance gearing had spread, owing to the breakage of the pin which kept the large clamping nut in position, I punched out the broken portion of the pin and inserted a hard-wood peg in its place. By running very slowly and surely on the right side of the road, I managed to keep the wagon running, and arrived home about 1.30 a.m. This is the worst experience I have ever had with a steam wagon. '
Our Christmas Competition.
Up to the present we have had no replies to our offer of tos. for the best account ot a run with a wagon or van on Christmas Day. The origin of any contribution to this page is treated as strictly confidential.