Motor Services in the Malay States.
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An Account of the Motor-vehicle Organization of the Malay States Railways.
By A. E. Meaden, A.M.I.Mech.E.
These large Straker-Squire vehicles are still running consistently, and they make an average speed of ten miles per hour over this exceedingly-arduous road. The mail service has also been augmented by two 24 h.p. Albion cars.
These vehicles were specially con%filleted with separate lock-up mail compartments and with seating accommodation for five 1st-class passengers. They have performed excellently and with the minimum of trouble; they
a if most-comfortable travelling, and are very speedy. The bodywork was designed at the Central Workshops ;Ind specified to home makers. At the request of the traders of Pahang, a service of motor lorries was initiated on this section in October, 1909. Three 28 h.p. and three 22 h.p. Milnes-Daimler lorries, with speciallydesigned bodies for the safe convey
ance of tin ore, were put into operation, and three of these machines per week left Kuala Lipis and Raub respectively.
The competition is, of course, very keen with the " bullock man," who has reduced his tariff to a minimum, but, for those goods which require quick transit, the motor scores, as the bullock-cart journey takes 3i to 4 days. This service has been greatly appreciated by the inhabitants of Pahang and has facilitated their domestic supply, but the revenue, which is likely to accrue to the Government by this conveyance into Pahang, is dis counted by the running f the lorries empty during the return journey, there being nothing at present to come out of tho State, with the exception of tin-ore, and the bullock man captures most of this, as time is little object in its transport. However, as the State becomes further developed, and as rubber comes into bearing, there will, no doubt, be a compensating return
traffic, and it is to be hoped the Government will maintain this service at all costs until such time.
In June, 1908, the town of Kuala Pilah, in Negri Sembilan, was included in the services, and a fleet of three 28 h.p. Milnes-Daimler chars-ii-bancs started a service of two trips per day from neremban to Kuala Pilah and return. This road has a great resemblance to the Pahang road and has also its pass section, although this is not so long. The distance from Severnban (on the Malacca line) to Kuala lah is 25k miles, six miles of which is hill road, with an average gradient of 1 in 25. The road has a. good surface, but many awkward bends occur ; only a slow average speed can be maintained with a full load on the hill section.
The railway has now been completed from Gemas in Johore to Kuala Pilah and now, no doubt, much of the traffic will be carried by rail. The Government, however, if the service be discontinued, can look back with satisfaction upon the good work done by opening up this district and by keeping it in daily communication with the main line.
'The services already mentioned comprise the whole of the out-station or feeding system, and, in addition to these, two small local services are running from headquarters at Kuala Lumpor. These are maintained by two, and sometimes three cars, which run daily up and down, to no particular timetable, between Kuala Lumpor and Ampang (6 miles) and Salak South (4 miles) respectively. The vehicles engaged are 28 h.p. Milnes-Daimler chars-ii-bancs to seat 35 persons, and, although, since their inauguration, they have been subjected to fierce local Chinese competition, they have been well patronized, and the running has been most consistent. As a rule, nine double trips per day are made, making an average of 90 miles per car but, on the occasion of Chinese and Indian
festivals, cars to the number of five have been running, and rich harvests have been reaped in fares.
The administration of the whole of the services is conducted from the Railway Department general offices in Kuala Lumpur, and all repairs, i.e., heavy repairs and overhauls, are carried out at the locomotive works situ
ated at the central workshops, which are 3i miles from the capital.
These workshops are very extensive, and well equipped for locomotive work, but great difficulty was experienced at first in obtaining the necessary increase of plant to cope with the large number of motor-vehicles in service. However, with some delays, all repairs have been properly carried out., and every car has been systematically overhauled after each service of 15,000 miles. This of course cannot be regarded as general practice, as the varying qualities and gradients of the roads have to be taken into consideration. On the level laterite roads in the Kiang district, ninny of the cars successfully ran 20,000 to 22,000 miles, with nothing but daily supervision by native titters, whereas many of the cars on the Pahang and Seremban services suf fered on account of the steep gradients and hard, rain-washed, limestone roads; machines in this service were found to require an overhaul after completing from 10,000 to 12,000. miles. As a general rule, however, after 15,000 miles on any roads, if the car could be satisfactorily replaced, it was brought in to the central work
shops for examination, overhaul, and renovation of bodywork.
Most of the repairs necessary consisted of adjustments and renewals of worn chassis parts, such as spring pins, clips, radius-rod pins and double eyes, but in very few instances was any serious defect apparent in the speed or differential gears. The engine parta gave little trouble, and, with the exception of some damage to light engines by heavy loads on stiff gradients, they required little in the way of heavy repairs.
The labour force obtainable in the Malay States is of mixed nationality and consists of Chinese, Tamils (South Indians), Malays, Bengalis, Cingalese, and a sprinkling of Eurasians. The Chinese and Tamil form the mechanical element, and many of them are exceedingly-skilled workmen. The Tamil is probably the more-artistic and intelligent workman, but he cannot compete with the Chinaman for energy, being slower and lacking in strength. The great proportion of fitters and machine-hands at headquarters were, therefore, Chinamen, but the best men for out-station garages were found to be Tamils, who. although less energetic with their hands, seemed to grasp difficulties of running more quickly, and were able intelligently to diagnose faults and to remedy them in a way that was superior to that of the average Chinese mechanic. The Malay naturally-proud, and exceedingly-clean, makes an excellent driver, and lie rapidly picks up the control and management of a car on the road. These natives form the bulk of the drivers, and. although in isolated instances a Tamil or Chinaman may be trained successfully, the former is usually too timid and the latter too fond of examining and playing with the engine to become useful servants in this connection. The Bengali, or the Sikh—usually an old Indian soldier— is used for little else than heavy labouring or as a watchman. As the latter, he shines, owing principally to his physique, and to the fear with which he seems to inspire John Chinaman. Personally, I think him lazy, unintelligent and none too clean, and the fiercest and most dangerous part of him is his appearance. The Eurasian, or half-caste European, with probably a fair education and a good knowledge of English, makes a decent ehargeman, and, of course, he commands higher wages than the native. The running sheds at out-stations are of steel-girder construction with corrugated iron sides and roofing ; they are capable of accommodating the service ears and one spare car. Cement floors and one or two repair pits properly drained are used; a drained and cemented wash for cars is made outside all the sheds. If the town or village has a water supply, standeocks are fitted and the water for washing and filling is obtained from the town supply. In all other cases, wells have been sunk as close as possible to the sheds. Each shed has a bench and vice, oil and separate petrol store, also properly-built quarters for drivers, cleaners and conductors. A resident fitter is on the spot for adjustments and running repairs and, for repairs necessitating additional labour, men are sent, on receipt of a telegram, from the central workshops. Each Filled has its own storekeeper, who is supplied with running stores monthly upon requisition from the chief storekeeper at headquarters, and records of receipts and issues are checked whenever the Europeans in charge of the various districts make their visits of inspection. Mileage and consumption records, wheel and tire records and all drivers' and conductors' reports are submitted to the engineer in charge at headquarters, and proper folios embracing all classes of reports are kept there by a staff of properlytrained native clerks.
The cars, numbering five in December, 1906, have now increased to 45, and they consist of : eight 18 hp. Milnes-Daimlers; three 24 Thornycrofts ; six 30-40 h.p. Straker
Squires; seven 16 h.p. Albions ; eighteen 28 h.p. Milnes-Daimlers ; one 20 hp. Halley ; and two 24 h.p. Albions. The mileage run per month now reaches a total of 35,000 miles.
It may be of interest to give some few particulars of the organization of the staff and of the duties which were assigned to its members. The writer was engineer-in-charge of the department, and was known as an " Automobile mecanicien," a title which owed its origin to the ignorance of the generally-accepted meaning of the word " mecanicien," on the part of the original compounder of the requisition to Government for a man to fill the post. The duties of the engineer-incharge were to assume the sole responsibility for the whole of the service, the records, and the repairs, so far as the engineering side of the scheme was concerned. The traffic and the collection of revenue came under the traffic manager, who also was responsible for the time-tables, the freights, and all matters of revenue. Two assistants, both of them Europeans, were appointed for staff duty. To one of them was given the care of all shop-work at headquarters. The other was in charge of the Pahang section—a very arduous and heavy one, and he had his local headquarters and workshops at Rauh Pa
hang. The chief clerk and the headquarters storekeeper, together with their respective stalls, were all natives, and these two employees, in addition to supplying the different stations and workshops with stores and materials, kept the exhaustive records of consumption, tire mileage, etc., etc. Each different station garage had a clerk, who also took charge of stores and records. His duties included those of time keeping and the requisitioning of all the necessary supplies from headquarters as the necessity arose.
As so much of the success of a service, under such conditions as those which obtain in the Federated Malay States, depends upon the quality and grading of the highways, some notes may well be here included with regard to these all-important factors in the situation. The original tracks were, no doubt., nothing more nor less than bridle paths, which were subsequently traced and properly surveyed by Government surveyors. Subsequently, the Public Works Department, under competent civil-engineering control, constructed suitably-metalled high-. ways wherever necessary. Some of the roads were originally made by Chinese mine-owners, and were afterwards taken over and improved by Government. All the metal for the present roads had to be transported by bullock carts, but a compensating advantage was undoubtedly the cheap labour which has always been available here.
The road surfaces differ greatly in various parts of the country. On the Selangor side of the Pahang trunk road, white granite, quarried from the sides of the roads, has been used throughout. On the Pahang side, blue shale has been obtained from the gold mines of Raub, and, although this material insures a beautiful surface, it is very dusty in dry weather and slippery in wet seasons. In many parts of Perak, the road surfaces are superb; they are made from white limestone, a very hard material, which produces sharp-pointed metal.