m. 7. ''' 4 li Motorbus
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Our Weekly Table.
The tabular return of Greater London's passenger-transport traffic, which it is our custom to publish weekly, has had to be held over, owing to the extreme pressure on our space in the present issue.
A Certificate for "Splashguards.'
A certificate of performance with reference to the efficiency of the Shrapnel splashguard has been issued by the R.A.C., as the result of an official series of tests which has been completed under the competition rules of that organization. Records were taken on a screen of the small amounts of mud which got past the guard at various speeds of the car.
Another Relief Fund.
In July of last year, it may be remembered that the " Daily Mail " organized a pension fund for 60 old horse drivers, who had been driven out of employment by the arrival of the motorcab. The Cabdrivers' Benevolent Association was, on that occasion, the actual distributor of this charity on behalf of the Daily Mail." Now it is the turn of the " Daily Express" and the superseded horse-bus driver. A fund has been started by our contemporary, to which Mr. Alfred de Rothschild has already contributed 100 guineas, from which it is hoped to continue the pensions which have hitherto been paid to 31 old drivers by the Omnibus Men's Superannuation Fund. The resources of this organization are now completely exhausted. Fireproof Public-service Vehicles.
It is often claimed by electric-tramway authorities that one of the outstanding advantages of electric tra6tion, in comparison with a motorbus service, is the freedom of the former system from the danger of fire. On recent Saturday two L,C.C. trains caught fire in South London; on the following Sunday, a similar mishap occurred to another electric tramcar in Waterloo Road.
A Good Country Motorbus Record.
The following particulars, relative to the work of a pair of " Hallford " public-service cars on the DartfordFarningliam route, should prove instructive to those who are contemplating the establishment of new motorbus or char-it-banes services in provincial districts during the approaching season.
The first double-deck 30-38 h.p. 34seated vehicle for this service was obtained from Messrs. J. and E. Hall, Ltd., early in 1907, and it went into service in May of the same year. Mr. John Carpenter, trading as John Carpenter and Sons, of Dartford, was the owner. This machine straightaway proved reliable and efficient, and the takings were most encouraging, 5o that, after it had run rather over 20,000 miles, another chassis of the same type and power was ordered ; this was put to work in July, 1908. This latter bus was not, at that time, fully occupied on regular service like its sister vehicle ; its body was frequently changed for that of a char-4 banes, a...d in this guise it. did a great deal of country touring with parties. Both the Hallford " vehicles have since been in continuous service, and, at the close of 1909, they had covered, between them, about 70,000 miles. The above record is of exceptional interest, from the fact that the service is an old-established one, it having been worked in 1905 and 1906 by early-type Daimler buses. Owing to the demise of Mr. Carpenter, the Dartford-Farningham service has been acquired by Messrs. D. J. Pitt and Sons, of Bexley Heath. We reproduce a photograph of one of these successful machines.
Sleigh Facilities Insufficient.
A request was recently sent, on behalf of the Deeside District Committee, to the directors of the Great North of Scotland Railway Co., that the Ballater-Braemar service of motorbuses might be withdrawn during the winter months. It now appears that this action on the part of the committee has given considerable offence to the inhabitants of Braemar, who were unwilling to take steps to clear the roads of snow in order to facilitate sleigh traffic only. The sleighs which are available locally are quite insufficient to serve the purposes of the surrounding population, to many of whom the motorbuses have proved to be a great boon. Complaints are not wanting that the Braernar-Ballater road is not maintained in systematic repair, although considerable sums of money are regularly expended upon it.
Trams a Failure, Motors a Success—at Bristol.
Sir George White, Bart., as chairman, had much of interest to say at the annual general meeting of the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Co., Ltd., last week. The returns for the past year, from the tramways department, show a decrease in receipts of
£ 2,050; in the carriage department, an improvement to the extent of
£ 22,204 is recorded. " Without exception," said the chairman, " the city tramway routes showed decreases, I am forced to the conclusion that We are practically at the limit of tramway running in Bristol." During the current year it is estimated that track reconstruction will cost the company £35,000. Sir Geo. White said they had seen enough to warrant them in further extending, not only the taxicab business, but also the summer excursion motorbus traffic, and that of other commercial-motor vehicles working from new centres.