The Development of Road Locomotion in Recent Years.*
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By Mr. L. A. Legros.
Introduculy .Note.—Though attempts were made to aduke mechanical means as aids to locomotion on the commou roads as early as 18,30, and subsequently about 1860, these effurts were in both cases impeded, and ultimately, checked, by the opposition of these interested in horse-drawn vehicles and contingent vested interests. A limited amount of haulage, it is true, was done by means of heavy traction-engines, but this was only effected under conditions so onerous that their field of usefulness was extremely limited.
The first notable break from the traditions of animal traction, in which mechanical methods of progression were used on the road, though actually employing muscular effort. was that created by the advent of the bicycle and by its adoption, in the first instance for sporting and pleasure purposes, and later on as a rapid means of transport for business and trade purposes.
In other European countries where the influence of these interested in traction by animals was not such a serious factor, attempts at mechanical locomotion on the road, and particularly that of vehicles On which internal-combustion engines were used, had been made with more than a fair measure of success; in fact, the results obtained abroad bythe use of the internal-combustion engine, both on tramway metals and on the ordinary roads, led up to the passing of the Light Locomotives Act of 1896, in November of that year. This practically freed the road* of Great Britain to mechanical traction. From this point, therefore, any real advance in road locomotion must be dated. The first four years of this period up to and including the completion of the 1,000-miles trials have already
been dealt with very exhaustively. It is the succeeding period with which the present Paper more particularly deals. The various form* of road locomotion to he considered may be classed as follows:— Cycles, including carrier -cycles.
Automobile vehicles used for pleasure purposes.
Light automobile vehicles employed in public service (motels cabe).
Heavy motor-vehicles employed in public service (motoromnibuses).
Light motor-vehicles employed for commercial purposes (motor deliyery-vans).
Heavy motor-vehicles employed for carrying, and in .soine cases also for hauling (motorlorries with or without trailers). Light road-locomotives licensed under the new Act. Heavy traction-engines of the type previously developed. Mechanically and electrically propelled tramcars. It will probably be simplest to deal with the development ei each of these classes separately [omitting the sections relating Extracts front a paper real before the Institution oi Automobile Engineers, at the Institution or Mechanical Engineers, on Friday, the 15th inst.
to cyclae, pleasure cars, traction engines and tramears.—En.1 as most of them have followed widely different lines in their svolution.
LIGHT AITIOHOHH.E. VEHICLES EMPLOYED IN PUBLIC SERVICE (Telmer/I-Cass).
Following the application of the internal-combustion engine to pleasure vehicles comes its application to public vehicles plying for hire, such as cabs, Several attempts to introduce this form of locomotion in London in the earlier' days of the Fig. 2.—New omnibuses licensed .in the Metropolitan area.
automobile industry proved abortive owing to the heavy first cost of the vehicles at that date, and to the excessive repairs they required, and largely to the want of experience on the part of both the designer and the user of the vehicle. Progress in the adoption of the motor-c,ah in London can be estimated very closely from the returns of licences issued. The diagram, Fig. 1, showing the number of new vehicles of this class licensed during the period of five years (1904-1909) sees out very clearly the growth which has taken place in this type of motor vehicle, and the decrease in the same period which has taken place in the horse-drawn vehicle. In 1904. 585 new horse-drawn cabs were licensed and only one new motor-cab was licensed—in 1908 only twenty-one new horsedrawn hansom cabs were liceneed (Or with four-wheelers fiftynine hi all), whereas 1,715 new motor-cabs were licensed, The total number of motor-cabs licensed in 1909, was 3,956. The motor-cab has proved so ram+ more expeditious than the horse-drawn cab, that the period at which these latter I/Chide a Will become practically obsolete in large towns is obviously close at hand.
MOTOR-VEHICLES EMPLOYEE) IN PUBLIC SERVICE
(MOTOR-OMNIBUSES).
The motor-omnibus has not followed along the same lines iii development as those taken by the motor-cab, The chassis of the motor-omnibus is of necessity of much heavier construction than that of the motor-call on account of the greater weight it has to carry. The total weight is, in fact, so great as to prohibit the use of the pneumatic tire, and to necessitate the use of solid rubber together with such constructional modifications in the framing and mechanism as have been found necessary to meet the conditions arising from less efficient cushioning of the unsprung weight. The motoromnibus has, in fact, more closely followed the lorry than the pleasure vehicle.
The rapidity of the development of these vehicles during the past five years is shown by the number of new vehicles licensed in London ; the figures are given in diagrammatic form in Fig. 2. Whereas seventy-eight new horse-omnibuses were licensed in 1905 only twenty new motor-omnibuses were licensed; the number of new horse-omnibuses licensed fell to two in 1907 and pone in 1908; the total number of motoromnibuses licensed in London in 1909 was 1,180.
Since the amalgamation of the three companies (Landon General Omnibus Company, the Vanguard., and the Road-Car Companies) the number of motor-omnibuses in service with their mileage is as follows:—
These figures give an average annual mileage of about 30,000 per motor-omnibus in 1908 and about 40,000 in 1909. There can be no doubt that the motor-omnibus services at the commencement suffered very badly from inexperienced managesilent. The fact that as many as 96 per cent. of the vehicles were kept in service on the rood was advertised and amcouraged, with disastrous results in frequency ci break
Fig. 3.—Showing the growing total of motorbuses owned by the Great Western Railway Co.
. I. wit and in the ultimelas cost of repairs. The figures above oeioted show the great improvement in inikage, as well as in liability, that can he effected by proper maintenance. Both ..steam and petrol-engines are employed on the motor-omnibuses in London; the number of steam-omnibuses is, however, :relatively small. One of the petrol-buses belonging to a Lundon company was slated to have travelled 148,100 miles up to 4th June, 1910.
The use of motor-omnibuses in London does not, however, give a fair indication of the widespread development of this mode of locomotion. Several of the railway companies have .adopted the motor-omnibus for service in places where their stations lie at, some distance from the towns they serve, and it, many eases they are employed where small outlying towns. otherwise devoid of regular communication, could not be :economically connected to the railway service by other means. Foremost among these companies is the Creat Western, Railway ; the development of motor traction by this railway ran be seen irons Fig. 3, which gives the total number of motor • omnibuses in use by it for each of the past six years. Motor • innilmses are also used by the Landon and North Western, elle Great North of Scotland, the Great Eastern, die North _Eastern, the Isindon a Del South Western, and the Cambrian
_Railways. Particulars of the services and mileage run by these enthilmees on the regular services are here eiven.
At present it is impossible to nbtain exact data as to the toted mileage run by the motor-omnibuses working these services ; the figures in the Table do not, take acemult of the mileage of duplicated omnibuses, nor do they show the lone distances covered by the summer services which on arms railways, and on the North Eastern in particular, are very great; nor is it possible to obtain data of costs of working at present. The author is of opinion that the average cost of werking these omnibuses, including wages of driver and conductor, fuel and oil, cleaning and waste, maintsnance and renewals—in fact, all running expenses, but not depreciation—will he found to be between 9.5 and 10.5 pence per mile.
The life of the tires on motor-omnibuses is generally guar
• anteed at 10,000 miles. The life of the omnibuses cannot. at present be ascertained, but it appears that with proper mainteeance and supervision, they remain in good working order and have a considerable life after six or seven years' service. These data are necessarily based on omnibuses of early design; the improvements which have since been made in accessibility and interchangeability of parts lead to the conclusion that the life of the later types will be considerably increased.
The railway services in many instances rest on a much less favourable basis than those of the omnibus compamies. The only railway motor-omnibus service approaching a town service in respect to the continued employment of the vehicles is that of the London and North Western Railway at Watford, in which the omnibuses seldom wait more than a few minutes oit the end of a trip. In general, these services are dependent on the arrival and departure of the railway trains to such an extent that long waits are involved with corresponding reduc 'don in the daily mileage of each omnibus. Some of the 'services again are run over extremely hilly and difficult • immary. Probably the worst read conditions encountered in • this country are those of the Llandyseil-New Quay route in Vales, which is worked by motor-omnibuses cf the Great 'Western Railway. The development of these vehicles has taken place rather more slowly than that of pleasure vehicles and motoromnibuses. The necessity for keeping down the weight of the vehicle has required the adoption of light construction resembling that of the chassis of the pleasure car, while, at the same time, the addition of the load has raised the total weight above that at which tho pneumatic tire can be economically employed. Hence a large amount of special experience was required to be obtained before the reliability of this type of vehicle could be assured.
One of the most important individual applications of this type of vehicle is that of the General Post Office, who have working under contract at the present time 120 vehicles in addition to six of their own; the number ale" of motor-vans 50 employed is growing. weekly. One large firm of general providers in London have eighty vans on the road, each averaging sixty miles per day, while another Lundon firm, i engaged n a similar businessaehave fifty-five vans running from seventy to one hundred miles per day.
The total number of trade vehicles coming under the Light Locomotives Act in the United Kingdom in September, 1909, is stated to have been 15,181, of which it is estimated about 8,700 were light delivery vans and 6,500 were lorries of three tons and upwards, with whivh are included light tractioneugines licensed under this Act, and, under the present method of -keeping the statistics of the registration, it appears to be impossible to separate the figures.
HEAvY MOTOR VEHICLES EMPLOYED FOR CARRYING isNi.o 1N SOME CASES ALSO FOR HAULING).
Of the figure of 6,500 light locomotives just quoted probably 5,000 are motor-lorries. Many of these are driven by petrolengines, but unlike the motor-omnibuses the majority are fitted with steam-engines. The slower speed of these vehicles and the greater permissible weight render the use of a tire-tube boiler possible. Of forty-two of these vehicles entered for a recent driving competition two were stated to have run 85,000 miles and upwards, and seventeen to have run 50,000 miles and upwards. With the lorries and heavier vehicles about [0,000 miles per annum appears to be the usual performance, while 25,000 miles per annum appears to be the maximum for the lighter commercial vehicles. Some of these vehicles belonging to carrying companies make trips of over two hundred miles from their base. Among the various uses of motor. lorries, apart from general carrying, may be noted their employment by Borough Councils for purposes connected with road-maintenance, scavenging, cleaning and watering..
TAGIIT TRACTION-ENGINES.
The light, traction-engines built for licensing wider the Light Locomotives Act are not so numerous; they find employment under a number of conditions where very bulky loads require to be hauled over comparatively easy country ; a typical case is the haulage of vegetable produce from the Thames Valley, west of London, to Covent Carden Market.
The Pgieisa;?,—The pedrail and other forms Of tractor de. signed for use across country cannot properly be considered as coming within the definition of read-uaing vehicles, and in the author's opinion they are outside the scope of the subject under investigation. Reduction in llorse-Troction.—It has been stated that in the last five years the lumber of horses stabled in London has fallen from 500,000 to 110,000. The decrease in horse-omnibuses, horse-trains and liars-cabs is, of course, responsible for a very largc reduction, because a stud of 10 to 12 horses was necessary for each horse-omnibus or horse-tram, and many of the sahs were imn by two horses each day. In the period 1903-8 about 2,500 horse-trams and omnibuses were taken off and during the same period about 2,700 two-wheel cabs. These together would account for 30,000 horses being taken off the road, and if the trade vehicles are taken into consideration probably 50,000 horses were taken off in this period for public service and trade purposes. Even allowing for the superseding of the private carriage by the motorcar, the author is ofTi■ pinion that the total reduction of horses is use in London has not greatly exceeded 100,000 in the past five years.
The author is of opinion that a very large proportion of the cartage in London is at present still almost unaffected by the change. The chief class unaffected is represented by the vehicles of small tradesmen, who at present cannot afford the capital outlay for the mechanical vehicle, or who work under conditions of so light a load for the horse, and so few running hours per diem, that a light motor-van with its driver would not be adequately employed. The horses used for these purposes are, however, largely recruited from the studs of the public service vehicles, and it is therefore probable that the diminution in the number of public service horsed vehicles will affect this class also.
The Auto-carrier.—For the rapid transport of light and compact goods a new class of three-wheeled vehicles has been developed. Some of these have already been adopted by railway companies for the rapid delivery of parcels. and it is obvious that their use is likely to extend to the handling of the parcels post. in emmtty districts as well as to many other purposes.
TRAFFIC REFORM.
The roads were originally constructed for purposes of locomotion. In many parts of the country the comparative disuse into which they fell, subsequently to the advent of the railway, has led to their being regarded rather as common land —useful as a recreation ground and an addition to the farm
yard. This is particularly well marked in those districts which most strenuously opposed the railway in its day. In many of these places the various clauhes of the Motor Act have been enforcei with vindictive severity, frequently mi.
fairly (in the case of somc towns the convictions haveamounted to 100 per cents), and occasionally with the obvious and avowed intention of reducing the rates. Those places which opposed the railway were at later dates glad to obtain the tardy recognitien of a branch line, and these which to-day act similarly to the motor-vehicle will suffer subsequently in loss of trade and in the depreciation of property values.
The ability to obtain the imposition of speed limits, under
she powers the Local Government 'Board, upon roads considered dangerous, has in many (;i:ieS led to the adoption if thsss limits as a means for further persecution of the mechanically propelled vehicle. It is the author's opinion that in no one ease can a hard and fast speed limit be any aid to ensuring at Fig. 4.—Total cost of maintenance, cleansing, scavenging and watering roads in London.
In many of the large towns, and particularly in London, no praise can be too high for the manner in which the policeregulate the traffic at the crossings of main streets and at certain difficult points. The spirit of obedience to the signals is obvious in all the drivers, and it, is 881(1001 that any breach of the regulations occurs, lint althoush this is the case at the important crossings the same praise cannot be given to the manner in which the effective area of the streets is wasted between these points. Although the camber of the main streets has been considerably reduced with the improvemute effected in the paving, the heavy, slow, horse-drawn wagon is still permitted to use the most important. thoroughfares during the busy hours of the day. and in so doing causes quite unnecessary congestion of the traffic both by its slowness and its failure to keep close to the kerb.
In the centre of London, near the Bank of England, land kw a very high valuewhen covered with buildings. On would think that the time of the people paying such rents was of proportionate value and that for this reason alone the road outside their doers should be kept as clear and tree from obstruction as the corridors and passages within, and that the traffic should be accelerated as far as possible.
Linder the present regulations speed is considered a crime, hut obstruction, so long as it does not take the form of absolute stoppage, is encouraged indirectly, The author is of opinion that a complete reversal of these conditions is 41e,srublk in this respect to those streets having the heaviest traffic. and that DO vehicle be allowed in them during the busy hours of the day, unless capable, when hilly loaded, of more than a definite minimum speed.
The total number of public service vehicles of each class licensed in London at the end of each of the past six years is shown in Fig. 5. This number is not that of the vehicles actually in service at those dates, because. owing to various causes, some vehicles are licensed more than once in the same ar. Th-se causes are, however, fairly constant in character and the form of the curves, and hence time rate of increase or decrease in the total number of vehicles is but little affected. From these diagrams it appears that, the various public service horsed vehicles in London will become extinct as follows; but in the question involved there are so many and
con%lietinp. factors that it would not be prudent to speak dogmatically ;—the horse-tramcar at the end of 1912 the horse-omnibus at the end of 1913; the hansom cab at the end of 1913 ; the four-wheel horse-cab before the end of 1921.
It is remarkable that of these slow and obstructive yehiclo one of the worst offenders should have so long a probable lif. One rea.son which tends to keep the four-wheel horsecab in service is its ability to deal with larger quantities of lar■gage than can be managed by the motor-cab. The extinction of the type might be accelerated in two ways: either 101 by the introduction of motorcabs of greater luggage-carrying capacity, say something intermediate between the present private railway omnibus and the ordinary " taxi" :or (b) by improved facilities for the handling of passengers' luggage, ud rapid delivery at destination, under some system
,rialogotts to that ruling in the United States. The plan adopted by many of the railway companies of collecting and ticlivering luggage in advance is much to be encouraged. Again. the facilities fur handling luggage in the tubes and • qter underground railways itt London, are so meagre that a -system of transport of luggage by express motorvan froni one mailway terminus to another would greatly facilitate the moveiaents of passengers passing through the metropolis.
CONCLUSIONS.
In the author'e opinion the extinction, by the end of 1913, of all public service horsed vehicles except the four-wheeled ,-.113 in London, and the almost entire superseding of the iiorse-carriage by the private motorcar should render it possible to apply the same rules to horse-vehicles and other slow traffic as now apply to driven cattle and to traction-engines busy thiiroagbfares in _Loudon. That is to say, horsed vhicJ a of cortaia classes, and slow motor.vehicles, should not h., allowed on busy streets within certain hours ; the limits-b-dis should he based on a rs;itiaircht. speed and settled in cuss of horse. vehicles by the maximum gross load hauled
'horse. The regulations affecting traffic iii narrow streets should provide as far as possible for the Ilse of these streets in one direction only when so constricted that two vehicles cannot pass easily.
Obstruction caused by vehicles standing at the roadside should be diminished further than is at preseut done. The turning of motor vehicles in busy streets should be discouraged; if a good minimum speed be maintained the loss of time occasioned in traversing the extra distance involved in running round a block of buildings would be small.
The obstruction caused by vehicles not keeping within a limited distance from the kerb should be investigated fully, as this appears to the author to be one of the most serious causes of loss of time in consequence of the reduction in the number of streams of traffic that arises therefrom.
The conclusions which can be drawn from the congested condition of the Landon streets to-day apply similarly to other large cities, and whatever changes may he adapted by London will be considered by other great centres of traffic, such as Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, etc. ; and whatever rules and regulations are found feasible and efficacious in large cities will, mutai;.3 auritandi,, be found applicable to smaller towns and ultimately to country roads.