The Motor Omnibus World.
Page 4
Page 5
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Ignition is the subjc.,ct down for discussion at the next general meeting of the Soc. NI .0. Eng., which will be held at the Hotel Cecil on Monday, the t3th proximo. Mr. F. C. .1. Coventry yill take the chair.
The action of the Mersey Railway Company in purchasing motor omnibuses has stirred members of the Birkenhead Town Council to the point of applying for Parliamentary powers to enable them to operate similar vehicles. Messrs. The Union Transit Company, 8o-84, James Watt Street, Glasgow, are willing to co-operate with any capitalists or others who may wish to go into the matter of beginning a motor omnibus service in Glasgow. The partners in this firm, Messrs. William Dalziel and David Futton, have had great experience as general carriers and shipping agents, hence their readiness to deal with goods transport as well if required.
The occasional breakdowns of motor omnibuses by the roadside in London, due to mishaps, involve considerable loss of time very frequently and reduce the earning powers of the rolling stock. We think that companies would do well to let each omnibus carry a suitable length of stout wire cable, as that is the only satisfactory medium for towing purposes when such weights are involved. The St. Helen's Cable Company, Limited, of St. Helens, Lancashire, manufacture suitable wire ropes for this purpose.
The London Motor Omnibus Co., Ltd,, successfully resisted a claim brought against them at the Marylebone County Court last week by a cab proprietor named Fairbanks, who alleged that his cab was badly smashed through the anxiety of the defendant company's motor driver_ to pass it. The 'accident happened on May 31st in the Charing Cross Road. This decision, taken in conjunction with those reported by us on page 68 ante, proves that London magi& trates are strictly judicial. We are sorry to detect signs of speculation in shares of the London Motor Omnibus Co., Ltd. Such movements foreshadow preparation,: for the issue of now capital, but it is much too soon to see quotations of r2 in the lists. The receipts of the London Road Car Co., Ltd., from July ist to the week ending October nith were j.;1,317 rod, in excess of the total for the corresponding period of last year. The company now has thirty-nine motor omnibuses on the streets of London.
The London County Council is in worse trouble with its river steamers than with its tramcars. The receipts, to date, are only 4-.24,000 compared with an estimate of L93,500. The weekly wages bill on the steamers is L:994, whilst the takings have fallen to less than The Vienna Municipal Council has decided upon connecting Vienna and Ebersdorf by means of electromotor omnibus line with overhead feeding scale. Horse-drawn vehicles travel too slowly for the stretch, and it would not pay to Ear down train-lines. Self-contained motor omnibuses would, in our opinion, be better still.
Mr. G. Conaty, manager of the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Co., Ltd., answered a summons at the local police court, on Thursday last, for that " being the proprietor of an omnibus plying for hire in Broad Street, he failed to have the same in good order and repair, the tyre being off the near front wheel." The case was dismissed on payment of ss. costs.
The service of Chelmsford steam omnibuses that is operated by the Vale of Llangollen Engineering Bus and Garage Co., Ltd., has recently been extended between Oswestry and Llanymynech one day a weekThe new route includes Drill, Llynclys, and Pant, but it is only served on Saturdays under present arrangements. There is a strong local demand for greater travelling facilities.
Motor Omnibus World—contd.
The Chiswick Urban District Council has referred the question of instituting a motor omnibus service to its works comm ittee.
Mr. George Pollard, general manager of the Birmingham Motor Express Co., Ltd., has accepted the appointment as deputy chief engineer to the London Motor Omnibus Co., Ltd. He will have charge of the second depot.
The new motor factory that is under construction near Guildford by Dennis Brothers, Limited, will enable this company to turn out ten commercial vehicles a week, beginning early in the new year.
The Aldershot Town Council has sanctioned the necessary expenditure for a sub-committee of the council to visit several towns in connection with the proposal to undertake a motor omnibus service between Aldershot and Farnborough.
The Ryknield Engine Co., Ltd., advises us that the motor omnibuses on order from the Burton Works for the Leeds Corporation will be completed at a very early date. The first of these will probably be in Leeds on Saturday of this week, as its tests were completed on Wednesday last.
W. S. Laycock, Limited, of Victoria Works, Millhouses, Sheffield, and 77a, Queen Victoria Street, E.C., whose trade in railway carriage fitzings is probably the largest in Great Britain, is now doing a flourishing business in similar fit. tings suitable for motor omnibuses.
Mr. Sidney E. Garcke writes front the Normandy Hotel, Paris, in reference to our editorial of lagt week on the subject of drivers for public services, to inform us that the British Automobile Development Co., Ltd., is organising a special department at its Loughborough works for the training of drivers.
Mors Limited, of 55-59, Shaftesbury Avenue, W., has completed a contract for the sale of two hundred 24h.p. Mors omnibus chassis to the Motor Car Emporium, Ltd., of t, Addison Road North, London. We travelled a considerable distance in and on one of these vehicles during the French commercial trials at the end of July, when we found the running very satisfactory. The hill-climbing powers were particularly good, and the motion of the vehicle smooth.
We mentioned that the Leyland omnibuses had been withdrawn from the Surbiton-Richmond-Ealing route, and that they would appear in a few days in an entirely new district. It was the intention of the New London Suburban Omnibus Company to put these motor omnibuses on Kingsway immediately after the official opening, but as the road was blocked by the &bris of the pavilion it was impossible to start the service until Sunday last. The company is now running a mmin. service, with four Leyland omnibuses, between Chalk Farm and the Law Courts, via Camden Town, Seymour Road, Southampton Row, and Kingsway. The vehicles seem to be crowded nearly every journey, and the new route should prove more remunerative than the outside line where they have hitherto been employed. These omnibuses are garaged at Shepherd's Bush, and they make a journey in the morning from Hammersmith to the Law Courts, and in the reverse direction the last thing at night. This late trip provides a convenient theatre service.