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THE STEAM-WAGON DEMONSTRATION

27th September 1927
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Page 51, 27th September 1927 — THE STEAM-WAGON DEMONSTRATION
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Adoption of "The Commercial Motor's" Scheme for an Official Parade of Steam Wagons Through the Chief Industrial Districts of Lancashire and Yorkshire.

m/TE were able in our issue of last week to announce the fact that the Steam Vehicle Committee of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders had considered and approved a suggestion contained in an editorial article in the issue of The Commercial Motor for August 2nd that a demonstration run of steam wagons should be promoted. We were pleased to receive the news officially through the secretary to the committee, because we had feared that the makers • were likely to be too busily engaged in their preparations for the forthcoming Shows to be able to spare the staff that would be required to share in the organization of the demonstration and to take part in it. In a measure this difficulty really exists, and Th,e Commercial Motor was asked if it could co-operate with the committee in the preliminary work and in the conduct of the event. We have to confess that we, too, shall be fully occupied for most of the waking hours between now and the close of the Commercial Motor Show, but we have been fortunate in being able to secure the services of a gentleman known to the industry (but in no Way connected therewith) who has had experience in the conduct of heavy motor trials. He is already engaged on the detail work of the demonstration, and the makers of steam wagons have received a brief outline of the scheme under which the run will be conducted, and have been asked for their criticisms. It is expected that the Steam Vehicle Committee will meet again this week to discuss details.

The most pressing matters that will come up for consideration are (1) the length of the' route and its course, and (2) the number of days to be devoted to it: There are conflicting factors here. The first desire is

17314 that the vehicles should be driven over a course in 183%

Lancashire, Yorkshire and the Eastern Midlands in order to touch the chief industrial centres where heavy loads are the rule rather than the exception. To cover the towns of Liverpool, Wigan, Preston, Blackburn, Burnley, Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield, • 271% Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham, Leicester and

64% 336 Northampton on the way to London would involve a

journey of 336 miles. To cover this distance at a reasonable speed and to allow time for the vehicles to halt at each of the towns for inspection by users and potential users would entail, at, say, 80 miles per day, four days of running.

The second desire, however, is to keep the whole of the proceedings within the compass of a week. One day (the Monday) would be occupied in reaching the starting place; it is intended that thevehicles shall be available for display near Olympia for half a day (or, if possible, a day), which would absorb the whole or part of the Friday, and Saturday would be occupied in the homeward journey. This would leave but the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for the run, and it would defeat the object of the affair if it were attempted tO cover 110 miles per day, as, in doing so, no time would be available for useful stops in the towns.

Four Suggested .Itineraries.

We set out here the alternative itineraries which will be proposed to the committee, and we indicate them in the accompanying sketch maps. Itineraries Nos. I and II each embrace the whole of the towns contained in the original suggestion, and each would occupy 31, days. Itinerary No. I takes the vehicles to Leeds at the end of' the first day with a total distance Of 95i, miles; to Chesterfield at the close of the second day, the distance covered being 90 miles; to Northampton on the third day (86 miles), leaving 641 miles to e30.

be traversed on the fourth day, which should not be 'too great a distance, but should permit the vehicles to reach Olympia soon after the lunch hour.

Itinerary No. IT is a slight modification of No. I in that the stop at the end of the first day is Bradford, with a distance of 86 miles, which would give about an extra hour for the intermediate stops in the important industrial towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire. The second day's run of 871 miles would take the vehicles to Sheffield, and the third day's run would, for display purposes, finish at Market liarborough (80i. miles). Then it is proposed to put in a couple of extra hours' running and reach Northampton (174 miles farther on) for the night, so that vehicles would be available for inspection there first thing in the morning, again leaving only the 641 miles to be covered in order, to reach London on the fourth day.

A Route Involving Shorter Mileage.

Itinerary No. HI cuts out the important towns of Wigan, Chorley, Preston, Blackburn and Burnley, and shortens the total distance by 50 miles, and more time is available for display in the towns traversed on the first two days. Thus, the first day's run would be via Manchester and Huddersfield to Halifax 68 miles, and the second day's run to Chesterfield 621miles. The third day would be a fuller one as Northampton is 86 miles away, and here again the Friday morning would have to be included in order that London should he reached.

There is an alternative to the proposal that London should be the objective of the run and that is that the vehicles slould remain for the four days in the industrial distr cts and that they should not be brought

ii

farther south t Ian, say, Manchester.

Itinerary No IV is based upon this suggestion, and it will be seen that it covers very completely the industrial centre of Lancashire and Yorkshire in four whole days, e ch of which calls for but a moderate mileage, namelr 85-1 miles on the first day, 54.i. miles on the second day, 31 miles on the third day and 53 miles on th fourth day. The number and length of the stops can thus be increased, which would be a material advantage, the countervailing losses being the visit to the Midland towns and the display at Olympia.

Itinerary No. IV has been worked out in fuller detail to show the stopping periods and the starting and finishing hours. The morning and evening parades being of considerable importance, it is not, as a rule, advisable to start away before 10 o'clock in the morning.

Full particulars Of the demonstration will be given in Tire Commercial Motor, and they are being distributed to the Press of the country in order to secure the fullest publicity for the event.


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