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Bird's Eye
Page 61
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v levy BY THE HAWK
Working Showpiece
BACK went the clock at a spanking trot in Leeds when this newly built horse-drawn removals van left the yard of motor bodybuilders E. K. Stokell and Co. Ltd. of Leeds for the depot of Hamilton Removals. Stoke]] also build the bodies of Hamilton's motor vehicles.
I understand that horse and van are both booked to appear at shows in various parts of the country and will then return to Leeds to combine publicity jaunts with actual removals work.
The van was built to a late 19th century design which necessitated the construction of a special ash-framed undercarriage— in the absence of the now conventional chassis—shaped and dressed in the style of the 'eighties. Main departures from the original type are: aluminium-faced Plymax body panelling, a onepiece domed fibre glass roof, electric wiring, and telescopic springs on the rear door. The body is 14ft. 6in. long, 7ft. wide and has an inside height of 7ft. The artistic Hamilton "teamwork" trade mark at the rear was the work of Stokell's own signwriter.
Taken for a Ride
SOMEONE (and family and friends, perhaps) is rolling out his own free bus tickets in Leicester: Barton Transport Ltd. has reported the theft of a ticket machine from its mobile booking office there.
Paying Proposition
THE Ceylon Transport Board has been losing—on average— the staggering figure of £3,000 a day in uncollected (or misappropriated) fares. And CTB conductors in the past two months have been involved in 740 cases of fraud, most of which concerned "manipulation" of ticket machines. Did the CTB sack the offenders? No. It paid them a handsome bonus—for expert advice on how to design foolproof ticket machines, 1,500 of which have been ordered!
Up in the Air
FLYING high . . . that's 35-year-old Douglas Smith, managing director of D. M. Smith, the Strathaven hauliers, and director of the Wishaw firm of that name. Eighteen months ago he bought a four-seater plane to learn to fly. "But I wasn't using it a great deal," he told me, "so I found some work for it." He lent it to Cumberland Aviation Services' a Carlisle flying school which trains cadets for scholarships. Then he bought another two planes and formed a company—Douglas Air. Now he has eight Cessnas—all stationed at Carlisle for the use of Cumberland Aviation Service.
Passing Through
ST. CHRISTOPHER, we know, is the patron saint of travellers—not transport. And now I know why the Ministry of Transport named Barbara's castle—the MoT London headquarters—St. Christopher House. My clue came in the address of Public Transport Association chairman W. Morris Little to the annual conference in Folkestone. Perhaps, he suggested, the backlog of outstanding regulations was due to the fact that there was an almost continuous procession of people through the offices of the MoT. "We have met a very large number of likeable and able people inside the four walls of St. Christopher House," he said. "The trouble is they change far too often."
Ah, well. They do say travel broadens the mind.
Hats off
ONE of the fashion fascinations of bus travel will shortly disappear—those Scottish Bus Group conductresses' hats, twisted and pinned into many weird and wonderful shapes by their clippie owners, in the interest of haute couture. It's even been known for the crown to be cut away to accommodate a carefully shaped pony tail. Now those skipped hats, unchanged since conductresses were first employed by SBG some 30 years ago, are being replaced by a new "air hostess" hat. And the hats might be followed by a new uniform.
Yorker!
RK Trailer vouches for the truth of this one. Seems the company received this letter from a Ministry of Transport employee —a vehicle examiner:
"I would much appreciate it if you could let me have two copies of your current publication on 'Braking Regulations' as this obviously is much simpler to interpret than our own official regulations."
What Offers?
AFAITHFUL reader who has been taking COMMERCIAL MOTOR since it started in March 1905 tells me he has a complete set of volumes 1 to 16 to dispose of. Before enthusiasts, researchers and librarians come rushing to my door, let me advise them to contact the gentleman direct. He is Mr. L. Reynolds of 10 Dunkeld Road, London, S.E.25.
Hop on a . . .
MICE tale by Sir Robert Cary (LUT's chairman) at thePTA I Conference. His little grand-daughter goes to school in Kensington. Her classmates arrive by Rolls, by Bentley and the Ike. She rolls up on a bus. The others asked her why.
Because (says she) I'm the only one who can afford to travel by bus. A born publicist for the public transport industry.