OPINIONS FROM OTHERS.
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[2688] Sir,—Having carefully read the article in The Commercial Motor for June 26th, re "Old Vehicles and New," I am pleased to see some support for the fleet owner with a small purse, and from my own experience I agree with your correspondent Mr. Talbot's statements. I have charge of a fleet which started with four steamers and three petrol vehicles about four years ago. It now totals 13 steamers and trailers and seven petrol lorries, each vehicle in the first place having been bought second-hand. These machines have been run six days to the week on all classes of work, and nearly all small repairs have had to be done at the finish of the day's work.
For complete overhauls, however, the machines, one at a time, are withdrawn from service for a period of about three weeks to a month. The staff, consisting of one mechanic, one apprentice, and one labourer, carries out the necessary'work, it being understood that all spare parts which it is known will absolutely be needed have been procured beforehand.
I may mention amongst the above one Sentinel steam wagon which has 16 years to its credit; the other 12 average 12 years each and the petrol vehicles nine years each. Therefore, as the fleet keeps growing and the demand is for more wagons, it proves in my estimation that, with careful attention to all details and a certain amount of foresight, it is possible to maintain and run a fleet of vehicles, to pay trade union rates and to earn a fair profit—Yours faithfully, Manchester. W. HAnarsoisi.
The &War, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[2689] Sir,—I have read with great interest S.T.R.'s article on new and old vehicles, which appeared in your issue dated June 26th, also the reply from Mr. C. B. Talbot in, the July 3rd issue. I certainly agree that a life period should be arrived at before replacing a fleet with new vehicles. Many points arise, however. During 1916 and 1928 there have been great improvements in design. NOW, if a fleet of vehicles be kept going by continually replacing worn-out parts by new genuine spares, stagnation may be encouraged, because no use is being made of the better means for transport which are being provided.
It is through a similar lack of foresight that the railway companies are in the difficult position in which they find themselves to-day. One may almost look upon the question as a national one, for it is essential not to stand still by renovating old stock. It is true that it can often be overhauled and renovated to look like new and possibly the returns and profits are equal to those obtained with up-to-date plant, but my longstanding experience is that it encourages maintenance engineers who pursue this practice to dabble in the purchase of second-hand vehicles which have really already served their useful term of life.
My policy would be to give the life of a vehicle as eight years and to replace it by a new model of similay manufacture unless there be good grounds for changing the make. Advancement is a sign of business health; to stand still and "to make do" is essentially bad practice.—Yours faithfully, Cricklewood. W. 0. KENT.
The Position of the Tramways.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[2690] Sir,—It is difficult to understand the meaning of the statement that expansion of rolling stock would be impossible in the present state of tramways. The majority of the larger undertakings in this country pay quite well and in many cases considerable slims are contributed to the relief of the rates.
Moreover, the position is improving, and of the returns for 64 undertakings given in the "Tramway World" of June 14th, 1928, 42 show a considerable in'crease in receipts, the others being practically stationary or showing a decrease. The average amount of the increase is much greater than that of the decrease.
During the last few years many towns have introduced new and improved rolling stock. A complete list would be very long, but in 15 towns, I can call to mind, about 800 new cars have recently been put into service or are on order.
The fact is that tramway men are beginning to realize that, with 25-year-old cars, they cannot hope to compete with a modern bus, nor is such a comparison at all fair.
In addition to improving rolling stock, many systems are at the present time extending their tracks.
The deficiency on the L.C.C. tramways is due to the fact that municipalities have to repay their capital. within 60 years and, as the cost of constructing a conduit system is very great, heavy debt charges are entailed each year. There is, however, no working loss on the London tramways and the surplus on working is in the neighbourhood of £500,000-£600,000 each yeLr. Against the deficiency charged to the county rate must, as was stated in the editorial in The Commercial Motor for July 24th, be set the fact that each year the trains contribute £116,782 to local rates and save the ratepayers 1232,500 on road maintenance. Taking everything into account the ratepayers gain financially by the presence of the trams.
It would be interesting to know the average working costs of a six-wheeled bus with seating capacity equal to that of a tramcar. On the L.C.C. tramways, the running costs of a 70-80-seated car have been got down to 12.55d. per car mile.
The position of the London tramways is improving, as the following figures show The case of Walthainstow seems remarkable in view of the small size of the system and the total receipts, the amounts for the weeks in question being £1,638 and £2,738—an increase of 67 per cent. —Yours faithfully, London, S.W. A. C. FITZGERALD.
Lining Broken Cylinders.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[2691] Sir,—The article concerning cylinder liners which was contained in your issue for July 17th was particularly interesting to us as it confirmed the experience of this company. You were good enough to mention in 'The Commercial Motor dated March 20th, 1928, how a Scarnmell cylinder had been treated by us in this way. We have also fitted liners to many other makes of engine, and find that this is the most satisfactory method of dealing with bores which have been broken through various causes.
The process is not confined to commercial engines, as we recently saved a block of six cylinders belonging to a racing car, in which a Connecting rod broke c43 'while the vehicle was on the track and tore away nearly a half of the bore.—Yours faithfully,
[2692] Sir,-1 must say, honestly, that the article on page 749 of The Commercial Motor for July 17th, 1928, is the best I have ever read in reference to Problems of the Haulier and Carrier. One would like to see a few thousands of reprints of this page distributed about amongst those at whom the article is directed. I, myself, aim to give a good service and promptitude with a mechanic-driver and a good vehicle. But it is a hard enough task to get good orders when so many are running lorries at any price so long as they secure the job.
I treat my driver as a mate, as it were, and if ever any troubles arise we confer one with another and soon settle anything amicably. If only more employers would treat men as human beings there would be less competition, and everybody would try to work for the common good.—Yours faithfully,
Devizes. GEO. C. BOYCE.
[2693] Sir,—As the forward control type of chassis is gaining favour with the large passenger-transport undertakings, it is rather surprising to Me that, although the bodywork of motorbuses is of a very high standard, the various licensing authorities are quite content with the present designs, bearing in mind these facts
(1) That, in the event of the driver (who, after all, is only human) collapsing at the wheel, no one can gain access to the controls.
(2) That an emergency door on the off side, which is certainly a very great convenience, should not be deemed an absolute necessity.
It would appear to be quite an easy matter to rectify these faults in design by leaving off the portion of the front panel (that is, at the back of the driver) altogether and supplying the driver with a tip-up seat. It would then not be difficult for the conductor to gain access to the controls in the former case, whilst in the latter case the driver's door on the off side could be used as an emergency door.—Yours faithfully,
Derby. E. NAYLOR.