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The Motor Omnibus World.

4th January 1906
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Page 2, 4th January 1906 — The Motor Omnibus World.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

A motor omnibus company has just been formed in Munich with an authorised capital of Z25,000. Dennis Brothers, Limited, has so much work in hand that it will be necessary to work night shifts at the Guildford factory during the whole of 1906. Mr. Douglas Maeken/ie is advising the Clacton Motor Omnibus Company, amongst others, in reference to certain proposed schemes for public passenger services. It is announced that the Great Eastern Railway Company has discontinued certain motor omnibus services in Suffolk and Essex for a few weeks, to allow of the overhaul and repair of the vehicles at the Stratford shops.

The Deal, Dover, and Folkestone Motor Omnibus Company, Limited, has been registered with an authorised capital of ;65,000 in 4;1 shares by Alfred H. Atkins, Limited, of 27, Fetter Lane, E.C.

The Maudslay omnibus, which was exhibited at Olympia, has recently been put into service by the Scottish Motor Traction Company, Limited, and residents in the Roslin, Loanhead, Dalkeith, and Newtongrange districts are highly pleased with the facilities thus afforded. The North Eastern Railway Company has put a motorbus in service between Thirsk Station and the town, a dis

tance of i miles. There are very many towns in the -United Kingdom where, owing to the opposition of the inhabitants during the railway era, 70 years ago, similar services would be highly appreciated and most remunerative to their organisers.

Two 2 4h. p . 32-seated Wolseley omnibuses recently completed a road trip from the Birmingham works to Mussel

burgh, near Edinburgh, and these machines promise to give every satisfaction to their purchasers, the Musselburgh Electric Tramway Company. They have been put in service between the eastern terminus of the MusseIburgh tramway system (Levenhall) and Tranent, a distance of 3i miles.

The trial trip, which was supported by the provost of Musselburgh and various members of the local council, occu pied only 17 minutes. It is apparent, from expressions of local opinion which have reached us, that the service is regarded as introductory to tramway extensions, and that the present uses of the motorbuses to feed the Edinburgh cable tramways, and to serve as a connecting link between the two systems named, will not necessarily be permanent. Major Leonard Darwin, in moving the adoption of the tith annual report of the Palmer Tyre, Limited, intimated that the company had concluded a new agreement for management with the Indiarubber, Guttapercha, and Telegraph Works Company, Limited; under which a minimum royalty of 45,000 would be payable to the Palmer Tyre, Limited, for about 14 years. For the twelve months under review, it amounted to 46,753 145. 4d. The capital of the

company had been increased from £48,000 to 46o,000, in order to complete the purchase of certain valuable patent netts in connection with motor tyres, and he (the chairman) had every reason to anticipate, from experience gained.,

in the past, that the company would be in a position to place motor tyres on the market which would, during the next few months, prove the most economical in use of any to be obtained from the various firms competing at the present time for this rapidly-increasing business. The report and accounts were unanimously adopted. The Birkenhead Corporation has filed an application for the injunction to restrain the Mersey Railway Company from continuing its motorbus services. The hearing will come on, in the Chancery Division, at as early a date as can be fixed.

An inquest was held in Croydon, on Tuesday of last week, concerning the death of Ernest Hook, a trainer of motor drivers for the London and District Motorbus Company. The man fell from a chassis on December 17th, and was fatally injured. The evidence was to the effect that there were live learners on the vehicle at the time of the accident. A temporary seat had been arranged for the driver, and deceased was standing on the step. The car gave a sudden jolt, and 'look lost his balance. He caught hold of the back of the seat to save himself, but it gave way. He then fell to the ground, and the hind wheel passed over him. Mr. Russell, traffic manager of the company, stated that deceased was foreman instructor, and was responsible for the condition of the motor carriage : he had taken it out on his own responsibility on the Sunday in question. Mr. George Bullock, assistant mechanical engineer to the company, said that the car was being used temporarily while a special lorry for training drivers was being built. A verdict of " Accidental Death " was returned.

Following the paragraph which appeared in our issue of November 9th, we hear from a correspondent that the Great Western Railway Company has for some time had in contemplation the establishment of a motor omnibus service giving greatly improved travelling and postal conveniencesbetween their Moretonliampstead Station and Chagford, hut in consequence of the very unsatisfactory character of the road, which in places is not wide enough for even two ordinary vehicles to pass one another, they have hesitated to put it inio operation. There is no doubt that Chagford, which is a beautiful health resort on Dartmoor, would greatly benefit by improved means of communication with the outside world, as it is at present some six miles front the railway. The road is controlled by two separate councils, both of whom admit that it urgently needs widening and other improvements, to adapt it for even the present traffic, but while one is prepared to do what is necessary, the other repudiates liability, and seeks to make the County Council responsible. The latter body will not agree to bear more than half the cost of the work, and consequently matters remain at a dead-lock, and the project for the improved facilities is therefore still in abeyance. A better example of the troubles engendered by the present chaotic. state of our road administration can hardly be imagined!

The keen frost, which is making itself felt all over the country, is no inducement to passengers to ride outside buses, and more particularly the speedy motorbuses, on the top of which one feels the sharp air penetrate through the protecting overcoat right to the marrow in one's bones. On the other hand, the excellent work it does in drying and cleaning the streets is a distinct advantage to the motorbus. The treacherous grease on the asphalt roads gives place to a surface over which a greatly accelerated speed can be maintained, and the increased stability of the bus, in the absence of anything in the nature of side-slip, is bound to do much in giving to the bus-travelling public a still greater confidence in the new form of .locomotion that is displacing s ) rapidly the old horse-drawn vehicles. Wet or dry, the herse-drawn bus seems to sway and bump about in the same way : it is a delightful experience to sit on the practically vibrationless motorbus as it forges its way steadily ahead through the mass of traffic in the narrow streets.

Members and associates of the Society of Motor Omnibus Engineers are reminded of the meeting to be held at 7.30 p.m., at the Hotel Cecil, on Monday next, the 8th instant, when an important discussion will take place. Mr. F. C. 1. Coventry, chairman of the Society, will preside.

It is to be regretted that the various companies operating motor omnibuses do not seem to have arranged that their vehicles should adhere to the scheduled times. On the Putney-Charing Cress route, particularly, would-be passengers have often considerable periods to wait for motorbuses, and, when tired of standing on the kerb, jump on to a horsed bus, only to find that they are presently passed by four or five mechanical vehicles in quick succession. The writer has seen five buses, three belonging to one company, and two to another, in Indian file, proceeding along the Fulham Road.

We illustrate one of two steam buses, the chassis of which have been built by Clarkson, Limited, of Chelmsford, to the order of the Railway Commissioners Department of the New South Wales Government. The shipment of these vehicles was announced in our pages some time ago.

The inhabitants of Sydney and district have for some time felt the necessity of some quicker means of transit from one point to another than that supplied by horse traction, and the fact that motorbuses are running economically and satisfactorily in other parts of the world no doubt has hastened their introduction in this particular centre. Both of the vehicles have single-deck bodies, which have been built by Messrs. Angus and Sons, of Newtown. The chassis are the standard type built by Clarkson, Limited, and are fitted with engines of 25h.p. The speed of the bus is normally about twelve miles per hour, but on a fairly level road this can be raised to 25 miles per hour. The first trial run was most successful, and we quote the following from the " Sydney Morning Herald" : " At all times there appeared to be plenty of power available when required. The absence of jerky movement is a peculiar feature of steam cars, which, unlike petrol vehicles, do not depend upon clutches to alter their speed, but rather on the amount of available steam given to the engine. A remarkable thing in connection with yesterday's trial run was the easy handling of the models. On rough roads the cars steered and turned corners with ease, which is a remarkable fact, considering their great length."

In accordance with our previous intimation, Clarkson, Limited, has received a further order for two more chassis, which are to be fitted with double-deck bodies capable of carrying 25 persons inside and 35 outside.

The adjoining illustration is reproduced from "The Town and Country Journal."


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