NARRATIVES OF THE INDUSTRY.
Page 19
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The Evolution of the Prominent Concerns in the British Commercial Vehicle Industry which Have Made History by the Pursuit of a Progressive Policy.
J. AND E. HALL, LTD.
TDartford Ironworks, where Hartford commercial HE 1 vehicles are produced to-day by J. and E. Hall, Ltd., possess associations and traditions which the march of time has made historic, for it was as long ago as 1785 that John Hall laid the early foundations of the company who now rank among the foremost makers of heavy motor vehicles for goods haulage. This was in the days when Dartford was a typical sleepy English hamlet and the main interests of the inhabitants were agricuftural; but, shorn of its rustic aim• plicity, the town has become a hive of industrial endeavour, in which the activities of J. and E. Hall, Ltd., figure very prominently.
The Dartford Ironworks were built two years after John Hall commenced in business for himself; and the presentday energies of the company are conducted on the same site, although the wcrks have naturally been reconstructed and modernized, .0 far as their layout and equipment are concerned, in ofibr to secure the utmost efficiency and economy in production. In the curse of a century and a half the works have passed through a strange metamorphosis and have expanded out of all recognition as the ramifications of the company have widened.
The founder of the business died in the year 1836, about which time the first trunk engines ever made were designed and built at the Dartford Ironworks, and is pair of 60-in. beam engines, fitted with surface condensers, were subsequently installed in the s.s. " Wilberforce." The two sons of John Hall then assumed control of the business, but Edward Hall, the last surviving member of the family directly connected with the original business, died in 1877, and two years later it passed into the hands of the present senior director of the company. About this period the problems connected with refrigeration were receiving attention, and tho Giffard cold-air machine, which Was exhibited at the International Exhibition held in Paris, was brought over to this country. In 1888 the company introduced carbonic anhydride refrigerating plant, and for many years they stood alone in this field of manufacture.
Experiments with machines of this description continued to be Made, arid at a later date the production of ammonia compression refrigerating plant was embarked upon, and these two systems of cold storage owe much of their success and present-day popularity to the early efforts of J. and E. Hall, Ltd. It may not be generally known that the 'construction of machines of this class still oceupies a preeminent position in the productive activity of the company. In considering the fact that the first Hallford commercial vehicle was built in the year 1906 due weight must be attached to the company's earlier e3perienc.e in general engineering, for the knowledge thus acquired proved of the utmost value in their new sphere of enterprise, and the immediate success of their goods-carrying vehicles must, to a marked extent, be attributed to this i.inportant factor. That these early models were sound in design and workmanship can hardly be denied when it is recalled that the vehicle which the company entered in the International Trials organized by the Royal Automobile Club in 1907 not only gained the gold medal in its own particular class—the highest honour awarded in the competition—but the judges showed their appreciation of the remarkable performance of the Hallford cubicle, as compared with the other contestants, by issuing a special diploma as a definite mark of recognition, albeit it was not originally intended that an individual machine should be singled out for special praise. Points which were considered in this connection were reliability, accessibility, absence of wear and tear, cost of running, etc.
By accepting this information at its true worth it is simple to understand the reason why the company's motor vehicles have, with certain exceptions, changed so little since their introduction. As a matter of fact, the standard models have developed with the times, and have not been produced as new and distinct types. The company are justly proud of the claim that they have never fonad it necessary to abandon in toto any class of vehicle they have constructed, although, naturally, modifications and improvements have been incorporated in order to keep abreast of modern tendencies. During the late war Stokes'mortar shells, buffer rods for 18-pounder guns, bomb-dropping gear and steam winches were added to the normal manufacturing programme, and the esteem in which the Hanford lorry was held by the War Office authorities can be gauged from the fact that J. and E. Hall, Ltd., received orders to concentrate on certain types • to meet the urgent demand then prevalent for transport vehicles. The performance of these vehicles in many spheres of military activity worthily upheld the makers' reputation. In the construction Of the earliest Hallford vehicles the eliassis parts were machined in the company's general machine shop, and silbSequently erected in one of the bays of their erecting shops, but the developments which have occurred in recent years have necessitated extensions in many directions, and tb-day the area covered by the department of the com pany concerned with motor vehicle design and manufacture covers a total area of 156,000 sq. ft. The complete area of the Dartford works is 15 acres. ,
The illustrations which we reproduce on this page show a Hallford lorry supplied in 1907 (it was the third vehicle made by the company) and a typical Hallford van delivered quite recently, and, from a comparison of the pictures, it will be noted that in general features of design the machines bear. a marked similarity ; chain drive, it will he seen, is favoured on each model, and ft should be mentioned in passing that J. and E. Hall, Ltd., have been staunch exponents of this form of final drive for heavy haulage vehicles. Apropos of the picture of the old lorry, it is tribute to the company's products that when, in 1921, they offered to take the early model (for which they ,had a customer) ins part payment for a new machine, the owners would not part with it ; in their own words, "We have no desire to sell our old .Hallford, as it is still giving us excellent service." We understand that it is still in regular use.
Hanford present-day models include vehicles to carry net loads of from 35 cwt. to 5 tons, there being five different models bridging this range.