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NEWCASTLE'S

8th March 1932, Page 98
8th March 1932
Page 98
Page 99
Page 100
Page 98, 8th March 1932 — NEWCASTLE'S
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TRANSPORT ACTIVITIES

How a Tyneside City Operates Its Fleets of Fire Engines, Ambulances, Police Vehicles, Buses, Refuse Collectors, Gully-emptiers and Other Public-service Machines

AS in the case of most municipalities, the transport activities of the corporation of Newcastleupon-Tyne are wide and varied. The authority operates vehicles of the following types :—Ambulances, some of which are under the control of the medical officer of health, whilst others are run by the police for accident cases; tire engines and police vehicles, the two types being classed together, because in Newcastle the fire brigade is also responsible for the maintenance of the police machines; buses, and cleansing vehicles.

Transport operated by the medical officer can be divided into two parts, namely, that used in connection with the . City Hospital for Infectious Diseases, and that employed for the general hospital and the sanatorium at Barrasford, 25 miles away.

Attached to the former institution are three Austin ambulances, two. of 20 h.p. and one of 16 h.p. Between them, these machines cover 35,00040,000 miles in a year. For the transport of bedding and for general work at this hospital there are two Morris Commercial vans, one of 30-cwt. and one of 12-cwt. capacity.

The general hospital is served by an Armstrong Siddeley 18 h.p. ambulance and a Morris Isis two-stretcher pattern, the latter having recently been acquired.

• Four of the police ambulances are Buicks and one is a Morris-Commerkial. -Other police vehicles include a MorrisCommercial prison van, two staff cars, seven motorcycle sidecar combinations and 21 solo motorcycles All these, together with a large number of pedal cycles and the fire-engines, are serviced at the 'fire-brigade headquarters.

Chromium-plated Fire Engines.

It is a noteworthy point that every member of the fire brigade is an artificer, and the maintenance of this large fleet of machines is, therefore, carried out in time which otherwise would be largely wasted. This arrangement has an interesting effect. So great

is the volume of work that comes to the fire-brigade shops, that there is now no time for the interminable brass-polishing which is so usual a feature of most fire stations. In consequence, all the brightmetal parts of the Newcastle fire engines have been chromium plated.

These engines are seven in number. Five of Them, together with a Leyland trailer pump, are kept at headquarters in the city and there is an engine and an ambulance at each of two substations.

Of these seven fire engines, two of 75 h.p. were supplied in 1916 by the John Morris concern of Salford. Three Tilling-Stevens 45 h.p. appliances were purchased in 1921 and these were followed by two 40,13.p. Leylands, one in 1925 and one in 1929. The most interesting of these machines are two of the Tilling-Stevens, in which considerable advantage has been taken of the possibilities of the electric transmission system.

One of these carries a turntable escape and water tower. The engine is, of course, coupled to a generator which can be used to supply current either to a single large electric motor used to

propel the vehicle along the road, or to several smaller units which are used when the fire is reached. These include an electrically driven centrifugal pump, a searchlight and three separate movements of the escape itself.

Another Tilling-Stevens engine is equipped with Phomene extinguishers and is particularly adapted to deal with oil fires. This machine carries two portable floodlights, each with 100 ft. of cable. Power is supplied to them from the main engine-driven generator, and dual controls are carried to the rear of the vehicle for the convenient control of the engine when at a fire.

Extensive Bus Services.

Newcastle Corporation's first motorbus service came into operation in 1912, its purpose being to extend an existing tram route. In 1920 the corporation obtained powers to run anywhere in

Northumberland, and to-day it has over 100 buses in service. Mr. T. P. Easton is the general Manager ol the undertaking, with Mr., Lee as bus superintendent, and Mr. -Richardson as rollingstock superintendent.

Despite its wide powers, the corporation's longest route is just under 121,miles, and it is an interesting point that this and several other services are run jointly with private transport companies, such as United Automobile Services, Ltd., Tynemouth District Traction Co., Ltd., Wakefield's Motors, Ltd.. and the Tyneside Tramways and Tramped Co. These joint services run to places outside the city boundary.

Those services lying entirely within the city are controlled exclusively by the corporation, which also operates its buses independently over certain comparatively long routes, such as that to Seaton Sluice on the coast, 12 miles away. There are altogether 17 routes, varying in length from three miles upwards, with a total route mileage of 774. At least two of these services have their terminal points on opposite sides of the city and pass through its centre. The remaining routes originate in the city itself, but it is understood that, in certain cases, buses which come into the city along one route, change their service number and proceed outwards along another route.

Parcels Carrying by Bus.

The Newcastle bus_ organization also includes a parcels-carrying service, packages being conveyed on the buses.. The rates vary from 4d. for 7 lb. to 1s. 4d, for 56 lb., and for a further 2d. per parcel the local agent Will deliver direct to the conSignee within, a stated radius, which generally does• not exceed a mile from the agents' premises.

Various special forms of passenger ticket are in use. Of these, probably the most interesting is the 12-journey pattern.

Ordinary single fares average about 1d. per mile. On routes extending beyond the city boundaries, return " tickets are available, in which case the cost is approximately id. per mile.

During the year ended March 31st, 1931, the receipts averaged 10.965d. per mile, whilst the working costs were 7.995d., with an additional 1.336d. per mile for interest and redemption. The total number of passengers carried in that period was 21,276,128, and the vehicle-miles numbered 3,862,268.

Six different makes, and even more types, are represented in the fleet. In the following list, the figures in brackets indicate the year of -purchase:—

Single-deckers: 26 A.E.C., Type 411 (1925) ; 5 Daimler, Type CM (1925) ; 6 Guy (1926) ; 12 Daimler, Type CF6 (1930). Double-deckers: 6 A.D.C., Type NS (1927) ; 4 Guy, Type FC48 (1930) ; -18 A.E.C. Regent (1930 and 1931) ;.14 Daintier, Type 0F6 (1930).; 10 Fluid Flywheel Daimler Type CE(6 (1931) ; 1 Dennis Lance (1931) ; 3 Leyland Titans, operated by the Tyneside Company.

The maintenance of this fleet is in the hands of the rolling stock superintendent at the Byker Depot. Every two months, or 10,000 miles, each vehicle is taken off the road for an engine overhaul and a thorough inspection. A general overhaul of the complete vehicle IS carried out only when its -record shows this to be desirable.

In the repair shops, several interesting points are to be noticed. For the F41 past five years it has been Mr. Richardson's practice to let close-grained castiron liners into the brake drums when they become grooved. This trouble, although it occurs rapidly in steel drums' is obviated by the use of castiron. Experience shows that this treatment is necessary only where the shoes are operated by pedal.

A variety of jigs and tools has been made in the workshops to ensure accuracy in repair work. Main bearings, for instance, are finished off simultaneously with one boring bar in a suitable fixture. To ensure parallelism between the gudgeon pin and the big-end bearing when renewing the latter, each connecting rtai is located by the pin in a jig which also controls the position of the hand reamer used for finishing the big-end.

Bodies recently purchased are provided at each corner with a special plate. This is adapted to receive a bracket to which lifting chains can be attached. Thus the body' can he'lifted evenly and without distortion, so that it is unnecessary to remove the glass, etc., to prevent damage.

Finally, in this review, comes the work of the cleansing department, It is perhaps significant that this department has recently issued its first annual report, and it is fair to say that during the past two or three years the work of refuse collection and street cleansing in Newcastle has undergone a beneficial process of reorganization.

The work of the cleansing department may be divided roughly under the headings of refuse collection and of street cleansing. With regard to the former, it is to be noted that there are nearly 69,000 ash-bins and other receptacles to be cleared in Newcastle. Of those for dwelling houses, some 75 per cent. are emptied weekly, and the remainder twice weekly. Shops in the central area of the city receive daily attention, whilst those in the outer districts are cleared twice weekly.

85,700 Tons of Refuse.

The round trip per load varies from 2.4 miles to 8.5 miles, with an average of 5.8 miles. These figures, like the others quoted, refer to the year ended March 31st last, during which period a total of 85,700 tons of refuse was collected. Of this, 22,944 tons, or 26.78 per cent., was carried by motors. The department is also responsible for cleansing 291i miles of street. Of this total, 52 miles are cleaned daily, 112 miles three times a week, 99 miles twice weekly and 28+ miles once a week. This is equivalent to roughly 900 miles per week.

During the year covered by the report, a total of 186,731 gullies was emptied. That figure, it should be explained, is actually the number of gullies multiplied by the times of emptying.

Street cleansing entailed the removal of 26,500 tons during the year, the total being composed of 22,654 tons of street sweepings and 3,846 tons of gully refuse. The average length of haul was n mile.

So far as mechanically propelled vehicles are concerned, the fleet now consists of 23 machines, there having been several purchases and disposals during and since the period of the annual report mentioned. There is, in addition, a large number of horse-drawn vehicles of various types.

Steam Refuse Collectors.

An unusual feature of the refusecollecting section of the fleet is the inclusion of three Yorkshire steam wagons. Excellent as these vehicles are in certain spheres, experience has shown that a steamer is not best suited to this particular class of work, and these machines are being replaced as circumstances permit. In the meantime, they are used on the longest routes over distances varying from 6.2 miles to 8.5 miles per load.

Two. Edison electric machines are also employed and are allocated to the shortest routes, which vary from 2.4 miles to 3 miles per load. The most recent additions consist of 11 S.D. Freighters, all purchased since the beginning of 1931.

Bodies of two different types are fitted to them. Those employed for the collection of house refuse have semiautomatic shutters. For the collection of shop refuse, roller shutters are employed so that light garbage can be packed in tightly.

An interesting comparison is furnished by the average loads of the various types of vehicle. When clearing household ash-bins, a horse-drawn cart carries 17 cwt., a wagon 27 cwt., an S.D. Freighter takes 36+ cwt, a steam wagon 49+ cwt. and each of the electric vehicles carries 47 cwt. On shop refuse, the same ratio does not rule, the respective loads being 121 cwt., 16+ cwt., 25+ cwt., 28i cwt. and 26,1 cwt.

For street cleaning there are two Karrier sweepers and three Karrier sweeper-collectors. Gully cleansing is effected with the all of a Yorkshire and a Fowler steamer. The latter vehicle is also equipped for street watering and washing, squeegees being fitted. With a tank capacity of 2,000 gallons, it covers the whole of the centre of the city ,nightly on about 10 refills.

For gritting, the department employs six Simplex trailer attachments, which can be towed behind the Karrier sweeper-collectors or behind any of the refuse collectors.

Reverting to gully cleansing, much of the work is still done manually with scoops and buckets. That method is considerably cheaper, the cost being 2.3d. per gully, as compared with 5.8d. for vacuum cleansing with the steam vehicles. Nevertheless, vacuum cleansing is so much more satisfactory and complete that it is felt to be desirable to extend its use.

Refuse Collection Costs.

Excluding central administration costs, but including depreciation or loan charges, the cost of collecting and disposing of house and trade refuse is 12s. 6id. per ton. Per 1,000 houses or premises, the figure is £810 5s. 10d., or £190 13s. 7d. per 1,000 of population. Put in another way, the cost is equivalent to a rate of 6.16d. per £, or 5.13 per cent, of the total rates in Newcastle.


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