Denied that B.R.S. Rates Were High
Page 54
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WHEN a representative of British Road Services gave evidence to the East • Midland Licensing Authority last week of declining agricultural traffic, he denied that it was because B.R.S. rates were too high. • B.R.S. and the railways were objecting to an application for a B licence by R. Oakey and Sons, Ltd., Alvescot, Oxford, far . three vehicles and one to be acquired. If the licence were granted, two vehicles operating under C-hiring margin, and another under contract-A licence for R. H. Wilment, Ltd., were to -be surrendered. Applicants wished to carry aglicultt,ral products within 150 miles for Wilment and Oxfordshire Farmers, Ltd. Mr. L. Jenkins, traffic assistant of the Bristol depot of B.R.S., said that vehicles from Bristol ran empty in the direction of Oxford and Northampton each day. Four vehicles had not been taxed because of shortage of work. Mr. 0. Richards, of the London district of B.R.S., also said that some vehicles had been untaxed.
Decision was reserved.
L836,000 SCHEME TO OPEN BOTTLENECK
POLICE statistics indicate that some 36,000 vehicles use St. Giles Circus, London, W.1, every day. This junction of Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Street, Charing Cross Road and New Oxford Street, has long been a bottleneck in West End traffic flow, but an £836,000 scheme for a roundabout is due to be completed by the summer of next year. The scheme calls for two new sections of road, with 40-ft. carriageways, between St. Giles High Street and Oxford Street and between the High Street and Charing Cross Road. A roundabout, some 300 ft. by 270 ft. overall, will be created.
MANCHESTER-SOUTHEND DIRECT?
APUBLICITY tour of the Manchester area has revealed the need for through coach services to Southend-onSea. Southend Town Council has decided to give full support to any application submitted to the Traffic Commissioners by coach companies,
56-ton Coal Transporters
AN articulated outfit to carry 56-ton loads of coal at opencast sites has been put into production by the International Harvester Export Co., Chicago, U.S.A., after a year's trial. The tractor is similar to the International dump truck, and has a Cummins 335 b.h.p. engine driving through either a four-speed automatic transmission or a nine-speed gearbox with manual change. The semi-trailer is of International design and has a capacity of 79 cu. yd. heaped and 70 cu. yd. struck. It is made of -N-in.-thick steel plates reinforced with channel sections. The load is emptied through airoperated doors at the bottom. Gross weight of the complete outfit is about 86 tons, and it is 51 ft. 10+ in. long and 12 ft. 1 in. wide.
MACKAY SELL-OUT
A CPUISITION of the whole of the 1-1. share capital of Mackay Industrial Equipment, Ltd., Feltham, Middx., is to be completed by Associated British Engineering, Ltd., who are also to obtain a 60-per-cent. interest in the equity of Blake Mackay Engineering Co. (Africa), Ltd., Kenya, together with certain preference shares and loans.
Air—conditioned Buses Built by G.31.
ALTHOUGH air-conditioned coaches ./-1. are not a novelty in the U.S.A., until recently there were no buses available with similar equipment, mainly because of the space occupied by the refrigerating plant. General Motors Corporation have gone into production with three types of bus, however, fitted with a new air-conditioning plant which circulates 3,000 cu. ft. per mm. of fresh air through the body. The filter evaporator, heater core and blowers are housed centrally under the floor. The four-cylindered refrigerant compressor is also under the, floor, but at the rear, where it is driven directly off the engine crankshaft. This will keep the vehicle cool at engine idling speed. The condensing equipment is mounted on the rear roof canopy and it has an eight-bladed fan, hydraulically driven, which draws 10,000 cu. ft. of air per minute through the condenser. The new equipment is much more simple than that normally employed in passenger vehicles, as the compressor, being driven off the main engine, does not need a separate power unit. Fresh air is blown into the bus through vents at waistrail-level and is blended with recirculated air and forced through the cooling system by electrically driven blowers. The conditioned air is in the ratio of a third fresh and two-thirds recirculated. The equipment can also be used for fresh hot air in cold. weather.
COURSES IN WELDING
TITLES of courses tobe held between April 14 and Septernber 19 at the School of Welding Technology, 54 Princes Gate, London, S.W,7, include "Inert-gas arc welding," ." Control of distortion" and "Design and construction of welded pressure vessels and pipework." Fee for a five-day courseis £16 16s., with a 25-per-cent. reduction for members .of the Institute of Welding. Forty enrolments :for'. each course will be accepted. In preparation it a course on the construction of welded vehicles.