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A Lorry as a Shunting Locomotive.

11th August 1925, Page 14
11th August 1925
Page 14
Page 14, 11th August 1925 — A Lorry as a Shunting Locomotive.
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WE have several times had occasion to refer to the adaptation of a road motor vehicle for rail use, particularly for passenger-carrying over branch lines ; but, although special types of petrol vehicle have been built for goods-carrying and haulage on railways, few ordinary road motors have been converted for such uses.

This procedure, however, has been followed in the case of one of the Albion lorries owned by Adam and Benson, Ltd., metal stock holders, of West Bromwich, the conversion having been made so that the machine can be used for shunting purposes in their private sidings.

The nature of the business upon which the company are engaged necessitates a considerable amount of manhandling of trticks of scrap metal, and, as the method hitherto used has been found to be rather dangerous, apart from being extremely slow, Mr. J. W. Hale, the managing director of Adam and Benson, Ltd., conceived the idea of utilizing one of the fleet of the company's road motors to speed up the work. Accordingly, flanges were fitted to the wheels of one of the Albion lorries in place of the rubber tyres, strong buffers and suitable towing bars . carried out. • being mounted front and rear.

The vehicle is DOW used, as shown in the _accompanying illustration, for hauling rail trucks of scrap metal, `and, so that the necessary adhesion can be obtained, the platform of the primemover always carries a load of approximately 2 tons. In order to ensure that and adequate grip shall also be obtained in wet weather, sand boxes are dis

posed over the rear wheels, and from them pipes are led to a position in front of the wheels.

The steering sear of the vehicle has been totally dismantled, and has been set aside for use as spare parts on any of the other 12 Albion vehicles owned and used by the company for road transport. This is the only structural alteration to the chassis which has been Adam and Benson, Ltd., find that, by the use of the Albion as a shunting locomotive, the numerous trucks containing scrap metal are handled much more expeditiously, whilst the men engaged on the work are less liable to be hurt. Moreover, they have proved that the method has enabled all-round economies to be effected, thus promoting general efficiency.

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