Bird's Eye View
Page 46
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" IN some instances the railways have been made where I they are not needed." Does that sound topical? It was in fact written down in 1882 as one of the " evils " of railway monopoly which the predecessor of the Mansion House Association on Transport was established to deal with. So said the Association's president, C. E. Sutton, last week, at the annual luncheon. He had been doing some homework into the origins of the organization, formed to protect the interests of transport users and, after this quotation, it was not surprising to hear him affirm that the Association supported Dr. Beeching's proposals. Pointing out that the real issue was not just to make the railways pay, but to see that industry wasn't hampered by archaic transport, Mr. Sutton said: "Dare we hope that the report's recommendations will be implemented with the spirit of service that used to be characteristic of the transport industry. . . . Dare transport users hope for a period of stability? ". It would be nice to think so.
Bouquets, not Brickbats
" ANYTHING the railways can do, road transport can do better." Now just where did I read that? Answer: In an article patting road transport on the back in the Daily Sketch. Pause for astonishment to subside.
Hauliers in particular have become so used to almost all shades of the national Press throwing great brickbats at them that to read this sort of thing is a welcome bouquet indeed. The R.H.A. itself deserves a bouquet for the way its enthusiastic briefing of the article's writer shines through in print. Is it sour of me to end by pointing out that the article took up less than half of a page otherwise occupied by road transport advertisements?
Garage Enterprise
nPERATORS being, on the whole, very busy people, they appreciate special efforts by manufacturers and ,traders to make facilities available to them on their home ground. This being so, I wasn't at all surprised to find that a display of virtually the whole range of Austin commercials by B. S. Gelston and Co. Ltd. at their Erith garage recently aroused a lot of interest among local operators. One of the highlights of the show, said Mr. W. H. Sobey, sales manager, had been the displays of the Austin Gipsy demonstration team. With their 24-hour service and claiming to be the only 100 per cent commercial vehicle service depot in the area this garage surely deserves to enjoy a brisk business. This is likely to improve still further when the Dartford Tunnel opens, because the road by which the garage stands, the A2, is one of the roads that will feed it.
Grand Gesture
A MODERN bus shelter is, I am informed, to be " presented to Southend Corporation, entirely free of charge. The shelter, built by Goodwin Storefitters Ltd., Rochford Road, Southend, will be placed some 30 yards from this company's premises. Last October managing director, Mr. A. J. Goodwin, wrote to the Southend town clerk pointing out the distinct possibility of accidents as a result of a bus stop being sited immediately opposite his firm's premises and adjacent to a cross-over constantly used by the company's vehicles. He suggested that the bus stop be positioned some 10 yards or so away from this danger spot.
Mr. Goodwin emphasized that a number of his staff used the stop and, since no shelter had been provided, indicated his firm's willingness to supply one. This is an unusually altruistic gesture on the part of this particular company, but I can't help wondering why the Corporation had not seen fit to have such a shelter erected in the first place. Much better surely, to be wise before the event!
Value for Money
NO doubt about the value of The Commercial Motor. One of the features is a weekly summary of haulage
licence applications. In the Yorkshire traffic area last week the value was attested to in public when the representative of a large operator admitted that his company did not take all Applications and Decisions but relied on this journal.