Ten Years Ago and Now.
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A Survey oi Motor Transport in and around Manchester.
By the Editor.
Apart from the experimental haulage that was undertaken by Mr. Dan H. Simpson, son of Mr. William Simpson, of the firm of Simpson and GotHee, the well-known calico printers, little if anything had been attempted by way of motor haulage, in or around Manchester, other than traction-engine haulage, prior to the year 1901. In that year, however, a very eonsidei able impetus to local interest was given by the formation of a representative local committee to co-operate with the Liverpool SelfPropelled Traffic Association in the organization of the third series of open competitive trials. The earlier series had taken place in the years 1898 and 1899, but Manchester was not visited.
A 1901 Manchester Committee.
This article can be introduced in no better fashion than by stating the names of the gentlemen who formed that Manchester committee, with Sir W. H. Bailey as chairman, and Mr. Alfred J. King (subsequently M.P. for the Knutsford division of Cheshire) as hon. secretary, to co-operate with the permanent committee in Liverpool and various other Lancashire committees. The additional names ore: Councillor Briggs (Lord Mayor of Manchester), Alderman Rudman (Mayor el Salford), Sir Frank Forbes Adams (Wm. Graham and Co, Ltd.), Herbert Bright (John Bright and Bro.), J. K. Bythell (Ship Canal Co.), Gustav Behrens (Sir Jacob Behrens and Sons), Clifford Clifton (Clifton's Brewery, Stockport), J. H. Gartside (Chairman, Calico Printers' Association, Ltd.), Dr. Grossman (Chairman, Manchester Section, Soc. Chem. Ind.), George Jennison (John Jennison and Co.) Hans Renold, W. E. Roweliffe (Chairman, Manchester Automobile Club), A. B. Smith (Tootal, Broadhurst and Lee, Ltd.), John Stan.ning (Bleachers' Association, Ltd.), James W. Southern (Deputy Chairman, Ship Canal Co.), John Thomson (President, Manchester Chamber of Commerce), and Wm. Welsh (Smith and Forrest). The writer had the pleasure of organizing, as hon. secretary, the whole of the trials in question, and amongst the winners of the Association's gold medals were such well-known makers as Leyland. Milnes-Daimler and Thornycroft. The over-type steam wagon made its first bow to the public, in competition, at these 1901 trials, from the works of Mann's Patent Steam Cart and Wagon Co., Ltd., of Leeds.
Early Pioneer Struggles in 1901-1903.
Several haulage companies made initial attempts to undertake road transport after the 1901 trials, whilst various early purchases of steam wagons are also to be recorded. Mr. Herbert Bright (Messrs. John Bright and Bro., Rochdale) and Mr. Wm. Birtwistle (Messrs. J. and R. Ecdes, Darwen) are to be mentioned amongst the first individual purchasers who tried to make the steam wagon pay in their own work. Mr. C. B. Nixon, now a director of Leyland Motors, Ltd., and M. I', E. Baron made attempts to earn money as motor carriers, and the former gentlemen paid a considerable amount of attention to possibilities amongst farmers, but we well recall the unsatisfactory response. so far as organized or systematic traffic went. It was only very occasionally that the Road Carrying Co., Ltd., of Liverpool, sent a machine into Manchester, as it chiefly confined its operations to working the Liverpool-St. Helens road and the Liverpool-PrestonBlackburn road.
In those early days, so far as steam was concerned,
the great trouble was to show any kind of a result with the machines, which had to weigh not more than three tons unladen. To-day, of course, and largely as the result of evidence that was accumulated by the companies which have been named, an unladen weight of five tons is in force, and that is found to be none too much for a steam wagon, if regard is to be paid to sound construction and commercial life on steel tires. The consequences of the undulyreduced weight were serious. It was impossible to fit wheels with tires wider than 5 in., and these out into any but the hardest roads, whilst various parts of the vehicles failed at frequent intervals. Axles broke like carrots. It was no uncommon thing to re-tube boilers after they had been in service for only two months, so great was the forcing to which they were subjected. Fuel and water consumptions were literally colossal-40 lb. of coke and, say, 20 gallons of water to the mile, on heavy roads. Thebest traffic organization was of no avail, as it was impossible to reckon with any degree of certainty upon the behaviour of the machines. Trained drivers could not be found, and it was ,very often necessary to give seven men a chance before one was found who was suitable, and each man that was tried cost his employer any sum. between £25 and .250 in mishaps. Thus was a start made in the years 1901-1903.
The Oldest Motor-mail Service, It was towards the end of the above period of trial, that Lancashire saw the first practical application of the petrol lorry. The Postmaster-General gave the first contract, in the early months of the year 1902, for the conveyance of the ManchesterLiverpool parcel mail by motorvan, and he acted in this upon the' report of Mr. Francis Salisbury, who • was then postmaster and district surveyor at Liverpool. A couple of two-cylinder steel-tired Milnes-Daimler lorries were put on the road, of the type which had taken part in the 1901 trials, but it quickly became evident that the steel tires would have to be replaced by some soft or elastic medium. After a few months of running, an American company came forward and fitted the machines with solidindiandaber tires. Mr. A. C. Hills, of London, took the order. The service at once became more reliable, and complaints from frontagers along the LiverpoolManchester highway, via 'Warrington, automatically ceased. The cost of the tires, however, proved to be almost prohibitive, and the mileage yielded was but little above 1000 per set. Mr. J. Sidney Critehley, M.I.Mech.E., and Mr, H. G. Burford, 11.I.Mech. E., had much to do with the inauguration of this service, but it remained for Mr. Percy Frost Smith, now chief engineer to Thos. Tilling, Ltd., finally to put it on a sound working basis. The service has been continued to date, and it is the oldest motor-mail service.
A Period of Discredit.
The disappearance of the early road-carrying companies was succeeded by a period in which the steam wagon was in disgrace. Everybody realized that the three-ton limit of tare was impossible, but one or two makers who had already boldly ignored it. continued to proceed upon traction-engine lines. The unladen weight of some of these machines ran as high as 61
tons, but nobody seemed to mind, and they were already selling more rapidly than the three-ton type before the Heavy Motor Car Order of 1904 came into force. It was because of this disregard for the thenobtaining law that the makers of the Foden wagon
gained their splendid start w hen the revival came, and undoubtedly enjoyed a record f sales for their loco-type five-tonner. That class of machine, too, compared with the under-type steam wagon, proved to be one for which drivers could be found with a considerable degree of readiness, as there were many traction-engine and road-roller mei) who were prepared to change their jobs when they got the chance. Accordingly,during the years 1905-1907, the Manchester district was largely served by a preponderance of the Foden loco-type steam wagon, although the makers who had been through the mill of the three-ton school in many cases kept their old customers, and also gradually got a fresh hold upon the steam-wagon market in many parts of the country.
The Petrol Lorry Arrives.
Heavy-motor experience in Lancashire did not favour the petrol lorry for a considerable time. It was an uncontroverted fact, until about the end of the year 1907, that petrol "had not a look in " against the five-ton steamer. The petrol vehicle was generally regarcleci as more suitable for loads of three tons or less, and the extraordinary rapidity with which it emerged from that undoubted limitation of use was coincident with the perfection of the solidindiarubber tire of large section. Without the solidrubber tire, the petrol vehicle, for use on Lancashire roads, must have remained an impossible proposition. The petrol lorry has unquestionably scored over steam, for various Lancashire trades, by reason of its greater daily range of mileage and its higher point-topoint speed. Without those qualities, it would have proved dearer in use, whether the cost be reckoned per mile or per hour, than the steam wagon, whilst yielding no higher performance on the earning side. Good rubber tires furnished the vital desideratum, and enabled the petrol lorry to make good. Important Manchester contractors, of whom we might name C. T. Faulkner and Co., Ltd., began with the steam lorry, but made room for the petrol lorry as soon as solid-rubber tires were available to render that departure a commercial one. We shall next week have the pleasure of publishing the results of an interview with Mr. John Faulkner.
Since the year 1908, there has been a steady advance in the proportion of petrol lorries which are to be found in Manchester and Lancashire fleets of commercial motors for heavy loads, and we believe that, in spite of high price of petrol, the steam-lorry makers will continue to find themselves hard pressed by the newer type of prime mover for any duties which allow more than a normal 200 miles of running per week to be embraced. Carting Contractors are Perturbed.
Careful inquiries in Manchester circles which we have conducted during the last three weeks, satisfy us that there is a considerable amount of perturbation in the circles in which carting contractors move and find their hying.
Some of these contractors have already made themselves masters of the situation, to the extent of their having purchased varying numbers of commercial motors for the purpose of gaining experience. The big majority in Manchester, however, has not yet adopted any considered re-organization scheme, and not a single horse contractor has abandoned his horses. It is true, on the other hand, that we have met with a number of cases—some of them affecting very large stables—in which the renewal of the horse stock has either been curtailed or suspended, and in which the unexpended renewal capital is now held in reserve for motor purchases to be made. Hesitancy still exists, but numbers of the old school of contractors dislike intensely the severe invasion and competition to winch they have been subjected by the new school of motor men, and we are satisfied that the best of them will not wait much longer before they shut down some of their horse stables.
Delays at Warehouses.
With or without motor experience, the Manchester carting contractor is of opinion that horses must be employed for the warehouse deliveries and collections. We are in agreement with this decision, apart from a. relatively-few cases where exceptional despatch can be at the momsnt arranged, and there is no question that the " flat " system of handling complete loads is worthy of retention on many grounds. For the benefit. of those of our readers who do not understand what we mean by the " flat" system, we may say that it is the use of superimposed bodies, which are lifted and slung from the motor lorry to the horse lorry, or vice versa. These "flats " rest upon the permanent platform of the road vehicle, and their use enables the parties concerned both to avoid handling and to save time. An additional point of merit is the low capital value of a " fiat "—from 27 to .29, according to size.
All manufacturers, warehousemen and carting contractors are in accord as to the deplorable state of congestion in which traffic on some Manchester streets and at some dock-sheds is frequently involved. We have not had the opportunity, up to the time of gx-iing to press with this issue, to ask for views on the suggestions for booked times, but we know that the article on that subject will receive the attention which it deserves at their hands.