INDIAN RAILWAYS AND THE WAR.
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An Account of the Great Work of Providing Motor Transport for Service in Mesopotamia and Elsewhere, Given in an Interview with Mr. A. Morton Bell, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway.
THE RAILWAY companies in India, during the war, played an important and valuable part in regard to the provision of locally-builtmotor lorries, ambulance vans and other forms of rolling stock, for use in Mesopotamia, East Africa, and elsewhere, and a few days before Christmas, a representative of The Commercial Motor had the pleasure of a brief chat on the subject with a gentleman who took a leading part in the initiation and development of the scheme for supplying Indian-built rail and road motor vehicles to the various theatres of war, to wit, Mr. A. Morten Bell, M.I.Mech.E., Carriage and Wagon Superintendent of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, which is one of the largest railway systems in that part of the world, its open length exceeding 3,121 miles. Mr. Bell was just bringing to a close his six months" leave of absence ; and by the time these lines are in print it is possible that he will be on the high seas again, en route to -the East, there to resume his duties. with the company in whose service he has been for upwards of 16 years.
Mr. Bell spoke with enthusiasm of the good service the Great Indian Peninsula -Railway had been able to render the Old Country during the last few years in its great fight for the freedom of the world. Speaking more particularly of the road motor vehicles, built or adapted by his company, Mr. Bell observed:— " When the Mesopotamian affair began, Bombay was made. the base for operations, and we had a number of these 'vehicles to rig up. The success of the Mesopotamian campaign can be largely attributed to the motor transport arrangements. Many kinds of -vehicles were used, among them numbers of Ford cars, which proved very satisfactory on account of their lightness, enabling them to traverse the roadless desert."
Mr. Bell added that, of course, he referred to the bifilding of the bodies of the vehicles—the chassis, he explained, all came from America via Calcutta, from which port they were carried on special trains of platform vehicles, and were finished in the Great Indian Peninsula Co.'s workshops .at. Matunga, Bombay, and taken thence on completion, under their own power, down to the docks for shipment.
"The G.I.P. carriage shops," he went on, "are new and well equipped for the construction and repair of rolling stock. Overlands, Hupmobiles and Fords were the principal makes dealt with, but others contributed to the total ; the carrying capacity ranged from 15 cut. to 2 tons per vehicle. Many of the wheels on these vehicles were plated with steel discs to reduce the scattering of sand to the detriment of the mechanism, and I• have reason to believe they proved most satisfactoryIn addition to hundreds of motor lorries, large numbers of ambulance vans were also fitted out at Matunga, and we mannfactured large quantities of details for repair work; both forged, cast, and machine finished." -Your chief work for the war was done at the Bombay lyorkshops, was it not, Mr. Bell i" asked the interviewer.
Yes, at Matunga; but a good deal of work of a different character—such as portable buildings, hospital furniture, pontoon bridge work, etc.—was also performed Jhansi. Here are some photographs of the Matunga workshops, in which you will see a number of transport vans in various stages of conversion or preparation. Here is a picture of the interior of a mobile motorcar repair shop—one of severale--which we built at Matunga. These vehicles wore each provided with a lathe, drill, grindstone, and other auxiliaries, as well as with a complete stores equipment. A somewhat novel feature was the utilization of the 3:Dative power of the engines for driving the machine tools in the workshop whilst the car is stationary. This photo, again, shows -the method of unloading chassis for transport cars arriving at Mae tunga, by special -traing from Calcutta after arrival by ,steam from San Francisco."
At this juncture the conversation was interrupted by the unexpected arrival of a gentleman—a railway . officer and a former colleague of Mr. Bell's—who, having accepted an apPointMent in Siam; had dropped in to make his adieux. When Mr. Bell was free again, the interviewer asked him what be thought of the future of mofor transport in India.
The reply was that the outlook was distinctly promising. In Bombay," Mr. Bell proceeded, " motor vehicles are being used in connection with the huge cotton industry which, up to recently; relied almost entirely on bullock carts for its Mode of transport. The number of these vehicles employed was legion. The cotton mills in Bombay are widely scattered, and the -raw material brought in by rail requires to be distributed by road to them and, likewise, the, menufactured product has to be delivered to either rail or docks by similar means. A considerable number of transport wagons, tractors, etc., are now at work with, I understand, very satisfactory results. There is not much doubt that, when the mechanial transport has become well established, it will be something of an eye-opener to those chiefly concerned."
"What about the railway companies, Mr. Bell—I mean in regard to their use of motor transport" " Well, in India, the railways administration does not collect or deliver goods in the same way that the railways do in this country—in India that is reserved for the private trading concerns, our efforts that way being restricted to the conveyance of small parcels. Motor vehicles play a very useful part as regards the mails. Just before the war an ' articulated' motor train was tried, and it so successfully proved that motor transport was the right thing that, now, the postal authorities are using covered motervana—ge-aorally of the 2-ton order, to transport the mails. from the steamers to the trains. Formerly the bullock wagon was employed—a very slow and tedious process, as I do not need to tell you."
"You are, presumably, speaking more particularly of motor transport in the towns?"
" Yes ; I am sure that in the large industrial towns motor transport will always do well. But, in the country, it is another question—a question of roads. Given these, there is no doubt whatever that motor transport will make very material progress in India."
Before the interview closed, Mr. Bell observed that, in a hot climate like that of India, the question of the radiator for petrol-driven vehicles should receive special treatment 'from the manufacturers. All the driving gear and mechanism too, he added, should be as simple as possible, as it had to be handled by native drivers, whose knowledge was invariably of an elementary character.