The Motor Omnibus World.
Page 6
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Clarkson, Limited, of Cheimsford, has just delivered a Chelmsford double-deck steam bus for service between Nantwith and Crewe, and a second one for the same route is on the eve of completion.
A 2oh.p. Thornycroft char-a-bane has now been working close upon two months for the %Vaterford Road Car Co., Ltd., whose engineer, Mr. W. F. Peare, also has under his care two steam wagons.
The Star Omnibus Co, Ltd., whose registered office is at 47, New Kent Road, S.E., has already taken delivery of two Milnes-Daimler and one Brillie vehicles. There are also on order for early delivery seventeen Nlilnes-Dahnler and lour Crossley-Leyland omnibuses.
The Derbyshire Motor Omnibus Co., Ltd., whose chief running depot is at Baslow, although the registered offices are at Alliance Chambers, George Street, Sheffield, will shortly take delivery of its first omnibus, a Durkopp, to carry 20 passengers.
The London and South Western Railway will shortly inaugurate a service between Lyndhurst and Milford in Hampshire. Single-deck Chelmsford steamers wifi be employed, each seating IS passengers inside and carrying iscwt. of luggage on the roof.
The London and South Western Railway Company owns two •Nlilnes-Daimler omnibuses and four . Chelmsford steamers. The latter vehicles were purchased only a few months ago. Mr. I). Drummond, of Nine Elms" Works, London, S.W., is the chief engineer.
An unfounded rumour that Eastbourne intended to dispose of its single-deck buses caused offers to purchase being forwarded by the Isle of Wight Express Motor Syndicate, Messrs. Ramsey and Co. and the Metropolitan Asylums Board. We understand that it is not proposed to sell these vehicles. They will still be used at Eastbourne.
The Lake District Road Traffic Company, whose registered office is at Market Cross, Ambleside, and whose chief running depot is at Wanspell Towers, Ambleside, cornmenced it operations at the end of August last. Two Chelmsford and one Thorny-croft steamers are owned, also two Thornycroft petrol char-à-banes.
Mr. W. Spiller, the superintendent of the L.G,O. Company's motor department, has had a wide experience in both the manufacture and running of motor omnibuses. He recently resigned an important position on Messrs. Thornycroft's staff to undertake his present duties. These include acting in an advisory capacity to the board of directors, of which the Lord Mayor of London is chairman.
Mr. W. L. Drake has received a license for a motor bus to ply for hire in Luton. When the request was made to the T.C., a member was anxious to learn "whether additional charges could not be made on the ground of heavy and exceptional traffic, because if the town was inundated with motor buses it would mean an enormous increase in the expenditure on their streets." This gentleman should forthwith increase his knowledge, for rubber-tyred buses tend to roll the roads rather than to disintegrate the surface.
It is proposed to have a service of motor buses between Ealing and Shepherd's Bush, to compete with the present ponderous and noisy electric cars.
An application has been made to the Local Government Board by the Eastbourne Corporation for sanction to borrow .4, x,85o for the purchase ot two more Milnes-Daimler double-deck omnibuses.
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, whose chief offices are at Victoria Station, Manchester, has taken powers to run motor omnibuses. Mr. J. A. F. Aspinall, M.Inst.C.E., is the general manager.
Mr. J. Walker, of Harrogate, keeps a motor bus for hiring purposes, and for the use of picnic parties who want to go further afield during the day than would be possible in the usual horse-drawn char-a-banc or wagonette.
At the forthcoming congress of the Royal Institute of Public Health, to be held in London from July /9th to 25th, a paper on " Motor Omnibuses in relation to Public Health'' will be read by the Editor of " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
A syndicate has been formed at Monte Video with the object of running public service vehicles between Fray Bentos and Mercedes in Uruguay. Should the initial route prove successful it is intended to open up new lines where it is found necessary.
Notwithstanding rumours to the contrary, the Great Eastern Railway Company announces that it has definitely decided to run a motor bus service between Colchester and Mersea, a distance of about 12 miles. This will prove a boon to. the inhabitants, as there is no railway through the district..
The Watch Committee of York has granted permission to Messrs. Vincent Bros., of Ludhoe, Spennymoor, to run motor buses in the city. The vehicles will be double-decked, with a seating capacity of about thirty. It is hoped that the first bus will be running between Haxby Road and the railway station in the course of a few days.
Scotland Yard has now licensed two 17Volseley omnibuses for the London General Omnibus Company and one for the London Motor Omnibus Company. A casing of 3-161n. sheet iron was put round the front of the petrol tank, but we are informed that the Wolseley design is now being modified tc permit of a different disposition of the tanks.
It is quite clear, from the results achieved to date, that the cost per passenger mile is less by motor omnibus than by electric tramcar, which ponderous vehicles travel, on the average, with only one-seventh of their seating capacity occupied. Although the cost per car mile is sometimes in favour of the electric tramcar, the raison d'etre of any system of passenger conveyance is to convey human beings conveniently and cheaply rather than to work out a cost for the carrying structure.
The mileage covered by the Eastbourne Corporation motor omnibuses for the year ending March 3ist last was 140,194. The total cost per car mile, including capital charges, was na.67d., and the gross income per car mile was ro.38d. The nett loss per car mile was 0.29d., this being largely accounted for by the service on the Carew Road route, where the income.per car mile averaged only 5.34d. We explained in our issues June 22nd and the 6th instant that electric traction would have resulted in a much greater loss.
The Newcastle City Council is not satisfied with the drubbing it recently received at the hands of the House of Commons when Newcastle attempted to establish a monopoly of passenger carrying on the highways by means of stringent clauses inserted in the Bill of the North-Eastern Railway. Ratepayers' money is to be further wasted by opposition when the Bill comes before the House of Lords. Say the tramways committee of Newcastle : "As the powers of the railway company are not limited to conveying passengers to and from their hotels or residences, they would be enabled to conduct a general street traffic, which they considered would be an unfair competition with the tram service, which was maintained by the Corporation after great expenditure of capital." It would be useful to learn whether certain interests are not working behind the Newcastle Council.