T HERE is described in this issue.a new trolley'bus designed by
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the Associated Equipment Co., Ltd. We are glad to find that commercial vehicle manufacturers, with their great experience of road vehicle requirements, are acquiring the business which is growing in connection with the development of the use of the trolley-bus.
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THE loading and unloading of vehicles in docks is greatly facilitated by the. use of mobile cranes. We describe an interesting type of crane mounted on an electric lorry. [Page 542 MANY novel and interesting points are displayed in the design of the new electric vehicles which we describe in this issue and which have been developed to meet the requirements of municipalities. [Page 533.
THE opening of the coach season in northern and north-western counties occurred at Whitsuh, as we are able to describe in this issue. The coach owners are displaying a sense of uncertainty with regard to fares, but the season has commenced auspiciously. [Page 538: MANY users of Albion vehicles have expressed regret at not being able to buy a 2-tan model, but this state of affairs is remedied by the introduction of a vehicle of this capacity which appears to embody the most up-to-date points in Albion design. It is described by us in this issue. [Page 540.
AN important article upon the future of commercial vehicle design, by an engineer-designer, appears in this issue. It traverses the ground -ecently covered by Sir John E. Thornyeroft, and rather lays emphasis upon points in design to which more attention could advantageously be given.
[Page THE present typo of commercial traveller's vehicle is merely used for the conveyance of samples to the buyers but, in the latest type, which is described in this issue, the vehicle is virtually a showroom on wheels, in so far as it enables the salesman and buyer to conduct their business transactions in comfort and privacy in the body interior.
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COMMERCIAL aviation is developing, alioeit slowly, and in the transport of goods it is found to offer a service which no other mode of transport can offer. Certain perishable consignments can now be sent2 even under unsuitable weather cOnditions, on a 3ourney cut down from 12 hours to three. Commerce is encouraged in this way, and new enterprises are possible. Our article deals with the cross-Channel services now running from Croydon aerodrome [Page 528,
Competition Amongst the Coach Proprietors.
IT 15 agreed generally that this summer will he a crucial period during which not only will the competitive power of the motor coach movement, as against the railways, be tested severely, but in many instances the competing power of motor coaching concerns, one with the other, will be placed in the balance. There will be strong competition, both, within and without the movement. What will be the result?
No one will deny that a reasonable amount of competition, in the long run, makes for efficiency ; and, in any business which depends for its existence upon the patronage of the general public, the standard of efficiency expected—and, in consequence, exacted— by the force of economic pressure is generally fairly high. This statement would not have been correct, perhaps, a year or two ago, but as conditions approach more and more to. the normal, which they are doing, its truth. becomes more apparent.
In consequence, nothing is more certain than that, in the future, the travelling public will, with obvious reservations, patronize that form of transport which supplies its requirements in the most efficient manner. It will ask for comfort and safety in the coach, a convenient range of starting times, and satisfactory arrangements for luggage.
Efficiency, therefore, will be the watchword for 1922, and undoubtedly it will be the watchword Of the railway companies as well as .of the motor coaching concerns. We shall have the coaching movement, in certain districts, in direct competition with the railway, and in certain districts and localities practically immune from that competition, and we shall also have the internal competition. The net result will be a "gingering up," a forcing of the pace generally, a gruelling sort .of contest which will call for healthy and efficient organization as the price of sustained success.
The public, not greatly concerned with the survival of any particular organization, will probably welcome such competition ; the motor coach move ment perhaps will welcome some measure of competition as a stimulus ; the small man must carefully study the methods by which he can best compete with the big concerns. And there is always this to remember—that competition, unless it is subsidized and is distinctly unfair, need not kill; rather it should energize, and the giving of better value should increase the demand to such an extent that there is business for everybody.
The Small Coach Owner and His Opportunities. The Small Coach Owner and His Opportunities.
• THE small man in the coach world has his limitations. About that there need be no argument. His task will be heavy in some respects, but
in others he will find that all the advantages are not on the side of the big fleets. The large concerns have forced upon them certain items of expenditure in the way of overhead charges from which he is free, whilst he can be much more flexible in the matter of service to his public. He will not feel so bound to a hard-and-fast programme of work, arranged a week or more beforehand, and in the past the small man has been none • too firm about the maintenance of a schedule of fares.
Fare-cutting, however, is agreatmistake, and for that reason we strongly advocate the inclusion of every coach owner in the membership of a local coach owners' association, with a deposit wholly or partly forfeitable on proof being lodged of a breakaway from an agreed scale of charges. Price-cutting can, as a matter of feet, be more dangerous to the small man than to the bigger concern, because the latter can drive matters to. the point of the " survival of the fittest " if goaded on. And, after all, the public does not show any appreciation of farecutting, suspecting all the time the catch that must be behind it.
The little man will always find that his best chance lies in hard work, the study of economy, the giving of good value and the creation thereby of goodwill and the securing of the greatest possible efficiency throughout the whole of his organization. On some of these points the big concern is unable very closely to compete, but let it not be forgotten that, on other points, it can gain so much ground that the little man is unable to keep pace with it. There is still a great deal to be done in the way of providing for the comfort, pleasure and safety of the 'public, and the small man should himself be a traveller in his coaches and should learn what the public want, and should even foresee those wants long before the public -begins to realize its needs and give form to its desires. In this way the small man can make his position very sound and firm.
A Coining Reform in Traffic Conditions.
ANY reform which may reasonably be considered likely to improve traffic conditions and to reduce the risk of accidents is undoubtedly well worth trying, provided always that it does not entail, as so many ill-advised proposals have the knack of doing, increased risk in the transition stage.
We are distinctly in favour of a change being made of the pathway rule of keeping to the right, but we feel much more strongly against any proposal to alter the rule of the road. There is not the least need for the latter change, because there are few who are called upon to drive motor vehicles in more than one country, those that go from this country to the Continent or who come over here being invariably thoroughly expert drivers ; and, in our opinion, an expert driver can change from observing one rule of the road to an observance of the other almost without noticing it. To alter our rule of the road would create internal -chaos in traffic conditions, and could only be effected at enormous cost. Vehicles, tramway cross-overs and points and buildings would have to be altered, and every driver be taught, in the hard school of experience, the new rule. A change of this kind is unnecessary, and would be out of all reason.
But a change of the rule which asks pedestrians to keep to the right would involve neither additional risk and little cost beyond the repainting of the few notices that already exist and the erection of some new ones. The pedestrian treats the existing rule with sublime disregard ; he might -be sufficiently interested to treat a new one better. But -what is required to be clearly understood is that the suggested change only applies to the relative positions
ee of pedestrians walking upon a pathway. Where there is no pathway, as on many-country roads, the rule must still be for pedestrians to keep on the right side of the road, so that they can face oncoming traffic. One-half of the opposition to the change, which is being effected in many towns from July 1st, would be silenced were this simple fact made deer
Gas-producer Plants for Motor Vehicles.
W.E WERE particularly interested to note Sir John E. Thornycroft's remarks (occurring in his paper read at the Institute of Transport Congress) upon gas-produeer plants for the conversion of a solid into agaseous fuel for use in an internal-combustion engine, because, some weeks ago, we were afforded an opportunity to examine the plant in use upon a lorry used for transport at the Thornycroft Baeinestoke works and to make a test run upon the vehicle. At that time the works staff were not anxious that the apparatus should be described, because it was still in the testing stage ; our description of it will appear at the earliest
opportunity, however. .
The cost of producer gas, even with anthracite coal at its present high figure, compares very favourably with the cost of petrol, and, although, with the low compression pressures of the engine designed to burn petrol mixtures, the power output from producer gas is less, there is a remarkable economy to be effected, and now that apparatus of a practical order is being produced by such concerns as Thornycrofts and Economic Power, Ltd... (D. J. Smith's patents), many owners will think it desirable to install plant on some of their vehicles and to overcome the objections of the drivers, who, not unnaturally, find producer gas plants more bothersome than liquid fuel carburetters.
But it is in undeveloped countries and lands removed from seaports where the gas producer will show its great merit and value. 'Wherever there is wood, charcoal can be produced, and this forms, next to coal, the best substance for gas production. With a fuel produced on the spot giving a low running charge, the scope of the commercial motor vehicle in wild and semi-civilized countries and in distant places should be enormously enhanced. Our examination of the Thornycroft plant convinced us that the designers have developed an exceedingly simple piece of a,pparatus, which does not call for expert handling and which can be relied upon to do its work most efficiently and effectively,
The Future Design of Steam Wagons.
THOSE interested in steam wagons, who considered that the design of these vehicles had almost reached finality and could be expressed in the two words " overtype " and " undertype," must have been greatly surprised at the appearance of such a machine as the Clarkson, and have experienced a feeling that perhaps they had been tooprecipitate in definitely forming their opinions on the matter.
We, without wishing to adopt the "I told you so! " attitude, must say that we were not surprised at this and other efforts to improve the steam wagon, which, in its present form, however mueli is stated to the contrary, cannot but be considered crude when compared with the highest classes of petrol vehicles designed either for the transport of goods or passengers. For many years we have impressed upon the manufacturers of steam wagons the importance of produc ing something more akin to the normal type of petrol vehicle ; that is to say, a machine which could be driven and looked after by the average driver and which does not necessitate the employment of men of long experience, whilst at the same time being lighter and easier to manceuvre than the present types It now appears that our hopes of developments in this direction were not insecurely based, for a certain vehicle, which for the moment must be nameless, has been produced which will do much to revolutionize present methods and systems of transmission. We hope shortly to be able to give a detailed description of this most interesting vehicle, but for the moment our readers must be contented with the information that the new steam wagon is the nearest approach to accepted petrol vehicle practice that has yet made its bow to the public. Since its inception we have followed with great interest the progress made with this wagon, well knowing that experiments with it would not be continued unless it proved itself capable of upholding the fine reputation which its makers have already won with more ordinary types of vehicles. . In our opinion the new vehicle will mark an important milestone in steam wagon desige, and will do much to increase the already great popularity of steam transport by road, while it will certainly prove an incentive to other manufacturers to concentrate on the improvement of types which are already in existence.