The Motor Drivers News.
Page 20
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Vegetarian Diet lor Boilers.
" G.G." (Carlisle) writes us as follows I took a great interest in the driver's account the other week in connection with leaky tubes, as I once had charge of a wagon the boiler of which was continually giving trouble owing to file tubes leaking. I tried to stop the trouble by every means in my power, such as expanding them, and fitting in new ferrules, but all to no purpose. One day I met an old and experienced driver, who asked me if I had tried a ' bran mash.' I said ' No,' and asked him what he meant. He said that the idea was to put a big handful of bran into the boiler after washing it out. I did as he suggested, and found it very effective, as I had little or no trouble afterwards. Whether it was the bran I cannot be certain, but if ever I have leaky tubes again I shall try another ' bran mash ' before doing anything else. " A great many drivers are troubled with scale in their boilers, especially those in traction engines and steam wagons. This is owing to the varying qualities of water which have to be used in the country. I once drove a small 30cwt. steam wagon, of a French make, with a high-pressure boiler working at 225 pounds on the square inch. I got handsful of scale out when washing out the boiler. I met the same man who advised the bran mash,' and told him of my trouble. He said he expected that the boiler had not been properly washed out, and he told me always to put a small potato into it the last thing. After a few weeks the boiler was in splendid condition, and an inspector said it was one of the cleanest he had seen for some considerable time, which is a lot from a boiler inspector. " Before I had sole charge of a wagon, I was mate to the man who gave the above bits of advice, and he told me various clever dodges. One day we were running along nicely, when the engine started to knock terribly, and on examining it we found that the set screw in the cross-head had snapped and let the adjusting block drop, thus loosening the brasses and causing the knock. We had no set screw with us, and I was afraid that we had a long walk before us, but the driver did not seem to think much of the accident, and commenced cutting a piece of wood into the same shape and size as a small match-box, but slightly tapered like a wedge. This he drove in under the block, until the brasses were forced back into place, and then drove a nail into the thin end of the wedge and bent the head over so that it came up against the block and kept the wedge from working out. This was a splendid mend, and it did its work and caused no trouble for the rest of the journey, which lasted for five hours. When we started to take it out we found that the whole thing was as tight as when we had done the job in the first instance.
" A pipe from a pump once burst on my wagon ; it was only a very tiny hole, and could hardly he discerned, but it very SCOn wetted me through, and, of course, had to be stopped somehow. I first of all tried laying a piece of rubber over the hole, binding it in place with some copper wire, but it leaked nearly as had as ever. I had a long way to go to my journey's end, and the water in my tank was running rather low, so I became anxious. I stripped the pipe and drove a tin tack into the hole, afterwards re-binding the pipe with the original rubber and wire. I then tried again, and found, to my delight, that the experiment succeeded well."
Broken Stearn Pipes,
" (Dartford) writes us on the 9th instant :—
" While on a trip with my Mann's steam wagon last week, I unfortunately broke off the top flange of the steam pipe close to the neck. This happened about ten miles from home, and I was rather in a fix as to the best thing to do under the circumstances. I did not like the idea of having to tramp to the nearest smith, so I determined to try and repair the damaged part myself. First of all I lengthened the pipe by straightening it somewhat at the elbows. Then, as I had no file with me to make the hole in the flange larger, I had to make the pipe smaller. This I did by repeatedly annealing it and hammering it on the steel tyre of one Of the wheels. I eventually got the tube small enough to go through the hole in the flange, and I pushed it through until about a half inch showed. I then flanged it over all round carefully, When putting the pipe back into position I found that it was rather short, so I had to place somelarge washers between the ends, also some pieces of asbestos sheeting. I then bolted everything in place, and found that it made a good job; so good, in fact, that it is still in use The whole work took me about 2 hours to do, but it saved me from the necessity of having to be towed home."
An Early Steam Bus.
" J.G." (Newcastle-on-Tyne) sends us the following letter
on the nth instant I am always interested in the
Drivers News ' in ' TEE. COMMERCIAL MOTOR,' so I thought I should like to send along some of my experiences in driving. I have been a driver since the age of eighteen, and have had steam vans, locomotives, traction engines, steam wagons, and steam omnibuses through my hands. My first experience with the last-named vehicles. was with a lifu, in Mansfield, in the year 1898. Omnibuses were not so perfect then as they are now, by any means, and, when I took over this steam bus, I found that I was to be the fifth driver. The vehicle WaS in a bad state; in fact, it was badly out of repair. The superheater had burst into the bargain. These vehicles were constructed in such a manner that it was impossible to throw the gearing out, so, as the manager was not there, I had to jack the bus up before -I could find out what was the matter with it. I got it to rights, and the manager and myself set out for a four miles' run : that was my first lesson. The next day I started 0I1 public service work for the first time. The vehicle only ran three days a week, and I kept it on the road, without losing a journey, for over four months. Then my troubles commenced. One day at Hucknall—five miles out—the bevel-gear case broke at the engine end of the universal shaft, and this caused the shaft to rise up, bringing the gear wheels out of mesh at the same time. I was now in a very bad fix, and I could not think how to get the bus home. I at last went to the blacksmith and got him to make me a pair of clams, which I bolted on. When I had finished I found out that directly I started the vehicle forward the clams were forced apart, but that when using the reverse the strain was taken off them. In the end I had to run backwards the whole five miles home. The wheels were another constant source of trouble. They were shod with rubber, and had loose slippers over the tyres to protect them. These Were very noisy, and clanged, one against the other, as the wheels revolved. Sometimes the rubber ends would squeeze out between the joints of the slippers, and, before I could do anything, would drop out upon the road; this was no joke with a lot of passengers on board. My plan was to take out the closure piece in the steel rim and take all the slippers off, afterwards replacingthe closure piece and continuing the journey. Once I had the steam pipe of the automatic firer burst, and all my passengers began to jump off. I just shut off the valve and informed them that there was nothing the matter. I started to turn round, and the crankshaft broke in two pieces on the highpressure side, but I managed to get home on the low-pressure cylinder. Afterwards my boiler tubes began to burst with regularity worthy of a better cause, and I had a very bad time with them. The trouble became too bad, so the bus was taken off the road, and so ended the career of the motor bus at Mansfield. I often think of those clays, and compare them with the present time. Motor buses are now as reliable as the horse-drawn variety."