The Motor Drivers News.
Page 23
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The Successful Driving of Steam Wagons.
" J.P." (Leicester) writes with reference to steam wagons :—" It is an absolute necessity that the driver should be an intelligent man, and that he should have had a certain amount of engineering experience before being placed in charge of a steam vehicle. He should be able to do all ordinary running repairs, such as, grinding in a valve, expanding tubes, and reducing brasses, etc. He should, also, know that, when reducing crank-pin brasses, he should take careful data, otherwise he may force off a cylinder cover. If the driver can do the above repairs, it will be a great saving, as having to call in a fitter every time a small repair has to be done will be found a most expensive plan. In one respect, engines which are bolted to the top of a locomotive type of boiler have an advantage over the other patterns at present on the market, inasmuch as that they are directly under the driver's eyes, so that, if any repair is required, it can be done directly, and with case." " J.P." goes on to say that it is in the driver's own interests to keep the engine, and wagon generally, clean, as in so doing the machinery will work to the best advantage, and less steam will be required, with a corresponding saving in fuel. Another point is to change down to low gear at the proper time, and not to leave it until the engine labours, as this is likely to strain some of the parts.
An Ingenious Repair to a Contact Breaker.
" J. P." (London) sends this letter for inclusion in these columns.—" I always read the Drivers News with great interest, and have, from time to time, gained much useful information from its columns. I am a road engineer and have, therefore, very many kinds of repairs to undertake, both small and large ones. A short time ago, while travelling home at night after finishing my day's work, I found one of our motorbuses " hung up " by the road side, with the driver, and conductor, sitting, as is usual in these cases, inside the vehicle anxiously waiting for somebody to come along to help them out of the difficulty. I went and enquired about the matter, and found that the cause of the hitch was not known. After a careful search, I found that the fault lay in the arm of the contact breaker. The spring which forces the small roller outwards had broken, and, consequently, no sparking occurred. In the case in question the contact breaker is on the front end of the engine, and readily accessible. My only tools were a small shifting spanner, and a pair of pliers, so I did not quite know what to do. At last an idea struck me! I looked round and saw a lady, whom I asked to be kind enough to give me a hairpin. She at once complied with my request, and I managed to twist the wire into a presentable spring, which I fitted into its correct position. Then we started up the engine, and found that everything was all right. A hint to conductors : always get at least one lady on your bus."
Dangers of Fogs,
" T.D." (Keighley) sends the following account of an accident :—" A serious collision occurred a few days ago, between a tramcar and a steam wagon, at Keighley, in Yorkshire. The tramcar, driven by a very competent driver, was travelling between Stockbridge and the Municipal Hall at a very slow rate, and the steam wagon, also driven by a competent driver, were the vehicles concerned. The accident occurred in a fog, and, as a result of the smash, both car and wagon were disabled, and the road blocked for about three hours. Keighley drivers are noted for their carefulness during fogs, and luckily, no passengers were injured. The collision was inevitable, owing to the short distance in which the drivers had to pull up in, as it was impossible to see above three yards in front of a car. The passengers in the car were greatly alarmed, and the electric tamp was broken to atoms, whilst the whole front of the tramcar was considerably damaged, the electric motors being completely put out of action. The steam wagon, which belonged to Messrs. George Hattersley and Sons, machine makers, Keighley, received the greatest damage, the front axle being broken, the wheels flying off, and the wagon falling, bodily, on to the ground. The driver and his mate escaped uninjured, and a breakdown gang was telephoned for, and despatched in haste, from Messrs. Hatters
ley's works and also by the tramway officials. The tram system was completely disorganised, on this particular route from 8.3o a.m. when the accident occurred, until noon. The steam wagon was heavily loaded, and travelling to Stockbridge Canal Wharf. The highway at the point where the affair happened is very narrow, between the rails and the near side of the road, and steam wagons are, almost, tornpelled to keep to the tramlines to save coming into contact with lamp-posts, and the standards. Much unpleasantness results between tram drivers, and steam wagon drivers, at this point, and, to make matters worse, the tramway metals project above the road level, and I am surprised that more accidents do not occur. It is considered disgraceful that things should be allowed to go on in this state, especially when the comparative large number of wagons in the town is considered."
Greasy Roads " J. II." (London) says :—" The following may interest your readers. I recently started with a motor wagon, and trailer, to take a to-ton load front Woolwich, to Barnet. When I left the yard—about 6 a.m.—I found that the roads were very greasy, and the vehicle started sliding all over the place. I reached Tidal Basin without mishap, however, but here the trouble commenced. Suddenly, the wagon slid bodily into a wall, on the top of which were some wooden palings, and the tail of the motor sweeped away about six yards of these. This, of course, brought the man in blue on the spot with his notebook. After an interesting quarter of an hour I started away again, and reached the Iron Bridge, at Poplar, with great difficulty. When descending the hill, the motor skidded completely round and faced in the opposite direction, dragging the trailer into the kerb, and wrenching the draw-bar from its socket. This meant half-an-hour's delay while the bar was lashed in position. I started away once more, and reached Hackney, taking the road by Victoria Park, but here another hitch occurred. Both back wheels dropped into a trench that had just been filled up; the ground was, in consequence, very soft, and the wheels sank up to the axle. It took a good three hours to jack out, and get everything in trim, before we could start off again. The time was now a p.m. We reached Southgate without further mishap, and I stopped to take water from a pond. Here, again, misfortune overtook me, the joint in my Klinger water gauge blew out, making another delay of half an hour. We, however, reached Barnet without further mishap, unloaded the wagon, and trailer, and started for home. All went well, until Southgate was again reached, and having to take in water at the same spot, I had to pull in very close to the side of the road. I inadvertently steered too near to the bank at the pathside, and, before I could do anything, down went the front and back wheels, nearest to pond, into a ditch. The jack was again brought into use, but I found that it sank into the ground, instead of lifting the wagon. I had no timber on the motor, having broken it up at Hackney in the morning, so I had to look about the fields for some, and, finding none, I commandeered part of a fence. After two hours' hard work, I was able to make another start for home, which I reached after much skidding at 6 a.m. next day, after taking twenty-four hours to do a nine hours' journey. This will beat your Slough correspondent's experience."