Passing Comments
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ONE of the well-known men in our industry who were amongst the earliest to concern themselves with the oil engine is Mr. T. H. Barton, 0.B.E., managing director of Barton Transport, Ltd., who helped to develop the Ackroyd Stuart crude-oil engine, and actually built the first Hornsby Ackroyd oil engine to be sold. He even developed a compression-ignition engine at the Hornsby works at Grantham in 1892. In this third unit, the compression pressure was raised sufficiently to produce an air temperature far exceeding the autoignition point of the oil fuel. By injecting fuel at the end of the compression stroke, it was fouild that the power could be raised from about .9 b.h.p. with low compression to approximately 14 b.h.p. with the higher. The unit was started by belt from another engine, whilst a packing was placed under the valve temporarily to ease the compression. Under test it ran steadily for some six hours without stopping, but the scantlings were deemed insufficient to stand the extra stress. The main reason for discontinuing production was, however, the difficulty in starting. Consequently, the hot box and lowcompression unit, with its prompt starting, took the fancy of the public, and this type was made and sold by the thousand. Who Built First Compression-ignition Oil Engine? Bus Chairman's Views THE chairman of the Yorkon Good and Bad I shire Woollen District Trans
Control port Co., Ltd., referred recently to certain political tendencies. He said that some trade unions favoured the nationalization of •transport as part of their outlook. Certain of their officials believed that, the larger the bftreaucracy or unit, the greater would be the enthusiasm and effort put into his work by the employee. Personally, he did not believe that human nature works that way. In his opinion, some transport units in this country are already too large, and it would be a positive disadvantage to the public to make them any bigger. The road passenger-transport industry had operated so smoothly, with so little trouble to the machinery of Government, that the bus companies had received scanty recognition. He suggested that company and municipal undertakings that had proved themselves in the fire of war should have restored to them, as soon as the Nazis had been defeated, that liberty for which they are fighting. It would, however, be foolish to suggest • that liberty should be completely uncontrolled. The Commissioners discharged their tasks in pre-war days so well that there were relatively few appeals and. no responsible criticism of the system. The more controls there are, the more out of date we are likely to become. Bus Crews Face with Courage the Flying Bomb 'WE believe that Dr. vv Goebbels, that little clubfooted monstrosity whom we
have met on several occasions, would be animazed if he could see how well the people of Southern England are standing up to the latest instrument of the Hun. Of all thase people whose work involves facing this new method of attempted mass murder, we admire most the drivers and conductors of public-service vehicles. Practically surrounded by glass, as they are, thy carry out their duties with what might seem to many to be.almost a contempt for any danger, whilst other people can, if they feel so inclined, take cover. All of them know that some of their comrades have paid the price of a heroic duty with their lives or serious injury; yet the bus crews carry on and seldom voice complaint, except against those who send over these devilish contraptions.
Plug Troubles Often IN these days fuel consumpMistaken for Weak i. tion is a matter of the utmost Fuel Mixtures . importance, and any means by which a reduction can be obtained should be carefully examined. Sometimes it will be found that an engine appears to be starved of fuel, Cleaning out the carburetter and filter may have no effect, and in such circumstances the engine often continues to run better with the choke pulled out slightly. This, however, is a most uneconomical way of allowing it to operate. It will often be discovered that the trouble is entirely due to the sparking plugs. Cleaning and adjusting them may remove what was considered to be entirely a fuel trouble. The reason for better running when the engine is semi-choked is that the rich mixture thus provided is more readily ignited by a poor spark. Therefore, do not always suspect the fuel supply. Check both this and the plugs.