"Road-Rail Balance Must be Found"
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AT an appeal hearing in London last week, a spokesman for British Railways submitted that a proposed
coach service from Maidenhead to Weymouth was unnecessary, as the public were adequately served by the railways.
The railways were appealing against the grant of a licence variation to W. F.
Carter and Sons, Ltd., Maidenhead, allowing Weymouth as an additional destination on their express service between Maidenhead and Bournemouth during the summer.
Mr. K. Potter, for the railways, said: "This is pre-eminently a ease in which a proper balance between road and rail services should be sought. Both must contribute to meet the public need for holiday traffic in the Maidenhead-Reading area."
For Carter and Sons, Mr. M. A. B. King-Hamilton said that at the hearing of the application evidence on their behalf had been given by 13 witnesses. Before that, a minimum of 331 inquiries concerning coach travel to Weymouth had been made.
It had been proved that existing road facilities were not adequate and it was significant that two coach operators, who were to have objected, had withdrawn. Mr. King-Hamilton added that from June to September, 1954, only 68 passengers booked for the railway journey from Maidenhead to Weymouth.
Even if the appeal were allowed, he said, people would still travel to Weymouth by coach, despite the inconvenience of having to change to the Hants and Dorset service at Bournemouth.
T.P. PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION
A DISPLAY of photographs taken by Temple Press staff photographers and representatives of the varied fields covered by Temple Press journals, including The Commercial Motor, will be on view at the Ilford Gallery, 106107 High Holborn, London, W.C.1, from October 18, until mid-November. Admission is free and readers of The Commercial Motor are cordially invited to visit the exhibition, which will be open on weekdays from 4 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., and On Saturdays until 12 noon.
BUS EXHAUST PIPES ALTERED
QOME 1,500 London buses have had their exhaust systems modified and the rest are being converted. The exhaust pipe is sealed with a special plate and the under section is cut away to diffuse the gases by discharging them directly on the ground.
CHEAP FARES AT BLACKPOOL
CHEAP fares for residents aged 70 and over, and for the blind and councillors on official journeys, were last week approved by Blackpool Corporation.
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Dumper Licence in Public Interest
THE.Transport Tribunal last week rejected an appeal by the British Transport Commission against the decision of the Scottish Licensing Authority to grant an A licence to William Carmichael, Ltd., 33 Broadford Street, Glasgow, to operate 10-,ton dumpers.
Mr. G. C. Emslie, for the company, said that it was the intention to. use the vehicles for site work in Scotland and England, and mainly within 10 miles of the sites.
Mr. I. Cowan, for the B.T.C., accepted that civil engineers were using larger excavators and required bigger vehicles, but stated: "The question is not whether this particular vehicle is a vehicle adapted for such work on the site, but to what extent . . . it will be used on road work."
Mr. Hubert Bull, president: " If we. or the Licensing Authority, were satisfied that this vehicle should be available for site work only, does it not follow that it is a matter of public interest that it should be available for going on the public highway occasionally? "
Mr. Cowan: "Yes, if they show that the need for them on the public highway is justified."
Mr. Hull: "No one would use a vehicle of this sort for haulage work on the' public highway."
FORD PROFIT Xlm. Up
IN future, the Ford Motor Co., Ltd. are to publish an unaudited halfyearly statement of account. The first, issued last week, shows a group net profit for the first half of this year of £6,023,784, compared with one of £5,078,803 a year ago.
Since June 30 last the volume of sales has been maintained, but profit margins are being reduced by increases in costs of materials and labour.
ORDERS FOR WASHERS 'THREE Essex type 30 bus washers have been ordered by Sheffield Transport Department. Aberdeen Transport Department and the Singapore Traction . Co., Ltd., require one each. Continental-type models are being supplied to Berliner VerkehrsBetriebe (13.V.G.) and BochumGelsenk irchener Strassenbahen, A.G. Van-Width machines are being supplied to the Ministry of Works and to Holland.
Busbar System for 27 Electrics
A BUSBAR trunking system has been rt installed at the electric-vehicle garage of Kilmarnock Equitable Cooperative Society's transport department. The charging plants for 27 battery-electrics are fed from 220 ft. of enclosed overheadtrunking supplied by the General Electric Co., Ltd. Ordinary methods of wiring would have entailed long, separate branch runs of conduit..
The trunking, which encloses four air-spaced bare copper busbars of 300-amp. capacity,.carries 30 tap-off units at regular intervals. Short feeds are taken from the units to the individual chargers, each feed being fused.
With the Main feeders so close to the chargers, there is a lower voltage drop between feeder and load than there would be with a conduit system.
The trunking was easy to install. A metal case encloses the conductor bars to limit fire risk. Total load carried is 81 kW.
NO RUNNING-IN 'THE abolition of fixed running-in
speeds for Bedford vehicles now applies to all models, both. petrol and oil. As reported last week, drivers of 10-12-cwt. vans were absolved from this need. Instructions are that high and sustained engine speeds . should be avoided for the first 1,000 miles.
NEW STATION BUILDINGS
NEW buildings are to be erected at the bus station at Pond Street, Sheffield, to provide offices and covered accommodation for 4,000 passengefS. The estimated cost is £50,000, half of. which wilt be met by the• transport department