NEWS of the WED<
Page 26
Page 27
Page 28
Page 29
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
PEDESTRIANS SHOULD OBSERVE TRAFFIC LIGHTS.
THE chairman of Dewsbury Safety First Committee, Mr. Charles Fryer, expressed the hope, in a speech last week, that the Government would help motor drivers by making it obligatory for pedestrians to obey crossing signals.
Mr. Fryer, who was presenting safety first awards at Dewsbury to commercial vehicle drivers employed by the L.N.E.R. Co., said that too many pedestrians crossed roads without regard for signals.
Great North Road Schemes to Cost £700,000.
rOLLOWING his visit to South
Shields to open a new road last week, Capt. Enan Wallace, Minister of Transport, later toured sites of proposed improvements on the Great North Road between Newcastle-onTyne and Berwick. The total cost of the work, which includes four new bypasses at Wideopen, Morpeth, Felton and Alnwick and two new bridges, will be £700,000. A start is being made on a £140,000 diversion plan at Newtonon-the-Moor.
Transport Workers to be Included in Laundry Trade Board.
THE Minister of Labour gave notice I in the London Gazette for August 11 of his intention to make a Special Order varying the description of the laundry trade for the purposes of the Trade Boards Acts, 1909 and 1918. The object is to extend the jurisdiction of
• the Laundry Trade Board to include transport workers erriployed in the
trade, Copies of the draft Special Order may be obtained on application, 424
to the Secretary, Ministry of Labour, Metropole Buildings, Northumberland Avenue, London, W.C.2.
Objections to the draft Special Order must be sent so as to reach the Minister at that address on or before September 21, 1939. Objections must be in writing and must state the specific grounds of objection and the omissions, additions or modifications asked for. ROAD AND RAIL CONFEREN( ADVICE TO LICENCE APPLICAN1
As is now well known, the railw companies have agreed not object to cettain applications haulage licences. Hauliers, howev are at times in some little dot regarding the particular cases to wh this concession may apply. The Rol Rail Central Conference, therefc recommends that those hauliers v. intend to apply for licences should o suit locally with the railway compar before their applications are submitt
Normally, where there is any dou the railways would, otherwise, have lodge formal objections within limit of 14 days to cover the per while investigations were being can out.
Peterborough Haulier Opens Lomb Depot.
AN ultra-modern depot has b acquired by Reads of Peterborou Ltd., general carriers, of Stone La Peterborough, at the Transport Gars Overbury Road, Tottenham, N.15.
M.o.T. AND SOUTH SHIELDS TUNNEL SCHEME. v' WHEN Capt. Euan Wallace, Minister VV of Transport, opened a new riverside road at South Shields, last week,. he declined to make any comment on the vexed question of cross-river communications, • although members of .South Shields Town Council approached the subject, Alderman Mitchell, chairman of the South Shields Development Committee, referred to Capt. Wallace's visit to the Tyneside area, in 1934, when he said that a tunnel between North and South Shields was worth investigating. Alderman Mitchell suggested that the Minister should use his influence to finish off the road scheme by providing a road tunnel between the two towns.
Shipping Guide for Hauliers.
THE following is the number of ships arriving at the London docks, wharves and jetties named, from August 18 to 26 inclusive. Docrcs: King George V, 6; Royal Albert, 11; Royal Victoria, 4; Surrey Commercial, 9; East India, 1; West India, 5; South West India, 1; Tilbury, 9; Tilbury Stage, 6; 1V1i1lwall, 5; Royal, 2; London, 2. WHARVES: Hay's, 6; Butler's, 1. Tilbury Jetty, 3. Regent's Canal, 1.
Popularity of Manchester's Mobile Library.
THE library committee of Doncaster Corporation recently visited Manchester to inspect the northern city's travelling library. One of the finest in the country, it has attracted -the attention of authorities in London, whilst particulars of the system have been supplied to places so far afield as Durban, South Africa.
At the time of its institution, in 1931, Manchester's first mobile library was a converted bus with solid tyres, but the necessity of such a vehicle, to serve outlying suburbs of that city where branch libraries were non
existent, can be gauged from the fact that 55,000 books were issued in a year.
Since then, a more modern vehicle has been in service which provides space for 1,200 volumes, a room for a librarian and passageways for the inspection of books.
Vulcan Distributors Acquire New Premises.
.THE centrally situated garage pre1 mises which, until recently and for many years past, have been in the occupation of W. R. Heighton and Sons, Ltd., Lincoln Road, Peterborough, have been acquired by Messrs. Noble and Coles, automobile engineers, of Geneva Street, Park Road, Peterborough. The firm are distributors for Vulcan commercial vehicles and are main Singer agents.
CLYDE TUNNEL PLANS APPROVED IN PRINCIPLE.
A REPORT by Mr. Thomas Somers,
Glasgow City Engineer, on the projected scheme for the construction of a tunnel beneath the River Clyde, was approved, in principle, by a sub committee of Glasgow Corporation, last week.
The tunnel, which is estimated to cost between £8,000,000 and £10,000,000, would link up the northwestern district of Glasgow with the south-western area. It would provide a valuable means for communication between the two sides of the river, as west of Finnieston, where there is another tunnel under the river, the only means for traffic crossing, from the north side to the south side, is by vehicular ferries. There are no bridges spanning the river below the centre of the city.
Proposals for a second tunnel, fartIter. west, were also tentatively discussed by the sub-committee, but these will require to be considered in conjunction with the adjoining local authorities.
10 m.p.h. Over Leven Bridge.
A10 M.P.H. speed limit has been posed on the Leven Bridge which carries the main Fife coast road between Kirkcaldy and Largo over the River Leven.
New Commer Distributors.
WE' have been informed that Bracia VV Stefan i Piotr Bergman Inzynierowie, Ul Marszalkowska 154, Warsaw, has been appointed distributor for Commer vehicles in Poland.
E. W. Campion and Sons, Ltd., successor to Percy Taylor (Motor Engineers), St. Botolph's, Lincoln, has been appointed a distributor for the same make of vehicle. RIVER ALLAN ROAD BRIDGE.
THIS month work will begin on an 1 important improvement to the Great North Road at Bridge of Allan. Stirlingshire, where the present bridge will be replaced by a new one with improved approaches. To straighten the present alignment the bridge will cross the river obliquely with a clear span of 144 ft. The work is estimated to cost £63,000, and to .occupy two years.
Hills Issue Comprehensive Catalogue. I N addition to it extensive range of
number plates, Hills (Patents), Ltd., Hills House, Chenies Mews, Pancras Street, London, W.C.1, markets Hilco garage equipment, also handling the Radiophone loud-speaker intercommunication system. All these and other items are dealt with in a new thumb-indexed catalogue for circulation to the trade. It is obtainable by trade readers on application to the company, mentioning The Commercial Motor.
. Training Employees for A.R.P.
THE Civilian Defence Act requires every person or company employing 30 or more people to make, within one month of the date on which it received the Royal Assent (July 13), reports to the factory or mines inspector, or to the local authority, as the case may be, as to the steps taken or being taken for the training of employees in air-raid routine, and for training and equipping a suitable proportion of them in anti-gas, fire fighting and first aid.
The A.R.P. Department of the Home Office has issued to all local authorities forms (C.B.T.1) to cover employees in commercial buildings. In the case of . factories, 'forms (F.P.T.1 and F.P.T.2) have been distributed to the factory inspectors.
The Act also requires that factory occupiers or owners of commercial buildings in the specified areas where more than 50 people work, shall, within three months from the date of the first approval of the Code or the Order determining these areas, which ever be the later, make a report to the appropriate authority as to the steps taken or being taken to provide airraid shelters for persons working on the premises.
Supplies of the forms on which a preliminary report may be made have been distributed.
Bedford Parts for East African Trader.
FROM a reader in Tanganyika Territory we have received a request for illustrated leaflets relating to "replacement parts " for Bedford WLG and WTL lorries. He mentions pistons, rings, valves, engine auxiliaries, main chassis components, etc. Concerns interested should send literature to Auto-Parts and Machinery Mart, P.O.Box No, 531, Dar Es Salaam, Tanganyika Territory.
Plating of Ford Vehicles..
fITH reference to a recent VV announcement concerning the maximum gross laden weights of the various Fordsons and Thames models, built by the Ford Motor Co., Ltd., Dagenham, Essex, plating of the vehicles will •not actually take place until the new regulations come into , force.
OBITUARY.
rINE of the best-known personalities
in the motor trade, Mr. T. .13. Andre, died on August 5, after a short illness. He was well known in connection with Andre and Hartford shock absorbers, and in the development of the Silentbloe bearing.
We much regret to learn of the death, in an aeroplane accident, cf Mr. A. C. Crossley, M.P., only son of Sir Kenneth Crossley, chairman if Crossley Motors, Ltd., and Crossley Bros., Ltd.
We have lost another old and valued friend in the person of Mr. C. E. G.
Ho us e, M.B,E., A.R.C.Sc., A.M.I.A.E., who died last Friday at the age of 55. Mr. House was a wellknown member of the Institution of Automobile Engineers from its early days, and was chairman of the London Branch of the Graduates Section in 1911-12, while we were on the committee. Amongst those associated wito him at that time were H. Burchall (now at the Air Ministry), R. K. Hubbard (who is managing a railway in the Argentine), A. W. Hubble (managing director of Crossley Motors, Ltd.), D. Kennedy (of Kennedy and Kemp, Ltd.), and G. Campbell Taylor (general manager, Trent Motor Traction Co., Ltd.). At the time of his death Mr. House was a principal officer of the Department of Overseas Trade.
Milk Distribution, 1939.
AN excellent example of modern ideas in the streamlining of a commercialvehicle body is exemplified in an Albion KN127 van, operated by Messrs. Eshott Pedigree Stock Farms, Felton, Northumberland, in connection with the distribution of bottled 'milk to a somewhat widely spread retailing organization.
In the design of the body, Holland Coachcraft, Ltd., Princes Way, Team Valley, Gateshead-on-Tyne, has introduced a pleasing symmetry of line, without in any way detracting from the body space. As will be seenfrom the illustration on this page, the body line is practically unbroken from front to rear, and the wings are so merged into the lower body panels as to suggest integral construction.
The total weight of the body is only 12 cwt., and this has been achieved by a composite method of construction, in which figure light alloys. The unladen weight of the complete vehicle is undet 50 cwt.
This interesting machine was suppliec. by Messrs, F. W. Cawthorn:20, St Mary's Place, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
NEW LOCKHEED BRAKE LUBRICANT, VOR use on all wedge-type brake-shoe expanders operated by Lockheed hydraulic cylinders, a new lubricant has just been introduced by the Automotive Products Co., Ltd., Tachbrook Road, Leamington Spa. Its outstanding feature, which is one of great importance, is that it is absolutely harmless to Lockheed parts.
It has been customary, in the past, for brake wedge mechanisms, used in conjunction with Lockheed operating systems, to be packed with a special grease, and whilst this practice has been highly satisfactory, there has always been the risk of seepage of the lubricant into the Lockheed system. Mineral lubricants, as is well known, are harmful to Lockheed parts, hence the development of this new preparation.
Lockheed expander lubricant is the
outcome of lengthy research. It is non-mineral and possesses entirely adequate lubricating properties. Main-
tenance engineers he well advised to use it when overhauling brakes of this type.
New Welding Electrode.
AN electrode of medium-carbon steel, designed for the building up of steel parts and'surfaces, and known as Hardweld 50, has been introduced by the Lincoln Electric Co., Ltd., Welwyn Garden City, Herts.
It is to be used for surfaces which require more resistance to deformation and wear than is afforded by lowcarbon steel, and must yet remain machineable. In general, the hardness will be approximately 230-330 Brinell, depending on the rate of cooling and the steel on which it is deposited. It may be hardened by water quench or flame methods.
An Efficient and Economical Trailer Ambulance.
A SIMPLE, efficient and strictly economical method of increasing Ile number of available ambulances in .ny district in peace time, or for A.R.P.
urposes, is to be found in the I.)-B iper trailer outfit, for which Messrs. . Dixon-l3ate, Bridge Works, Chester, 1, responsible.
The model featured in the accomowing illustration is designed to ac)mmodate two stretchers, and being light in construction can, if necessary, be towed by a motorcycle and sidecar outfit.
It has an all-steel chassis and the wheels arc. fitted with automatic overrun brakes. The trailer, as supplied, ts complete with detachable tilt, made of anti-gas material, first-aid box, two stretchers, rattle-proof coupling, electric tail lamp, number plate, etc. The D-I3 super trailer ambulance costs
£35. A lighter model of the same size, and with similar equipment, but ' without brakes, costs £30.
. It Pays to Filter the Air.
THE use of an air filter on the induction has long been recognized as an essential if the greatest precautions are to be taken against unnecessary cylinder wear and carbon formation. Such a filter, whilst performing its task efficiently, must offer the least possible resistance to the flow of air through it.
The instruments made by the Visco Engineering Co., Ltd., Stafford Road, Croydon, Storey, and which are sold under the name of Visco, are claimed to have an efficiency of about 98 per cent.
Dust and dirt in the air are arrested by filter rings, which are covered either in Viscinol, a specially blended odourless oil, or, when this is not available, a thin engine oil. COMMERCIAL-VEHICLE SALES DECLINE IN GERMANY.
FOR the third time this year the monthly sales of new commercial vehicles in Germany failed to reach totals recorded for like periods a year ago. Thus the May sales attained only• an aggregate •of 3,518 -machines, a drop from 4,742 as recorded in May, 1988. The sales for the first five months of the year show a decline from 18,692 to 17,269 units.
The May total was made up of 615 vehicles with a carrying capacity up to
20 cwt., 924, 1 to 2 tons, 933, 2 to 3 tons, 470, 3 to 3i tons, 149, 3i to 4 tons, 195, 4 to 5 tons, 217, 5 to 7i tons and 10 over V1 tons. According to the May sales, the six most popular makes of vehicle at the present time are Opel, Ford, DaimlerBenz, Bussing-N.A.G., Magirus and Borgward (formerly Hausa-Lloyd).
Success of Free Brake-testing Scheme.
THE opportunity provided by the Salford (Lancashire) City Police, in conjunction with the Weaver Manufacturing Co., Ltd., for the testing of brakes and steering, free of cost, has been a pronounced success.
During the nine days the two machines—one for commercial vehicles and the other for private cars—have been in operation, over 2,000 drivers have availed themselves of the facilities I.A.E. Repair Certificates.
IINTENDING candidates for I.A.E. 'repair certificates and badges should note that the next series of practical tests for motor mechanics and electricians will be held during the latter half of September, but forms should be submitted now.
Candidates must be 23 years of age or over for practical test in Section A— Mechanical, and at least 21 years for Section B—Electrical. Further information may be obtained from the Secretary, Institution of Automobile Engineers, 12, Hobart Place, London.