Motorbus World.
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Penny stages have now been areranged on the Central London Railway, and passengers can " skip" any two stations in exchange for the humble coin. Editorial comment will 'he found on page 24.
Ilford Urban District Council is to take legal opinion as to whether .damages can be claimed from motorbus companies for injury to the roads. It arrived at this decision at its last .meeting, notwithstanding the assurance of the Acting Clerk that it would the impossible to claim such damages ,because motorbuses come under the head of ordinary traffic.
Associated Omnibus Report.
The Associated Omnibus Company, which now relies solely upon horsed vehicles, has published its accounts and balance-sheet for the year ended ,the pst December, 19o8, and these were presented to the shareholders last 'Monday. An adverse balance of £2f,435 is now carried forward, but this includes all losses sustained in -connection with the company's motorbus enterprise, which, largely ow' ing to excess of competition, proved unremunerative. The directors evidently entertain the belief that they will make both ends meet with horsed -vehicles abne.
At the eighth annual general meeting, held on the 8th instant, the chairman, Mr. Henry Clinch, dwelt upon the fact that the company showed a trading profit of L:653 for the year, ...compared with a heavy loss during the previous year, and Mr. P. Willing Tibbs, the managing director, in reply to enquiries from shareholders, stated -that negotiations for amalgamation with the London General Omnibus Company had been resumed_
New Motorbus Tor Cambridge.
The Maudslay Motor Company, Parkside, Coventry, has delivered one of its latest two-ton standard type of chassis to the Ortona Motor Company to augment the motorbus service in Cambridge, The body will be fitted at the garage in that town.
The Motorbus Mobilisation.
Mr. Haldane, in his speech upon the Army Estimates in the House of Commons recently, was widely reported in thc technical as well as in the daily Press to have referred to the fact that the motorbus mobilisation scheme undertaken by 94 London General omnibuses in December last was carried out satisfactorily. As a matter of historical accuracy, it is well to remember that only 24 motorbuses and three transport lorries were employed on that occasion.
A New Steam Omnibus.
Alley and MacLellan, Ltd., of Glasgow, will shortly place upon the market a steam omnibus, designs for which have already been prepared. The chassis will largely follow the lines of " Sentinel " practice. The boiler will be of the vertical tubular type, and the engine will have two cylinders, both high pressure, no compounding being employed. The boiler will be situated just behind the front axle, dividing the driver's seaE, and the engine, which will be slung horizontally beneath the frame, is to be completely enclosed. The final drive will be by side chains. The drawings show an extremely moderate wheel tare, without undue overhang, whilst easy riding is ensured by almost flat leaf springs, which are to be supplemented by heavy spiral springs at the ends.
The Fife Motor Company, which has been running a single motorbus in the Cowdenheath and Lochg-elly districts for the past month, has discontinued the service. The capital asked for was not fully subscribed.
A Dundee Experiment.
Dundee Town Council proposes to spend £5,000 on trolley-wire motorbuses, and to use them only in the sunmier months. We seriously doubt whether the capital outlay is justified. flow many vehicles does it cover is the first question that arises, but this is not made clear ?
Dennis Passenger Vehicles.
Mr. Mark W. Grace, of Nelson, New Zealand, has sent a report, in reply to an enquiry from an intending buyer, and in this he writes in high terms of Dennis motorbuses. He has two such vehicles, one to carry 40 and the other 22 passengers. Each has been in use about two years, and there have been no renewals in the engines, gearboxes or back axles ; repairs have been necessary to the universal joints in the cardan shafts, which Mr. Grace thinks are too weak for New Zealand roads. The buses now have accumulator ignition, instead of magnetos, whilst Sirdar tires are used for the big vehicle and the North British Rubber Company's Clincher tires for the small vehicle. A set lasts five months on an average, the mileage being about t,000 miles per month per vehicle. Mr. Grace concludes : " We will be only too pleased to supply any information re the buses, etc., gained during our 21 years' experience in running a motor service. Being in no way interested in the agency of any of our vehicles, you may rely on our information being unbiassed."
It. appears that the introduction of book tickets, at a small reduction in price, promises to prove very success. fol in the traffic organisation of the Eastbourne Corporation's motorbus services.
At an extraordinary general meeting of the Kent Motor Services, Limited, held at Maiden Lane, voluntary liquidation was decided upon, and Mr. Frederick Edward Wright, of rg, St. Dunstan's Hill, E.C., incorporated accountant, was appointed liquidator.
Oxford Still Undecided
The authorities at Oxford are still undecided as to the policy they will pursue in the matter of internal communication for the city. Taking advantage of this state of uncertainty, the representative of a prominent manufacturer of heavy motor vehicles is investigating the local conditions with a view to the possibility of running a service of motorbuses on several of the principal routes in the University City.
In the Ancient City of York.
Controversy is still raging in the city of York with regard to the adoption of some system of internal communication, which shall supersede the existing prehistoric horse-tramway system. A proposal is now on foot to take a poll of the ratepayers as to their preference for one or other of the following systems : electric trams; trackless trams; petrol, steam or accumulator motorbuses. Steam has a number of advocates. York possesses characteristics, in the shape of exceedingly narrow streets and numberless sharp corners to which no satir.,factory tramway system could be adapted.
Rawtenstall's Action.
The Lord Chief Justice has now given his decision in the matter of the action against the Rawtenstall Corporation, to which case we last referred in our issue of the 4th instant. He held : that the bus, as a fact, was " unroadworthy "; that the action of the Chairman of the Tramways Committee was of a courteous and considerate nature, but did not constitute a contract ; that there was no contract; and that were there any con tract entered into by a servant of the Corporation it was ultra vires, and the Corporation was not responsible for such a contract, or for the breach of duty of one of its servants in the performance of it. fudgment was therefore given for the defendant Corporation, with costs.
We may remind our readers that the action arose by reason of injurieS sustained by the occupants of the bus, ultich got out of control when running down hill on an inspection tour outside the area of the Borough of Rawtenstall, in July last. At least one of the brakes was out of order. The Corporation had not sanctioned its use for the trip, which had been arranged over the telephone with the Borough Engineer and the Chairman of the Tramways Committee, in consideration of a nominal payment by the hirers of two guineas. His Lordship remarked that, if the Corporation were otherwise liable, the fact that the bus was running outside the Borough would not vitiate that liability.