" Somewhere in Luton."
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A Few Interesting Notes Relating to the Establishment of Commercial Cars, Ltd., at Luton.
The work of building, equipping and furnishing the very considerable extensions, plans for which we saw on the occasion of a visit to Luton in June, 1914, has perforce been expedited in order to meet the requirements of the Minister of Munitions, and visitors who can only visualize the works as they were 18 months ago, would hardly recognize the exterior as it is today, and would certainly run the risk of losing themselves if they ventured far into the interior. As a matter of fact, the premises are now to all intents and purposes twice the size they were at that time and; moreover, they are occupied in so far as the machine shops are concerned, by up-to-date machinery. Not the least of the innovations we observed was the runway extension. Almost every department is traversed by this, and all the separate sections are interconnected by the same means.
We could very easily monopolize the whole of an issue in describing all the, many interesting features which presented themselves to our notice during our stroll through the works. Space, unfortunately, is limited, and we have decided to confine ourselves by reference to a couple of departments only--the case-hardening shop and the engine test rooms. These appear to us to have the greatest interest for the lay reader, and they are typical inasmuch as they show the very thorough manner in which all the Commercar work is treated.
The case-hardening room, as it is called, merely consists of a row of furnaces fitted with all the latest improvements in the way of heatregulating appliances and inspection doors. By means of an indicator connected with the pyrometers in each oven, it is possible to tell at a glance the temperature at whielt any one of them is work ing. This section of a motor works is, perhaps, the one in which the most, direct application of scientific knowledge is needed. In no industry in the world, perhaps, is this of greater prominence than in the motor world, and Commercars have been careful to have the best advice and the best of apparatus at their disposal for this important branch, in order to lessen the risk of error, and, furthermore, so that the best results arc likely to be obtained. The company has, wherever possible, confined itself to the use of two alloy steels, so that simplicity and economy of working are attained in this department.
The engine-running shop we found to be actually in process of being enlarged, and provision was also being made for the extension of the runways to this department so that direct connection could be made between the test beds and erecting shops. Each engine on its entering the room is coupled to what may be described for the benefit of our lay readers as a perpetual pump, inasmuch as it is so arranged that it is always working under pressure, the extent of which, however, can be regulated by the man in charge of the section. This is used merely for running engines in, and after a period, which varies with the state of the unit, it is transferred to the test bench proper. There. is a
number of these arranged down the length of the shed with a Froude dynamometer running on rails so that it can be brought up to any engine bed for convenience of testing. There are several ingenious fittings in the room which are, we believe, due to the ingenuity of the chief or the department. The scale of the dynamometer, for instance', instead of being calibrated, as is usual, With the torque against which the engine is running, necessitating calculation before the actual horse powercan be arrived at has been marked out in horse-powers; so that the figure can be read off. directly. . There is also a U tube attached to the dynamometer frame, so arranged . that the actual petrol consumption at any •moment can be read off at glance. We also noticed an arrangement for testing repaired magnetos with aspark plug behind a glass door in an air-tight, • compartment with meansfor Compressing the air therein to any desired amount.
The whole of the works activity is, of course, • devoted to munitions in the shape of transportlorries. We saw one or two • exceptions, which are examples of the operation of the 25 per cent. release. Lying neglected in a corner was what would have been bulefor the intervention of the war, the 1915 Commerear al-ton chassis. Want of space again prohibits our goinginto detail. It will suffice to say that it incorporates several novel features, one of these being particularly interesting from a technical point-of view, inasmuch as it represents a new departure in the matter of gearbox construction. We hope later on when the War Office demands fall to such an extent as to allow of the company's proceeding with this model, to describe it in the very thorough manner which it deserves on eonsideration of its design and construction.