• Rubber Suspension a Big Improvement I SPEND over three hours...a
Page 37
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
day in Midland Red" buses :and Was therefore particularly interested tO-conspare the normal system" Of springing with the new Metalastik all-rubber rear suspension system when it was demon-, Armed last week by the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus. -Co., Ltd., writes P. A. C. Brockingtort, "The .Commexial Motor " Midlands representative.
It was described and illustrated in 'last week's issue.
There weree-15 other passengers on the bus • and the improvement in suspension. was marked. Small print could be read without eye strain, and
. was possible to write legibly when • travelling over had road surfaces: There was marked freedom from pitching and . rolling, and high-frequency vibrations were completely absorbed.
Mr. D. M. Sinclair, general manager of the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Co:, Ltd., has announced that plans for building_a two-cylindered twostroke opposed-piston .engine are, well advanced, He said that if the rubber
suspension system proved satisfactory in service, it would be 'standardized on " Midland Red " single-deck bnses. It might also be suitable for doubledeckers.
• GOODYEAR " STOP-START" TYRE REINTRODUCED
ASPECIAL :tyre which was once largely employed by operators of vehicles engaged its delivery services in populous areas is the "Stop-Start," which has now been reintroduced by the Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Co., Ltd., of Wolverhampton.
It is primarily designed to withstand the hard work of constant starting, accelerating. braking and stopping, also for use on vehicles operating over hilly country on rough, abrasive roads, where sharp turns subject the tyres to heavy • grinding action.
As compared with the conventional tyre, it has a more massive tread, and the shoulders have deep-cut notches to disperse heat, the upper shoulder being designed to form a dual, non-skid pattern and even When the tyre has worn snicioth, the non-skid shoulder
notches remain. The treatIF, is -much thicter tharCin the ordinary pattern.
it 4S produced in three sizes, S.S..17, 19 and 22, replacing seven sizes of lyre of ordinary design.
. •' .. OVER 4,000,000 VEHICLES
LATEST figures give the total nainber of motOr vehicles registered in Great Britain as 4,016,000, an increase of nearly 1.000,000 since. 1938. Of these, vehicles in our field number over 1.909,000, almost eqnalling private cars at 2,107.000.
TROLLEYBUSES TO GO NAOTORBUSES are to replace trolleyIV". buses on the route from West Hartlepool to Seaton Carew, This is part of the West Hartlepool Corporation's scheme for the ultimate substitution of motorbuses for all trolleyhoses.
R.H.E. RAISES WAGES I NCREASES its wages, of porters, assistant hinders and checkers, and loaders and first-class checkers, have been agreed betwe.en the Transport and General Workers' Union and the Road Haulage Executive. These adjustments have been made in the light of the provisions of R.H.34. Increases range from Is. to 5s, a week, ..
P.M.'s Tribute to F. Perkins
HIGH tribute was paid by the Prime Minister at the --lord Mayor's Banquet at the Guildhall, London, last week, to a Peterborough ,.oil-engine manufacturer, believed to be F. Perkins, Ltd. _
Quoting examples of companies that had made efforts to increase output that were "worthy of commendation," he said that the concern in question had' greatly increased production, the output per man having been doubled daring the past two years and exports raised
at the same rate. . • The company employs over 7,000 workers in its new factory at 0Xney Road, Newark, Peterborough, and Pro. duces about 75 engines a day, 85-Ter cent: of. which a;•e exported. Sales during the current year are expected. to • total about £4,500,000, and output is likely to be three times that of 1947.
The annual dinner of the Tyneside branch • of—the Industral . Transport Association will be held on December 15.