FUTUR ULL OF CONTAINER
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ONE of the most interesting features of the General Motors Futurama exhibit at the New York World Fair (due to reopen in April) is reported to be a "futuristic freight centre" svhich is said to symbolize a coming era in the high-speed, automated transport of the world. The designers who created the Futurama see wholesale containerization as the main theme of tomorrow's transportation.
Already there has been a considerable increase in the use of containerization—since the end of the last war—and the many advantages are generally accepted. But all freight is not transported in containers, although steps have been taken towards finding a universally useful system to serve all methods of transport—road, rail, air and sea. The standard sizes developed do not meet all requirements and although General Motors offers solutions it does not claim them to answer all problems.
Techniques and equipment employing specially designed containers are featured in a fully integrated system to be seen in the Futurama "ride into tomorrow ", a 15-minute trip through six scenes of the world as it may be some day. Unlike today, there is no difficulty in transferring containers from one method of transport to another. Distribution centres located on the outskirts of cities are served by electronically controlled highways, high-speed monorail trains, vertical take-off aircraft and ship canals. Containers reach industrial areas and town centres by express vehicle routes, on cross-country conveyor belts or through pneumatic pipelines. The nerve centre of the system is the goods centre where shipments are received, stored and dispatched automatically. Containers are constructed to withstand the effects of bad weather and are stored in open bays served by external lifts whilst computers in the centre's control station maintain a comprehensive inventory and
u-epare the necessary dispatch schedules. A number of vehicles specially lesigned for use within the system are hown. These range from gas turbineiowerecl " freight haulers " for main-road Durneys to oil-the-road transporters for Ise in undeVeloped areas, and airushion machines for, the movement of ontainers within the goods centre. One chicle, the Bison, is shown full size in . separate display. This has two gas urbine engines, one giving 280 h.p. for ruising, the other rated for 720 bp. or acceleration or hill climbing., Another ehicle, designed for container transport rithin the city, is designed to load or .nload at ground level.
Elements of all the vehicles are refine'tents of many trends evident in vehicle esign today , aerodynamic shape, light/eight construction and improved power nits—and these have been developed to nticipate the future transport demands.