By The Hawk
Page 52
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BIRD'S EYE VIEW
Fact-Packed How many more vehicles
squeezed onto our inadequate roads last year? Answer: 880,400. How many trams are still in service? Answer: 180 (another 188 having fallen by the way during the past year). How many people work in all aspects of road transport in Britain? Answer: 2,501,000—making it the biggest of our industries. How much do road users now pay annually in taxation?
Answer: Well over 1750,000,000. Pause for breath before another staggering bit of information. There are about 26,000 miles of vehicles in this country. Or, to indulge in one of those flights of fancy beloved by statisticians: if a 30-lane highway was built from Land's End to John O'Groat's (or even from John O'Groat's to Land's End, for that matter) the vehicles in this country would form a bumper-to-bumper jam from end to end. A few might even fall over the edge.
All this information of varying value, and a vast amount more, with perhaps greater relevance, is to be found in "Basic Road Statistics, 1964" which the British Road Federation has just produced. This veritable mine, as they say, of information comes from 26 Manchester Square, London, W.1, for the price of one silver shilling and 5d. postage. I always find it good fuel for flames of personal indignation, especially as the £750m taxation is matched by only about £266m. spent on roads.
There was something appropriate in the use of an early Foden steam wagon to carry the late William Foden on his last journey. For much of his career steam had been his life, although he was actually the one who influenced the Foden factory to turn over to the oil engine some 34 years ago. Just about the time William joined his father in the business they produced their first steam traction engine for farm haulage and threshing use. That was in 1884. From this machine was developed the Foden steamer.
Fodens were not lured into the petrol field and when the changeover came it was straight from steam to oil engines. Four years ago Ashley Taylor interviewed Mr. Foden in connection with an article being prepared for "The Commercial Motor" and he specially recalls how quickly "The Guv'nor " seized on and corrected some slight imprecision in the description of an old steamer. At the age of 92 Mr. Foden was then spending most of each weekday at the works and he took a deep personal interest in the long-service employees and their families. Hundreds of them he knew by the Christian names and to them he was always just "The Guy'nor ".
B18 The Patriarch
A few weeks ago I told IN sad tale of how the Martin Walter Ltd. works cricket tearr was all out for a duck. The company's P.R.O. is not, gather, entirely depressed by the eventual result, as fame followed the dire defeat with front page stories on national dailies and references on TV. And the company's chairmar received this telegram from 'Colin Cowdrey, Kent C.C. captain and former England skipper: "Don't worry yot can only improve. Injuries to players may cause county team to ask you for replacements." lii Wind?
When your firm enters you and your vehicle for the L.D.O.Y. competition do you ga all out to win regardless of what might happen to the vehicle? That was the problem confronting a newcomer in a recent round, says colleague John Matthews. The man was driving a large, highly polished boxvan, and complained that nearly half of the 61-mile road route was on comparatively narrow roads with overhanging trees. Concerned about the paintworlc., he drove on the middle of the road. Middle Man
How Safe is Secure? Five employees of Davis Bros. (Haulage), of Wapping, London, provided the answer last Friday after 29 minutes of frantic work on a Bedford 15-cwt. van. In the hot June sunshine they succeeded in driving away the vehicle, which was equipped with Auto Securities safety devices. Last week I told you of the challenge by Davis Bros. that they would accomplish this in 30 minutes.
Armed with an oxy-acetylene burner and numerous tools, the team beat the deadline by just one minute to prove what could be done by skilled and determined thieves. But to be fair, few would go to the extent that this team did; and moreover, although they drove away the vehicle with a push start, it went only some 30 yards before the fuel cut off. I think one point was proved: that the security devices provide sufficient deterrent to foil most thieves.
Personally. I was pleased to see the Davis team get inside the van—there were indeed several bottles ol champagne stacked there and drinks all round finished off a novel and entertaining afternoon. By the way, there is no truth in the rumour that the team has had offers to turn professional.