Correspondence.
Page 23
Page 24
Page 25
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Darracq-Serpollet Motorbuses.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :-I note in your issue of the 13th instant, that you make mention of the introduction of Darracq-Serpollet motorbuses on the streets of Paris, and I also note that you remark upon their points of excellence which go to make a pleasant revelation to the French " man in the street." My reason for writing to you is the hope that this letter, if you will publish it, may be read by heads of the running department of the Metropolitan Steam Omnibus Company. \Vhen this company first put its vehicles into service some short time ago, everybody who had occasion to use the portions of its route from Hammersmith to Charing Cross, was delighted, especially so were residents in the Kensington district, which had been left severely alone, for some uoknown reason or other, by .the different motorbus companies. But, then, these vehicles ran delightfully ; they were silent, speedy, and were free from any smell from the machinery. At the present time I am sorry to have to say, they have fallen very greatly from the excellence which characterised them heretofore, and have become a less pleasurable means for getting about. Why is it? They go at half the speed that they used to make, and most Of them give out a distinct amount of noise from some portion of the machinery, but, above all, they have become " smelly." It seems a pity to me that this state of affairs should continue, because these vehicles are without doubt fitted with the most comfortable design of bodywork that we have at present on any of the different motorbuses in service. There is, I am sure, no reason—I am not connected with any self-propelled vehicle manufacturer—why steam-propelled, public-service motors should not be successfully run, and I do not wish to teach anybody his own business, but surely a steam. car should last in good order as long as one driven by a petrol engine. I think, personally, that, in point of comfort, a steamer is streets ahead of any other form of self-propelled car, and I am sorry that there are so few at present running. I would suggest to the M.S.O. Company that it should extend its present service
from Piccadilly to the Bank, via Leicester Square, Charing_ Cross Road, and Holborn, as I am sure the change would be appreciated by many, and would bring a healthy increase to the company's exchequer. This letter is not written in a cavilling spirit whatsoever, and it has only been sent to you in the hope that by its publication in your journal its contents will be read by the head of the department which is responsible for the running of these buses.—Yours faith fully, LIONEL BATEMAN. Uxbridge.
The Interiors of Motorbuses.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—I am greatly interested in your paper and hope you will find space enough to publish my reply to the letter on " Motorbuses and Internal Fittings," written by Herbert Hogg.
In my opinion, the London Road Car Company is far in advance with regard to motorbuses. For instance, take the London Generals. These cars and the " Vanguards " merely have a board painted black with white lettering on them, whilst five-sixths of the " Union Jacks " are fitted with nicely-lighted, roller-blind indicators.
Does Mr. H. Tfog,g know that, at the first opportunity, the London Road Company will be fitting five lamps to their motors, viz., two above the driver's head, two one on either side of the conductor, and a red, tail lamp at the back of the steps? With regard to the seats; I wonder if Mr. Hogg ever took a ride in a " Vanguard," Scheibler motorbus between the Elephant and Castle and Cricklewood? I am sure it is almost impossible to travel the journey without slipping off your seat—these are rattan seats. I think, in the Maudslay motorbuses, the London Road Car Company has some of the finest buses on the road, and these are of English make too.
I am greatly indebted to your paper for a great 'teal of motorbus news—especially the census and map route indicator.—Yours faithfully,
Baker Street, W. " A UNION jACK REGULAR."
About the R.A.C. Report.
The Editor, "THE CnMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir -When, after resisting for two years the inducement to hold commercial vehicle trials, the trade last year finally decided to support them, there were not wanting sceptics who predicted that the results would be inconclusive and misleading-, both from the manufacturers' and the users' points of view, and in no way commensurate with the great expenditure of labour, energy, and m•oney which they involved. In this view, no doubt, most of the trade were prepared to concur, but, at the same time, a section, sufficiently large to enable the trials to be held, entertained hopes that by this means the industrial vehicle might be brought prominently before the notice of the user as a commercial proposition, and also that sonic useful information might be gained by the manufacturer to guide him in future designs. Another section of the trade came in because it thought it could not afford to be left out, or beCLILISe the men felt themselves in honour bound to support the movement, whilst the unbelievers kept their money in their pockets and looked on.
It would be difficult to find words in praise of the admirable organisation, which distinguished the conduct of the trials throughout, and of the whole-hearted and conscientious manner in which those gentlemen who acted in an official capacity gave freely of their valuable time and services. There were naturally one or two points where experience dictated that improvement might be made, but, taken as a whole, the successful carrying out of this gigantic undertaking will always stand out in the history of automobilism as a triumph of patient and careful organisation. It is, therefore, all the more unfortunate that the groaning of such an extensive mountain should have brought forth such a very diminutive mouse.
• With the expectation of great things to come, the commercial vehicle world waited five and a half months for the issuing of the report, and, now that it is at last given to that world, it does little or nothing to assist either the user or the manufacturer ! The main—in fact, the only two— points, which interest the user are the cost per net tonmile, and the continuity of running. On the first, the report .vouchsafes no information, and, on the second, the data given are so involved that the commercial vehicle gets a worse reputation than it merits. No attempt appears to have been made to separate time occupied in involuntary stops on the road, which are of vital importance to the user, from time occupied in the depot in adjustments, repairs, and so forth, which are of no particular interest to him. The user, when he starts his goods off on it journey, wants to know. what reasonable chance there is of their. arrivingto time at the other end, and to this question the report only gives an involved reply. Injustice in this respect is done to the steam wagon and tractor classes, in that the water stops are included as involuntary. As a class they showed the greatest continuity of running, and the greatest freedom from • mechanical troubles, either on the road or in the depot, and the stops from this cause probably did not total more than half an hour. for the four wagon entrants; yet they are logged collectively for 14.
hours 8 minutes, without any explanation as to how the time was spent. It is fairly obvious that the time occupied in watering, and the number of 'stops for that purpose, must depend quite as much on the individual nervousness of the driver as on the individual efficiency of the machine, aed it is therefore a pity that no data as to the relative water consumptions are available..
In regard to the petrol vehicles, tire troubles as well as depot work would appear to be lumped into their totals, and they thus show to less advantage than they would if separated under their respective headings. Going back to the all-important question of cost per net ton-mile, the present-day user is far tea wary a bird to be caught by the glitter of medals and diplomas. He has realised, now, from the experience of his friends " who know all about it," that the cost per net ton-mile is determined—out of all proportion to anything else--by the cost of repairs and renewals, and by the loss of the services of his vehicle during those repairs; he also knows that this item does not become an appreciable one until after several months of running, and that then, like the poor, it is always with him. The judges may very truly urge that the restricted pen i al of the trials did not affect the opportunity of arriving at any reliable data on this point. As an instance of the proof of this contention, we have only to turn to Class E, when the majority of the vehicles represented the outcome of the motor-omnibus experience of the last two years, and which, as a class in the trials, was eminently successful. The total distance covered by each of these vehicles was only 000 miles, and the only positive conclusion that can he drawn even from these vehicles making non-stop runs, is, that, under similar conditions, they might have run m days in London, such as motor omnibuses, without giving any trouble! Hence, naturally, the difficulty of arriving at any reliable figures in reference to the cost per net ton-mile. Yet, on referring to the " Variety Columns," we find several vehicles " commended "highly commended" for cost per net ton-mile; so, ;evidently, the judges considered they were in possession of some sort of information to justify them in making these commendations. They could scarcely have been based on the all-important question of repairs, for such as were necessary were probably due to defects of material or workmanship, and would have been replaced free of charge under the usual three or six months' guarantee. If, on the other hand, the cost per net ton-mile only refers to lubricants and fuel, it would have been more instructive, and less liable to misconstruction, if it had been so specified. Also, owing to the fact that some competitors used cheaper lubricants than others, the quantities given must, without further exploration, of necessity be misleading under this heading. The user, therefore, who looked for guidance in the difficult task of making up his mind finds himself more at sea than ever, since the expert, even with all these facilities at his command, can give him no reassuring evidence or advice as to whether or how he can best em-ploy a motor vehicle. So much so is this the case, that one sporting member of the using community forthwith commenced exhaustive trials on his own, spread over a period of three months, with a number of diferent types.
Looked at from the constructor's point of view, there are several items in the report, in regard to details of construction, which are no doubt of material value. The principal of these—and this is the brightest spot in an otherwise somewhat colourless report—is the investigation into the comparative types of wheel construction. The ease and lucidity which this subject has been dealt with calls for unstinted praise, but it is a matter for great regret that this unique opportunity with so many types of vehicles, representing so many different attempts at the solution of the industrialvehicle problem, running together under precisely similar conditions, should have been irretrievably lost, when it might have been taken advantage of thoroughly to investigate and obtain full and unprejudiced comparisons in reference to their suitability for industrial purposes, on such debatable points as—to instance only a few—the various types of ignition, gear transmission, and terminal wires.
With the general finding that the only solution of the industrial-vehicle problem, for loads in excess of three tons, lies either is the tractor, or the internal-combustion-engined lorry on rubber tires, the using community will be hardly dis_ posed to agree. You, Sir, queried it at once. It has long been acknowledged that the tractor is the most economical means of transport; though the trials have not proved its superiority in any new, striking, or important degree in that respect, so far as fuel and oil consumption go, over that of the steam wagon (class F), but it is also well known that the tractor has its limitations as to handiness and other considerations, which define its sphere of utility, just as for other reasons the spheres of utility of the steam wagon and the petrol lorry are equally defined.
In regard to the petrol lorry, it is generally accepted as a fact, by those users who have been through the mill of hard, practical experience, that it can only be profitably employed, either as a public-service vehicle, where the revenue is greater than that derived from the conveyance of goods, or in those special cases where high speed is an essential. Yet, the report, whilst agreeing to its adoption for those cases where speed is required, in another paragraph condemns the vehicle submitted for the speed of which it is capable. Unfortunately, the report is by no means devoid of such inconsistencies, and of suggestions which negative one another.
No one, assuredly, will disagree with the general suggestion that there is a future for a vehicle, where speed is not a consideration, in which capital outlay and running costs are reduced to a minimum (although those requirements are already fulfilled by the hastily-dismissed steam wagon), but it is difficult to reconcile the trend of this suggestion with that of others inferentially suggesting the fitting of rubber tires and ball-bearings to the road wheels. Balibearings, thus applied, give excellent results on light, pneumatic-tired vehicles, and are fairly inexpensive in their first cost, but, for heavy vehicles on solid tires, it is more than doubtful as to how they would stand up to the work; whilst the first cost is prohibitive. The suggestion of governing the engine from the road wheels is also scarcely consistent with that of reducing the
first cost, and, with its mass of fearsome complications, would assuredly bring the grey hairs of the already muchharassed constructor in Sorrow to the grave. A more feasible proposal would be to provide means whereby the present governing arrangements,which, in the majority of cases, are excellent, were immune from abuse by the driver. These inconsistencies do not stop short with the report, but are found spotted about through the whole volume. We find, for instance, one vehicle highly commended for a particular point, when a precisely similar and sister one of the same make and class failed lamentably in that very particular. We find one highly commended for accessibility, when another of the same type by the same maker is completely ignored for this point. An enquiring mind, with the time at its disposal, could possibly find others, but it will be sufficient to quote the gem of the collection which is the official description of a vehicle in Class F to which a gold medal is awarded, when the tare weight, as given by the entrant, is cwt_ in excess of the legal limit, as laid down by the Motor Car Acts.
It is, of course, easy for the carping critic to pick holes in what, at most, only shows a woeful want of discriminating editing, and there is a lot in the report that may ultimately prove of some value, for, like the curate's egg, it is good—in parts, but scarcely anyone will agree with the concluding paragraph as to the heavy expenditure of time and money being justified. The Trials involved the labour of upwards of 15o persons for a month, with a joint expenditure on the part of the R.A.C. and the competitors of anything between Zio,000 and £55,000. That it has done little or no good in waking up the interest and enthusiasm of the possible user is widely acknowledged, and the hoped-for advertisement appears to have fizzled out like a damp squib. The experience as to the running of the vehicles has in each case been less than the manufacturer gets from those he has already in daily use. There remains, therefore, the printed matter contained between the two old-gold covers of the report. Of the 199 pages it contains, 55 are a reprint of the original programme; 520 are occupied with a description of the competing vehicles, and a very meagre and involved record of their respective performances during their short trip around the country; two are sectional maps of the routes ; to are title pages, list of contents, judges, awards, etc.; and ii remain for the kernel of the nut—the Judges' Report. These, in default of any other asset accruing for the Trials, may be roughly valued at .L-.1,000 a page, which is, not to make too fine a point, scarcely commensurate into the cost. On the other hand, there is the consolation that everybody connected with the Trials worked his hardest, conscientiously and indefatigably, to make them a success, and, even if the sceptics have been proved to be right in the end, possibly the kindest course would be to endeavour to forget the fizzle, and to write over the report the historic legend hung over the piano of a dancing saloon in the Far West of America-" You are requested not to shoot at the pianist; he does his hest."—Yours faithfully, OBSERVER.
16th March, I908.