MOTOR COACH DOINGS AND DEVELOPMENTS.
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Mafters of Topical Interest to Proprietors of Chars-a-bancs.
Bristol as a Thriving Centre for Motor Coacning.
NOTtIN itself a holiday resort, yet created by Nature a 'strategic centre for reaching some of the meet beautiful scenery in England, Bristol's motor coaching industry is rapidly developing, and there is not a char-a-baucs proprietor in that city who is not absolutely decided in his opinion that the future for the motor coach is immense with possibilities.
Unlike towns dependent on summer visitors, Bristol's livelihood is gained in many ways. Apart from numerous wealthy families who reside in and around it, the facts that Bristol is a port, with a modern branch establishment at Avonmouth, where the largest ships may bring their cargoes, that it possesses a vast tobacco manufacturing .industry, indulges in boot and corset making, not to mention other profitable enterprises, and withal is set in the midst of such glorious and historic land that the far• famed Clifton Downs and the Gorge of Avon are part and parcel of its own amenities, offer conditions of stability for the coach and haulage trades that are unexcelled by any other city or town. Naturally enough, the majority of the motor coaching firms here also go in extensively for haulage work, for there is always plenty to be done in that direction, and will be more if the railways continue to increase their rates without diminishing their delays. But this review is of Bristol's char-h-bancs actualities and prospects, not. of its goods transport, of which, however, much might be written.
• The largest firm of coach proprietors ale, as might be expected, the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Co., Ltd., who also own the whole of the tramways system, have a big fleet of taxis, many lorries, garages', and depots scattered about all over the city--; branches at Bath, Cheltenham, Gloucester, and Weston-super-Mare; and lest, but certainly not least—are the actual builders of the celebrated Bristol commercial vehi cies. In Bristol alone they have some 30 chars-it-banes regularly in commission, and it will he gathered that in point of numbers their position is hardly likely to be rivalled for some time to come, if ever.
When, in order to satisfy our desire for information, we recently called at the Tramways offices, Mr. Stradling, the
intro
duced manager to the company, us to Mr. Jordan, who has charge
of the char-a-bancs department, and who has the whole thing at his finger-ends. In reply to the question whether they thought that. motor coaching would increase, they gave it as their settled opinion that it would undoubtedly do so, and added that they are planning for the future on that basis. There is no doubt in their minds that the public prefers to travel in the open air, -when time is not the chief consideration, and that, this being so, the public will more and more patronize motor coaches, provided the services are reliable and the vehicles'
comfortable. The new Bristol chassis has been designed primarily for comfort and reliability, although efficiency as an essential factor in profit-earning has been given the important,. place that it deserves.
The chassis employed by the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Co. are, of
course, their own make. With their complete-maintenance organization and their own factory, they are able to keep their coaches always up to scratch, and so it will not be necessary for them to
devote any of the winter months to overhauling the chassis. As -the latest type of chassis are produced, and as fast as they can be spared from the demand from outside sources, they are being used to replace the older vehicles, se that the risk of their fleet getting out of date is, eliminated. All their -drivers are men who have been carefully selected from the large numbers in their employ, and have been specially trained, for their present jobs. '
The B.T. and C. Co.'s daily tours include all the noted places of interest for e great distance around. The Wye and
Severn Valleys, Burnham, and Westonsuper-Mare, Cheddar (not forgetting the Gorge), Barrington Combo (over the Mendips), Bath, and a score of other spots come within one week's programme, with all-day tours to Bournemouth and to Seaton as extra-special attractions. As a matter of fact, these and the rest of *the places noted for their history or beauty are the happy hunting-grounds of all the coach proprietors of Bristol, so the Tramways Co. do not have it all their own way.
As an example of the class of party transportation that comes as part of a day's work to the B.T. and C. Co. may be mentioned the conveying of 196 persons to Ilfracombe and back, a distance of 220 miles—a feat which 'was accomplished a week or two back. On journeys of this description, it is their custom ta send a competent mechanic with the party, and the vehicles travel " convoyfashion "; that is to say, stopping places are appointed, and the first vehicle to reach one of these has to wait until the last has arrived 'before proceeding.
One of the most prooressive coaching concerns in this city are Messrs. Too nod and Bennett, who own the " Greyhound" ehars-6,-bands. It was only last April that they decided to extend their haulage business by adding a passenger vehicle; and now they have five running, with more to follow. They pin their faith to Dennis, and are more than satisfied.with the result. It is worth noting that Bristolian coach proprietors appear to find it a paying proposition to purchase their chassis through local agents ; certainly this applies to Messrs. Toogobd and Bennett, for they have bought theirs through Messrs. F. C. Cox end Co. and Howard Stephens, Ltd. In general, we found little desire to get behind the agent and buy direct from the manufacturer, no doubt because of the advantage of having somebody at hand who takes an interest in seeing that the vehicles give satisfaction.
The success of Messrs. Toogood and Bennett may in creat part beascribed to their originality and business-like way of doing things. It, is their desire to get away from the beaten track, and they are constantly on the look-out for fresh spots to visit. In this respect, Mr.
oogood's experience as an old-time cyclist has been invaluable to the firm, for he knows every inch of the counties around Bristol, and many of their most original and popular tours have been mapped out in the office. We noticed with pleasure that they impart " life " into their handbills by describing in a few words the nature of the scenery through which their various tours pass. It has always struck us as being a mistake to lay the entire emphasis on the main calling points, for all the world as though. the public's one idea was to get there and back again, and to omit all information about the very thing that appeals to passengers, the views en route. Mr. Toogood and Mr. Bennett divide their duties so that the former accepts responsibility for filling their coaches, and the latter for keeping the vehicles on the road. As Mr. Toogood remarked to us, it is hard to say who has the better—or the worse—of the division ! Each evening the drivers hand in reports showing the times occupied on their respective journeys, number of passengers carried. and several other de-sirable items of information; and, if they have been on a contract run, the hirer is asked to sign that the journey has been to his entire satisfaction. The report forms also have a space on which the drivers state what repairs are required to be done to the vehicles, and if the defects are such as to demand Mr. Bennett's personal attention, the night staff have instruction to haul him out of bed, no matter what the hour ! And Mr. Toogood told us with a smile that his partner's telephone has rung more than once after he ha.s retired to rest at night. The company's vehicles are very roomy and comfortable, and their drivers have an exceptionally hieh reputation for care and courtesy, as witness the many spontaneous testimonials from passengers, which we were privileged to inspect when we recently made a study of their services in and around Bristol.
Messrs. Henry Russett and Sons are running at present five eleers-a-banes, mixed fleet of 17hornycroft. Daimler, and Commer Car chassis. They were established as hauliers and livery stable F10 proprietors more than 30 years ago, and it may be gathered that they possess a deep knowledge of what the public
wants. At present they regard their efforts to meet, that want as experiments, and they are more concerned to discover for themselves the most, suitable types of coaches to run and a proper system of working them than to make an immediate profit. They are building for the future, and, judging by their levelheaded manner a discussing the situation, they are building well. This firm are proud of their claim, that in all the years they furnished the public With horsed conveyances, they never once left a party on the road, and they intend to make sure that the claim Ain still 'hold good with regard to their motor vehicles. Mr. Russett is hoping great things of a new Commer Car that his firm have purehased, for which a specially designed body is being constructed.
Mr. Russett is inclined to think that the depreciation usually allowed on chara-banes chassis is totally insufficient, and, although he has not yet fixed on the annual percentage deduction from value for which he will provide, he feels sure that not a few coach proprietors will one day discover that their profits are not what they thought they were. Another useful opinion elicited from him was that, while the 28-seater is probably the best vehicle for private parties, he fancies that for public hiring there may be a tendency to bring coaches with less seating capacity into considerable favour later on. We found this view pretty general in Bristol. If we except the Tramways Co-, Bristol's char-a-bancs industry is mainly comprised of firms who own from one to half a dozen vehicles. Of those there is a respectable array. The "Maid of the Mountains," "Good Luck," "Bristol City" and "Bristol Rover," "Pioneers," "Chocolate Major,", "Primrose," etc. are names familiar to all Bristolians, though space does not permit more than mention of them. Their owners are all keen on the game, and by this time next year we expect to hear that the majority of them have at, least doubled their stakes.
A review of Bristol's coaching would be incomplete without reference to Messrs. Harris and Hasell, the well known agents for commercial cars, and, in particular, for the Karrier. By means of an interview, we learnt that they are very sanguine indeed • of the continued prosperity of motor coaching. The Kerner has proved over and over again its suitability for this class of work, mid, in consequence, Messrs. Harris and H-asell are receiving many repeat orders. This firm's business connections extend a long way beyond the boundaries of Bristol, and their views were, therefore, of 11101)3 than ordinary value to us as a kind of thermometer, by which we were able to gauge the temperature all around, as well as inside the city. Amongst. their customers are the West of England Road Transport Co. of Weston-super-Mare, which resort is -often referred to as "Bristol-by-the-Sea." The coaching industry of Weston is so great that it cannot be dealt with in this article, but the town's sobriquet is sufficient excuse for us to draw on this company's experience in passing. They believe that public hiring is being somewhat overdone, and they are, therefore, turning their attention to encouraging private hiring by introdecing originality into their methods. Where, for example, the number of vehicles hired by one party has justified it, they have printed and distributed programmes of the run. They are proud of the fact that they were chosen to carry the members of the British Association for the Advancement of Science on one occasion; but their greatest effort was when on June 9th, they arranged and carried out a tour for the Master Printers' -Federation of Great Britain and Ireland. The total number in the latter party was 174, and everything passed off without is hitch under the personal supervision of their Mr. A. Lewis.
Before leaving Weston-super-Mare, we cannot resist alluding to another of Harris and Hasell's customers in that town. Messrs. Burneils have been engaged in running motor chars-lebancs since 1905, the first, of their vehiclee being a Cifs h.p. M./vI.C., with tube igni• tion, and an old 12-seater Daimler. Surely they may be said tohave blaaea the trail for motor coaching in the West of England? Incidentally, the same firm of Burnells have a fine garage at Cheddar, where all coach roads do meet.