Bird's eye view by the Hawk
Page 34
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* Brave action
Well-deserved tributes to the courage of a Solihull haulier were voiced last week by a coroner's jury in Birmingham. Returning a verdict of death by misadventure on a 16year-old motorcyclist the jury added a rider commending Edgar Worthington Waine for "his heroic action".
The inquest arose from an accident in which the young motorcyclist emerged from a narrow lane and collided with the front of the lorry which Mr. Waine was driving. The motorbike burst into flames igniting the lorry cab, and the lad was trapped under the vehicle. Edgar Waine leapt out with a fire extinguisher and tried to put out the flames and pull the boy clear. Failing to do this, he jumped back into the cab, which was now well alight, and reversed the vehicle a few yards. He then leapt out again and, with the help of a passer-by, beat out the flames on the boy's clothing.
A very brave action.
* All at sea
The effervescent chief press officer, commercial vehicles, of Ford Motor Co., John Southgate, is having his stamina taxed this week. The offshore power boat race has taken him round Britain, from Portsmouth up the west coast, through the Caledonian Canal and down the east coast to Whitby, where he is spending today (Friday), and then back to Portsmouth.
When the Ford-powered team, Seasproy, Fordsport, Fordpower and Fordspeed tie up each night John, who uses an aircraft to .cover the course, clambers down the ladder and fusses over the crews and their boats. At the least sign of trouble, Southgate becomes as anxious as a First Sea Lord.
* Long haul
Also participating in the offshore power race is haulier Ralph Hilton of HTS, who has not had a trouble-free run. On the first leg, his boat cracked a manifold on one of the modified Leyland 500 engines. At Falmouth, and lying 16th of the 43 starters, the crew stripped and replaced the manifold, ready for the second leg. The HTS van, carrying spares round the route, took 15 hours to cross the country from Portsmouth to Falmouth in the holiday traffic last week-end! The HTS crew were hoping to improve their lap positions later in the race and in fact by Monday Ralph was lying 12th overall.
"It has to be rough before 858 really shows her paces,said R.H. Typically Hilton.
* Never too old
A 1918 Albion which was originally supplied to the War Department, has, I learn, been entered by J. W. Cole of Leeds in the Vintage commercial vehicle rally which runs from Manchester to Harrogate as part of the Harrogate Festival. The rally takes place on August 10 and will be via a trans-Pennine route from Manchester City's car park in Maine Road to the Royal Hall in Harrogate. Mr. Cole's Albion has seen service on various fronts and will no doubt cross the Pennine front with case.
Vehicles will assemble at Maine Road at 8 a.m. and the first will pass through Rochdale at 9.15. Todmorden at 9.35, Halifax at 10.20, Bradford at 10.50, Shipley at 11.5, Otley at 11.25 and arrive at the Royal Hall in Harrogate from 12 noon onwards. They will remain on display in Harrogate during the afternoon.
* Rapid transit
Any operator who wants to shift loads up to 35cwt from A to B in a hurry now has a new option. I hear that Jeff Urin Ltd., of Hanwell, London, W7, is now able to fit the Ford 3litre V6 in Transit vans. New or used Transits can be tackled, the job taking 12 to 14 days at a total cost of £385. Obviously, the conversion is not really intended for normal van users but for caravans, racing car transporters and the like. Still, if someone's thinking of a superexpress parcels service and needs acceleration.
* Tips
Last week 1 was walking round Edbro's new Lever Street plant at Bolton—which is like being in some giant organ factory: the serried ranks of tubes in the enormous stores are the raw material for countless tipping rams. And I was particularly impressed by the reception and dispatch section. The bays have been designed to provide really good access to vehicles from both side and rear, and the bays open out on to a yard with really sensible manoeuvring space.
Edbro has the lion's share of the home market in tipping gear and much of the future expansion lies in certain new overseas markets.
This is also the place to get tipper tips. For example, sales director Alf' Thomas, who has been with the firm since the early thirties, can't understand why more operators don't ask for tipping bodies at least six inches wider at the rear than at the front—at least for long tippers carrying sticky loads. It might cost a bit more, but he reckons it is worth a good many degrees of tipping angle in shooting awkward loads cleanly.