Impressions of
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The Southend Conference
A Cheerful Gathering, Interesting Papers and Comments, and Instructive Visits to Hoffmann and Crompton Parkinson Works
THE Southend Conference of the Tramways, Light Railways and Transport Association was admitted by all who participated in it to have been one of the most successful that have ever taken place. Certainly, to our knowledge, it was the most cheerful, and it was the first time that we have heard the annual dinner punctuated by choruses, the Yorkshire contingent playing a leading part in these.
The visits to the works of the Hoffmann Manufacturing Co., Ltd., where the delegates were received by Messrs. C. W. Pryke, T. W. Cooper and C. H. Smith, and to Crompton Parkinson, Ltd., at Chelmsford, were particularly interesting, although many of the visitors were feeling rather tired towards the conclusion of the second visit. The general opinion expressed was that, despite the need for getting through as much work as possible in the time at the disposal of the delegates, on future occasions it would be preferable to limit such visits to one in an afternoon, when more justice could be done to it.
Personalities—Absent and Present.
General regret was expressed at the absence, through ill health, of the president of the Association, the Hon. Sir Arthur Stanley, G.B.E., and the president of the Conference, Colonel Sir Joseph Nall, D.S.O., M.P. Everyone, however, was delighted at the manner in which Colonel S. E. Smith, C.l3.E., director and general manager of the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Co., Ltd., performed his duties as chairman. His remarks were brief and to the point, and, in some cases, blended with a delightful element of humour. He was accompanied by his wife and daughter, who contributed in full measure to the success of the proceedings.
The Mayor of Southend-on-Sea, Councillor H. E. Frith, and the Mayoress gave a reception and ball last Friday, and there is no doubt that the Mayor's cheerfulness and courtesy did much to render the gathering such an enjoyable one. He attended some of the functions and visits, and was called upon to speak on several occasions. He was ably assisted by Councillor W. J. Perrett, chairman of Southend-on-Sea Transport Committee, and Mr. G. Jennings, the publicity officer.
Papers at the Conference.
Reverting to the papers read at the Conference, that dealing with ball and roller bearings, whilst being of considerable interest, was so authoritative as not easily to lend itself to discussion by those who usually participate in this. It requires considerable knowledge to attempt to argue with the technical manager of the Hoffmann Manufacturing Co., Ltd. More was said regarding Mr. Chas. A. Hopkins's paper treating with Sunderland Corporation's transport. We will, however, refer, at first, to points concerning the paper by Mr. C. H. Smith.
B36 Colonel S. E. Smith considered that the author had supplied a long-felt want, as it was difficult to find in a concise form such clear information on the subject of ball and roller berings. It was of such a practical nature that it should be in the hands of all the engineers, foremen and chargehands under the control of members.
Saving Effected by Bali Bearings.
In the Bristol system, experiments had been carried out with ball and roller bearings for 13 years, and it had been found easy to adopt them on old tramcars. Some of the bearings fitted 13 years ago had run for nearly half-a-million miles ; yet, on examination, the wear had been shown to be practically nil. Such bearings effected a saving in current consumption, and this amounted to between 26 and 28 per cent.; if only, the armatures were mounted on ball bearings, the saving was 16 per cent.
Mr. L. E. Harvey claimed a saving of 237 per annum for each tram equipped with roller bearings, considering current as costing id. per unit. He pointed out that every care should be taken to prevent dust or dirt from entering.
Mr. E. H. Edwardes, after expressing appreciation of the help which had been given to transport engineers in respect of research work in connection with ball and roller bearings, referred to the importance of proper lubrication, and quoted several instances where trouble had occurred through neglect or the use of wrong lubri
cants. At last, roller-bearing engineers appreciated that what was suitable for a tram or a petrol bus was not always suitable for a trolleybus. There was such a thing as vibration in a trolleybus motor, and it was sometimes due to the bearings !
Mr. A. A. Jackson drew attention to the wear on the bearings of front-axle pivots on trolleybuses and petrol buses. Markings usually occurred, leading to stiffness in the steering.
Some Lubrication Problems.
Mr. Vincent Edwards advocated lubricating the trolley heads and trolley wire. He had used graphite grease for the heads, which was thrown centrifugally on to the wire, but he had been told by Hoffmann officials that graphite was undesirable for the lubrication of roller or ball bearings.
Mr. A. E. Grimsdale wanted to know how much lubricant should go into a bearing and whether it was important to add definite quantities at stated intervals. Over-packing was dangerous, particularly when bearings were running at high speeds ; it was better to have too little rather than too much. He suggested the use of a doctor's stethoscope with a small drum on the end to detect noise in the bearings and their general condition.
Mr. W. R. Stuart Pilcher commented upon the fact that roller bearings would now outlast the life of the vehicle or the motor, and asked if it would be possible to design a bearing and lubricate it so that no wear would take place. He was convinced that the roller bearing was the proper thing for new equipment on trams. It would cost about 480 to convert a singletruck car.
The author, in his reply, said that the bearing maker only supplied the component to the vehicle maker, and what the latter did with it before it reached the custcmer was outside the control of the bearing producer. He said that graphite was an abrasive for bearings, although it was not harmful if it were so fine and so well mixed as to be a colloid. The front-axle-pivot bearing was one of the most difficult with which the manufacturer had to deal.
With regard to lubrication, a bearing should be about three parts packed with grease, but for speeds up to 600 r.p.m., where dirt was liable to enter, bearings could be safely packed tight.
An easy test for noise and vibration was to stop up one's ears and use an ordinary ruler held in the teeth ; if this touched the housing it was possible to detect all the noise that existed. As to wear, there was as much chance of eliminating this as there was of obtaining perpetual motion.
The discussion on the paper by Mr. Ben England, general manager and engineer, Southend-on-Sea Corporation Transport, was delayed until the second paper of the same morning had been read. This was by Mr. Chas. A. Hopkins, general manager, Trams and Motors Department. Sunderland Corporation. A résumé of the first paper was included in our issue for last week, but we did not deal with Mr. Hopkins's paper because this chiefly concerned trams, which do not come within the province of this journal.
The result of combining the discussion was, however, that it developed, in the main, into the usual arguments for and against the retention of trams.
A spirited beginning was made by Mr. W. Vane Morland, general manager, Leeds City Transport, who, like several of those who followed, pointed out that trains must be retained in certain instances and on certain routes because of the debt charges which have to be wiped out in some cases, and which would otherwise throw a tremendous burden upon the municipalities concerned.
Major R. McCreary, M.C., manager, Belfast City Tramways, stated that he had actually ordered many new tramcars to operate in Belfast for the period which must elapse before it would be possible to consider changing to another system of transport.
Mr. R. Stuart Pilcher, general manager, Manchester Corporation Transport, who is one of the staunchest advocates of the motorbus, is still operating a considerable number of trams for a similar reason to that given above. He queried the figures as to the results obtained at Southend with an experimental oil-engined bus, and states his belief in this type of vehicle, which is giving excellent results with low costs and great reliability.
Mr. Ben England received many congratulations on his paper and tint little criticism, and he had already discounted the possibility of the latter by frankly stating the difficulties under which Southend's transport is labouring.
It was very regrettable that the Scottish Passenger Transport Conference at Pitlochry should have clashed with the Southend affair, as many prominent transport officials are members of both the Associations concerned and would have liked to have attended the two gatherings. A lew visitors to Southend left after a short time to proceed to Scotland, included amongst these was Mr. E. L. Cadwallader, of C.A.V. Bosch, Ltd.