Passenger Transport News
Page 31
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PRIVATE HIRE INSTEAD OF TOURS: OPERATORS WARNED
OPERATORS told Major F. S. Eastwood, Yorkshire Licensing Authority, at an inquiry at Wakefield, that they had been unable to run all the excursions and tours for which they had obtained licences, because many of their vehicles had been used for private hire. One operator admitted that in 12 weeks he had run 68,000 miles on private hire.
This provoked Major Eastwood to say; If you cannot operate your licences to a greater extent, the Authority will have to look to someone else to provide the facilities."
He added that much had been said about the Authority's not sanctioning long-distance tours to football matches, but some operators did not seem to have operated many tours for which licences had been granted.
HELPING OUT IN LONDON
AS forecast in '" The Commercial Motor" of February 6, London Transport will retain until the spring of 1949 the hired coaches which are being
used to supplement the buses.. The coaches were to have been returned to their owners next month.
A small number will be withdrawn after Whitsun, but the Passenger Vehicle Operators' Association has arranged that the remainder shall continue in service.
HOME MARKET FIRST
THE value of a substantial home market to those who would export was stressed by Mr. H. V. Schofield, of the Chloride Electrical Storage Co., _Ltd., to members of the Municipal Passenger 'Transport Association, in Manchester, last week. The meeting, which included a visit to the Exide battery works at Clifton Junction, was attended by municipal transport managers from throughout the north-west and by
representatives of important passenger.. vehicle manufacturers.
The story of the manufacture of Exide batteries was told in the December 5 issue of this journal LONDON WAGE TALKS OFF?
REPRESENTATIVES of the London Transport Executive and the Transport and General Workers' Union met on Monday at the Ministry of Labour under the chairmanship of Sir Robert Gould, Chief Industria; Commissioner. The Executive asked that claims for increased wages should be postponed.
FRONTAL POSTERS ON LONDON BUSES TO GO
pLOSE study has shown that greater
effectiveness is achieved in legibility of destination indicators if there be no advertisements on the fronts of vehicles, states London Transport.
After wide experiment, it has been decided that advertisement sites on the fronts of London motorbuses and trolleybuses should henceforth be progressively eliminated as contracts expire.
MORE NEWS OF THE SUPER. TWIN COACH QOM time ago we illustrated the new )..) super coach of the '1 win Coach Company. This is now ready for production. It As an articulated monocoque construction, 47 ft. long with a width of 8 ft. 8 ins. The seating capacity is 58. but it will probably operate with three times this number of passengers. It is, in fact, the bus manufacturers' answer to the latest type of street car, or tramcar as we would term it.
. Torsilastik suspension is employed, and the hinge between the two portions embodies the same principle.
Steering is effected on both fron and rear axles, the radius being slightly over 35 ft. The vehicle can wind its way through traffic as easily as can the more orthodox type, and ample power is provided by two 180 h.p. engines, underfloor mounted, just forward of the centre axle. A torque converter is used for the transmission: lo bring the steering wheel as far forward as possible, a most unusual form of curved
steering column is employed. .
Torsilastik suspension gives remarkable riding qualities, and in the course of a demonstration given recently to two A.E.0 representatives, the vehicle was swung violently from side to side of the road when travelling at 35 m.p.h., yet it remained perfectly stable with remarkably little rolling. With this suspension, mileages up to 250,000 have been covered under normal service conditions, without any sign of trouble. The system gives a rising-curve load deflection as a result of the special arrangement of shackles and lever arms embodied in it.