Opinions from Others.
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The Influence of Speed on
Commercial-motor Design.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1,391] Sir,—In reply to Mr. T. C. Aveling's letter under the above heaaing, appearing in your issue of the 13th inst., I wish to range myself in the ranks of the "casual observer" whom the writer supposes will place cost of transport as of first importance in considering the best methods to employ. The expert, we are asked to believe, will on the other hand consider speed as the prime factor.
The arguments by which Mr. T. C. Aveling endeavours to prove his case are not always very clear. Thus, he assumes that, in the case of goods packed in eases or casks, if the speed in delivery can be doubled, the outlay on these casks, cases or containers is halved. This is rather a large assumption, and presupposes the following conditions : firstly, the carrier must charge the same rate for carriage, whether he carts 10-ton loads at five miles an hour, or 5-ton loads at 10 miles an hour ; secondly, the casks, etc., must always be in a state of " being delivered." If the first condition is possible, why is it that railway companies do not run their goods traffic at the same speed as their express passenger traffic? The second condition is really most fantastic, even to a casual observer : a barrel of beer may be only two hours in transit, but the contents may take a month to consmite, and the proportion of the capital charge on the barrel in transit becomes infinitely small. Again. Mr. Aveling asserts that the process of loading and unloading is expedited by splitting up the quantities handled into small factors. It would be interesting to have a concrete example of how this can be brought about ; in practice, it certainly looks to the casual observer as if there might be certain operations involved in the process of loading and un loading which would have to be repeated unnecessarily, by using a number of units in place of one
As a casual observer, the subject of ton-miles is one with which I am not too familiar, but I presume it is based upon the conception of the carting of one ton one mile, and therefore, to take Mr. T. C. Aveling's example, two five-ton vehicles, fully loaded and going 20 miles, would only do between them 200 ton miles, and not 400 as stated. The 200 ton-miles, I take it, represents the work that has to be done in moving 10 tons 20 miles, and I cannot see how that quantity can vary whether the number of machines is multiplied or lessened. Will Mr. Aveling explain
This subject is one of the greatest interest at the moment, when so many of the public are meditating a change in the form of transport, and are anxiously wondering what type of vehicle to employ. So far, the tendency of the commercial world has been to employ heavy machines to carry big weights, but Mr. T. C. Aveling's letter introduces fresh arguments which are worth most-careful scrutiny.—Yours faith
fully, "A CASUAL OBSERVER."
Why the Heavy Road Locomotive?
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1,392] Sir, -The heavy road locomotive was constructed to draw heavy loads, and was regulated in construction by the Acts of Parliament for its use ; moreover, the development of power was in accordance with weight, steam being the only suggested prime mover. The heavy road engine, with its load attached— as it was—at the end of a lever to the main axle, necessitated a considerable amount of weight being placed over the axle, in order to overcome the slip of the driving wheels. Given a form of light prime mover and the doing away with the hind tank usual with road locomotives, there is no reason why the attachment of the load to be hauled could not be made to the axle itself. It then only becomes a question of angularity of attachment of load to overcome the slip of the driving wheels, up to a certain point. There is no reason, except the law, why a tractor, if sufficientpower could be developed, could not draw three or four times its weight, without the driving wheels slipping. We have the power in the internalcombustion engine, and, if the question of load attachment is gone into, I see no reason for the heavy steam road locomotive, the suction type tractor of much lighter weight taking its place.—Yours faith
fully, " CHANGE."
The Manchester Strike: A Pine
Steam Wagon Performance.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
11,393] Sir,—Being constant readers of your valuable paper, we thought the following would interest y at. The run was in consequence of the strike in Manchester, and the details are :—Type of wagon, Aveling and Porter ; driver, Foreman C. Loder ; weight carried, eight tons (with trailer). The wagon I ft London on Saturday morning, the 8th inst., and rrived in Manchester, via Birmingham, on the following Monday morning, at 11 o'clock. It unloaded hat day. It left Manchester on the Tuesday morning. arriving that night at Birmingham ; on the Wedr esday morning, it collected a return load at Birmingham; it left for London at three o'clock that 'lay, and ran to Dunchurch. On the Thursday, it ran from Dunchurch to London. arriving in London at s.even o'clock. Deducting 11 day for unloading at Manchester and re-loading at Birmingham, and Lakin a into account mileage in collecting return loads, (his shows 100 miles per day. We are users of eight Aveling and Porter wagons, and our work as contractors is most severe. We coneider for hard work the Aveling wagon is the finest on the road. It might also interest you to know that we have been running a weekly service, to and from Birmingham, since 1st March, 1910, and all through the bad weather the Aveling wagon did the job.— Yours faithfully,
YORKE, STONEHAM AND JONES, LTD. WM. STONEHAM.