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THE SOUTH'S BIGGEST DEPOT WILL TAKE 15,000 HEAVIES A YEAR
Page 53
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repair.
The 10-acre site is adjacent to the London Transport bus repair centre at Aldenham which lies alongside M1 between A5 and A411 junctions.
Mr. Ivor Wheeler, for a number of years service-depot superintendent at AEC's Southall works, has been appointed manager of the new centre while Mr. R. A. Smeal from the Albion Scammell depot at Willesden is his deputy. The new centre will be administered by AEC and the labour force will be made up mainly by concentrating at Aldenham the present staff from Southall AEC, Boreham Wood (Leyland) and Willesden (Albion and Scammell).
The parts store section, which will contain £.4m worth of components, will be computer controlled. It will be in two sections; one will house the main spares division of AEC and it will be from here that world-wide distribution of AEC parts will take place. The other will hold stocks of Leyland, AEC, Albion and Scammell parts to meet local over-the-counter demands and to feed the main workshops.
The main shops cover 100,000 sq.ft. and contain 13 dry and warm repair pits and 10 similar pits devoted to lubrication duty. Every one of these is sited so that vehicles can be placed over or removed from them while all the others are occupied.
Each pit is lined with glazed bricks and equipped with compressed air and electric tool points. Low-voltage lead lamps are also provided while exhaust ducting leads fumes into an extractor system; flexible couplings suitable for connecting to vehicles' exhaust tailpipes are supplied at each pit area.
A comprehensive fuel-injection equipment service shop is provided and a similar area will be devoted to the repair of electrical parts. Iligh pressure lubrication plant is laid on to the service bay pits and there is provision for the removal of waste oil.
Heavy repair bay A heavy repair bay where, for instance, vehicles will be completely overhauled or rebuilt after accident damage, runs for the complete length of the building and here again a partly-dismantled vehicle will not cause an obstruction to the entrance and exit of others.
To facilitate the movement of heavy items—engines, gearboxes, axles and chassis frames—the shops are equipped with 2-ton overhead gantry cranes. These are supplemented by a number of 2-ton mobile cranes which can also be used as fork-lift trucks.
A 5-ton gantry situated on the hardstanding outside the works can be used for lifting test weights of up to 5 tons. A fleet of heavy recovery vehicles and service vans are on call for emergencies.
Administration of the new centre will be carried out from a new office block covering some 7,500 sq.ft.
It is expected to be January 1968 before all the facilities at Aldenham are fully operational. They are to be phased in three moves starting with retail spares and repair service for Albion and Scammell vehicles from October 31. Then on November 30 Leyland spares and service move in.
The AEC organization will be taking two bites, moving its service and repair activities into the new works on the same day as Albion and Scammell but not having a retail spares counter in operation until January 1 1968.
From October 31 until the changeover is completed, operators requiring spare parts or service should check with the existing depots if the services required are in fact operational at Aldenham.
The present depot phone numbers are— Albion Scam-twit: 01-965-5982; AEC: 01-574-2300; Leyland: 01-953-2901. Aldenham depot's phone number is 01-953-6811.