LOOSE LEAVES
Page 36
Page 37
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
TT has been found -I-that the efficiency of a bearing in the engine of a motor vehiclu depends to a certain extent on the hardness of the bearing material at the particular temperature at which it is working.
In this connection, the National Physical Laboratory has devised a method of determining this hardness in an actual bearing at temperatures up to 3430 degrees F., the material being immersed in a bath of hot oil while the test is being made.
DOUGLAS, the principal town in the Isle of Man, boasts a quaint mixture of transport. Horsedrawn trams are still in use on the front and they crawl along at a pace which enables visitors to gain a leisured view of the beautiful bay. When it comes to serious touring of the island, however, . a little more speed and comfort are indicated, and consequently one of the latest Commer Invaders, with a 20 • seater coach body, recently put into service, is proving popular on account of the spirited manner in which it tackles the charming mountain roads of Manxland.
THERE was a very happy gathering a few days ago at Ripple Lodge, Ripple, the home of Mr. A. L. C. Fell. When he retired from the management of the London County Council Tramways, Mr. Fell desired that he and Mrs. Fell should not lose sight of their many friends in municipal and road-transport circles, and they conceived the idea of an annual party. The guests on this occasion were:—Sir John Timpson, of Portsmouth; Sir Cecil Armitage, Councillor Hooper of Portsmouth, and Messrs. B. T. Rumble (director of T. S. Motors, Ltd.), Ben Hall (general manager, Portsmouth Municipal Transport Department), A. E. Newton (Ford Motor Co., Ltd.), W. Wild (Vickers Boiler Co.), T. Riley (G: D. Peters and Co., Ltd.), Major Lown (general sales manager, T.S. Motors, Ltd.), Messrs. Scholey and C. Hill (Seholey Construction Co., Ltd.), and Mr. Lansdowne.
We were amongst the guests and the party was conveyed to Ripple in one of the latest T.S. sixcylinder coaches, which gave fast and luxurious travel, incidentally, climbing to within a few yards of the summit of Charing Hill on top gear.
RETURNING recently by road from North Wales we were not a little amused by the apt note of warning carried by a Sentinel steam wagon which we met as we approached Shrewsbury. The back of the tailboard bore the following sage advice: .: " Just a friendly warning to save a family mournmg. Please keep off."
WE should have thought that, in these days of traffic jams and of slow-motion travel, the average bus driver would have been content to employ his hours of leisure in some hobby far removed from the road Perhaps he is, but we recently heard of one L.G.O.C. driver who, in a year, completed 26,000 miles of pleasure riding on a high-powered motorcycle—a remarkable distance when one bears in mind that the average mileage per working day of a London bus driver is just over 61, his yearly mileage being 18,500.
WE are interested to note the following names in the list of successful candidates in the examinations for admission to Associate Membership of The Institute of Transport H. Hemingway, of London United Tramways, Ltd.; A. A.Tarenbon, of R. A. Dyson and Co., Ltd.; R. B. Shepherd, of Albion Motors, Lid.; and C. C. Smith, of United Service Transport Co., Ltd. All of them studied the subjects of Modern Road Transport Operation and The Economics of Road Transport under Mr. H. Scott Hall, M.I.A.E., better known to our readers as S.T.R." Five of Mr. Hall's students entered for the examination ; four passed, two with distinction.
EXPERIMENTS have proved that polishing the surfaces of springs and other parts subjected to alternating stresses makes it possible to reduce their weight whilst retaining their strength. Normal, unpolished spring steels are often weakened by the defective surfaces. There is also a serious weakening effect produced by the surface layers of heattreated steel forgings.