Exploiting the Mechanical Horse
Page 37
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THE need for an adequate fleet of
semi-trailers so as to exploit the use of the motive units was stressed by Mr. A. H. Thomas, of Scammell Lorries, Ltd., in an address to the Institute of Traffic Administration (Manchester Centre), last week.
Speaking of cases of operators who worked as many as 20 trailers by means of one mechanical horse, the speaker showed examples of plotting vehicle runs in graphic form, so that relative usage was instantly comparable. Describing the search which went on over 20 years ago for mechanical means to replace the horse and cart, and at the same time to avoid the standing time which cost so much with the normal motor vehicle, Mr. Thomas referred to the coming of the Karrier Cob in 1930 and the manner in which the Scammell patent retractable
undercarriage w a s adopted as standard by all railway companies in 1933.
The Scammell organization had produced 43,000 machines which conformed in general to the original