RUNNING, UPKEEP AND OVERHAUL.
Page 33
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Interesting Contributions from Maintenance Engineers, Drivers and Mechanics.
A Useful Indicator for Country Buses.
EXPERIENCE of the running of a bus on an out-of-the-way country route has prompted "J.H.," of Old Cumnock, Ayrshire, Scotland, to submit the following suggestion which, he claims, will enable such a service to be run with less trouble than at present.
He finds that in such bus work there are certain passengers who wish to alight at parts of the road that are not recognized stopping places.
In such cases the conductor has to tell the driver at intervals where the passengers wish to be put down. This is not a difficult matter during the day time, but at night it is not easy for the conductor to tell exactly where he is by looking at the side of the road. This is rendered more difficult when the bus is travelling fast.
His suggestion is that an indreator such as he describes should 14e fitted in the cab in view of the driver and worked by means of a cord from a similar indicator under the control of the conductor. His sketch makes the idea very plain, both indicators being alike and consisting of a small box fitted with two rollers on which a strip of flexible material is wound, the names of the various places along the route being painted on both alike. A slot is Provided so that one name is visible at a time. Each indicator is provided with a small electric lamp. The lower roller in both instruments should be like a spring blind, whilst both indicators should be provided with pulleys on which a cord can be wound to synchronize them, the conductor's indicator being fitted with a knob for turning and a ratchet to prevent it from being revolved by the spring.
When a passenger wants to be dropped at a certain place the conductor turns his indicator so that the name of that place is visible, and by the cord which connects the indicators, the one in the cab will show the driver where to stop.
We have no doubt that such an arrangement would prevent passengers being carried past the place where they wish to alight, especially in the darkness.
A Spark Catcher for Steamers.
A FOREMAN, "E.C.," of Bath, who is in charge of a fleet of steamers, including rodens and Sentinels' says: " have yet to find a wagon builder who fits an efficient spark arrester." He states that they either burn ottt or the drivers take them off because they find that with them they cannot make steam properly. He tells us that recently his firm had to pay a claim for a burnt-out corn rick and that during the dry summer one could see many hedges that had been fired by sparks from steam wagons.
To overcome this difficulty lie has made a simple spark arrester which he has fitted to hi wagons and has found satisfactory. His sketch is of one fitted to the damper of a Super Sentinel. The arrester is made of wire as is used for screening purposes and has ti mesh of fin, square holes. It is fixed to the damper so that either arrester or damper can be used and thus a clear funnel can be obtained for lighting fires. The arrester stands 2 ins, above the funnel, enabling a current of air to pass under it to keep it -cool.
Flats on Tyres.
THE wearing of flats on front solid tyres is a matter of which we have not heard much during recent years, although apparently it was very prevalent some time back. A correspondent, " C.A.B.," of Woodbridge Suffolk, seems to have experienced the formation of such flats and to have found a remedy, of which he gives us the following description.
His experiments lead him to believe that the formation of these fiats is due to wear on steering joints, pivots and bushes. The only remedy he has found for this appears to be the fitting of new parts. In some cases he has found that renewal of the floating bushes in the wheels did not cure the trouble, so on further .examination he found it necessary to rebore the front-wheel hubs so as to produce parallel holes instead of the bell-mouthed ones caused by wear. This, as he points out, was rather a long and costly job, but he feels sure that it and the re-turning of the stub axles, which had worn oval, made the whole front wheel and axle assembly as good as new and put an end to his troubles. In some cases he has found that the fitting of a wedge between the axle and the front spring, so that a slightly backward slant is given to the top of the pivot, has a beneficial effect.
Adjusting Dennis Foot Brakes.
wiTH regard to some hints which appeared in this page on the above subject, " W.H.H.," of Aylesbury, tells us that he does not agree with the practice of packing-out worn brake shoes by placing plates behind them, as suggested by some of our correspondents, although he has often seen shoes which have been treated in this manner. He suggests that a better way of dealing with the matter is to take the-operating arm otf its splines on the shaft and turn it backwards to the extent of one spline. This, he says, can be done until the shoes become dangerously thin, when it is -wiser to fit new ones.
The same correspondent tells us of a somewhat curious experience he had with a Dennis, the gearbox of which he had to overhau/. Amongst other things which required renewing Was the reverse gear selector tube. When the box was reassembled, everything worked perfectly for a couple of miles, but it was then found impossible to get the gear lever into the reverse notch. Upon investigation it was found that the .trouble was due to the fact that whilst the old tube had four small holes drilled in it in order to allow oil to escape when the tube was pushed back, these were missing on the new one. When similar holes were drilled in the new tube, all worked satisfactorily.