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New Lorries from Old.

22nd June 1916, Page 13
22nd June 1916
Page 13
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Page 13, 22nd June 1916 — New Lorries from Old.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

How the Large Motor Repair Department of the French Transport Service is Organized.

A Despatch from Our Special Correspondent with the French Army.

By special permission of the French War Department I have been given an opportunity of examining the methods employed by our ally to keep her fleet of motor lorries and touring ears in the best possible condition for carrying on its work. As readers of THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR are generally aware, every motor unit in the field has some provision made for its maintenance, first by travelling motor workshops and later by semi-permanent repair shops established in the rear of the lines.

The Biggest Repair Shop.

In a general way this is the method adopted by both the French and the English. But in addition to the repair units at the Front or in the immediate vicinity of the Front, the French authorities have established a central repair depot which is doubtless the biggest motor repair department in the world. It is this organization which I was invited to visit. The central repair department is divided into two sections: a huge open-air garage forming a receiving and dissecting depot ; and permanent workshops fitted up for carrying out work on an important scale.

The receiving depot was found in an important camp to which civilians approached only after a most rigid inspection. It is to this depot that all the wreckage of the battlefield, all the vehicles which cannot be handled by the repair shops at the Front, is directed from day to day. Obviously such an organization did not exist when war broke out, and was only brought into being a comparatively short time ago. During this interval wreckage had piled up in enormous proportions, and it was added to every day by the wastage of battle. Thus this receiving depot constituted one of the most picturesque sights in connection with the motor service of the army. Line after line of lorry, ambulance and touring car in every stage of decrepitude was to be found there. It is, not possible to give an indication of the number otherwise than to state that it ran into four figures. At various intervals stacks of woad, frames, sheet metal, rims, wheels, etc., towered up to heights of 20 ft. or 30 ft,, forming the remains of what had once been war lorries.

A large proportion of this wreckage had been accumulated during the first six months of the war. Not only did France requisition her big fleet of subsidy models, but circum

stances. required that she should draw in hundreds of old cars which were far from the official standard. A few months of war service sufficed to put these vehicles among the wreckage abandoned by the roadside, in villages or in fields. 'Thus, when the creation of the central repair department was decided on, much working material had been accumulated, and it was being added to by the steady flow from the Front.

No Trading in Used Parts or Scrapped Material.

Among the excellent rules adopted by the motor transport departni4nt of the French army are stipulations that no war-worn trucks or cars shall be sold to private individuals' that no car parts or old metal shall be put on the market ; and that no vehicle shall be condemned wholesale for the scrap heap. Every wreck sent in for treatment is examined by a group of expertiofficers, who decide whether it is a case for repairs or dismemberment. If repairs are possible, the vehicle is moved along to the central repair department. If, on the other hand, the condition or age of the vehicle does not justify its repair, it is registered and sent into the yard for dissection. The card system has been applied to this work in a very efficient and intelligent manner. ,As each lorry or car comes in it is given a number and a card, and on the back of this card is recorded all the parts which have been picked out as fit for future service and stored. Use Found for Everything.

In some cases a complete engine may be saved, in others a gearbox, a rear axle,. a front axle or steering gear. Again, it may axle, be a set of connecting rods, or a pair of cylinders, but whatever the part, big or small, it is recorded on the back of the card. In the rare cases where nothing can be saved dissection is most complete. The quality of steel used for crankshafts, connecting rods and gearwheels is tested, and the high-grade material separated from the low-quality stuff. Brass, copper, aluminium, mild steel, sheet steel all go into separate heaps. Real horsehair is put into sacks apart, from the imitation material. Real leather upholstery is not placed in the same storage space as the cheap imitations. Magnetos are sent to the electrical department and tested, then put in the store for further service. The rear axles of old-type chain-driven lorries are specially made use of for carrying field kitchens. The material the men work with provides the men with tools. Thus, tubular chassis built about 1900 are stripped of all their organs but the steering gear, and 'provide very satisfactory handcarts. With a motorcycle wheel and a few planks a very easy-running and substantial wheelbarrow can be made: Window panes from old hotel omnibuses give as good service in the temporary wooden offices as anything specially provided by the glazier—a,nd cost less. The material obtained from dissected vehicles is sold to the foundries, but

only to those establishments working for the army. All private speculation has been eliminated.

£1000 a Day Saved.

This dissecting system gives the repair depot officers an immense number of spare parts covering a variety of makes and models. These parts, however, are not mere lumber, for by means of the card index system it is possible at a moment's notice to find any part for any particular make and model. The elassifieation of the parts is first according to make, then year and model. Thus, for instance, if a Panhard lorry is received requiring a new gearbox, a glance through the records will show if such a component exists in the stores, and if so an order is made out for its release and it is written off the card. Ii very many cases economical repairs have been possible to old and littleknown types which could not otherwise have been carried out without specially constructing parts at considerable cost. Not infrequently, 'zoo, lorries are sent to the home 'factory for repair, and it is the army depot which supplies from its stock the necessary parts for replacement. Such a scheme as this is most advantageous when carried out on a big scale, and it is estimated that this central depot is saving not less than £1000 daily on spare parts. The British W.D. should arrange similarly.'

The Depot Deals with Seventy Vehicles a Week.

Six months ago the now busy workshop was a, wine-merchant's yard and storehouse.There was neither power nor artificial light nor a work-bench. At the present time there is a workshop handling an average of 70 motor vehicles a week, the material worked on varying from a Knox tractor or Panhard and Levassor four-wheel-drive tractor to a Baby Peugeot runabout. The great variety of vehicles to be dealt with naturally tends to complicate the task of the officers ; nevertheless, they have a well-developed system, and in addition to the various departments for overhauling the respective compo nents the workers are divided into groups specializing on particular makes. The absence of young men is remarkable. The great bulk of the personnel is recruited from the French motorcar factories, among the staff being pointed out two men who had been in business as car manufacturers, several factory foremen, and some old-time skilled rue ing mechanics—but they had all passed beyond the age when men can do useful work in the trenches.

The repair department is remarkably complete and does not usually need any support from the home factories. Whatever replacements are required are obtained first from the stores createdfrom dissected vehicles, or from the general stores in which parts are maintained for all makes of vehicles bought by the army authorities. It is only in rare cases that parts are made specially. The running test shop is conducted on praotically the same lines as that of the big factories. Testers who do no other work take the lorries or cars on the road after being passed, these vehicles go to the body and painting departments, and after a final test are held for distribution to the armies as required.

The Tire Department. •

One of the new features is an important tire repair department. As there are tire presses in connection with the various repair depots at the Front, lorries are never sent in specially for new solid tires. But the depots, however, have to return all worn solid tires to this repair department and all damaged pneumatic tires have to be sent back to this point for treatment. Machinery has been erected for paring worn rubber off the steel bases, while the pneumatic tire repairing section operates in exactly the same way as the corresponding departments of the big tire factories. Repaired tubes are packed in cardboard boxes in the same way as is done by manufacturers, and repaired pneumatic tires are wrapped in paper and labelled with the maker's name and size. These repaired tubes and times are delivered to the army as reesehred. There is always a big stock in hand.


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