Bird's Eye View
Page 48
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SINCE I wrote a few weeks ago about the way in which transport pipelines were developing, we've seen the protest motion by some Conservative M.P.s who fear that giving State-owned boards a sizeable share in one of the British groups might be a way of permitting " back-door " nationalization of pipelines. This fear is, it seems, shared by European oil companies. Commenting on the E.E.C. transport action programme (if any such thing now exists) they say they can see the necessity for some harmonization of the regulations now in force in the .Six but they don't agree that this need be based on "interventionist principles" and stress that it must not provide the opportunity for any extension of State intervention.
They throw up their hands in horror at the idea of oil pipelines (a lovely term they have for these—oleoducts) being integrated into common transport policy arrangements. The oil companies are backed in their view by the Union of European Community Industries.
Swift with Sulphur
HOW long does it take to fully run-in a petrol engine? Two Russian technicians, G. P. Sharonov and V. R. Lakin, have, in a recently published paper, come up with the surprising answer of 80-90 min. for a newly assembled power unit. They say experimental work has shown that use of a high-sulphur oil can produce these results and they claim that it reduces initial wear by 2f times compared with a straight mineral oil. Many research engineers in Britain, I'm told, consider the latter type of lubricant preferable to detergent oils for running in because it accelerates bedding-down of working surfaces and reduces consumption.
Presumably Sharonov and Lakin don't recommend a high-sulphur oil for normal running. Particularly in an over-cooled engine, a lubricant with a sulphur content of more than, say, 0.25 per cent can increase the wear rate, notably of the top piston ring and groove, by four or five times. The sulphur concentration of the running-in oil mentioned is around 0.8-11 per cent.
Unpaid Ambassador
AS reported elsewhere in this week's edition, The Commercial Motor exclusively covered the conveyance of an out of the ordinary load of machinery across to Holland. Although colleague Norman Tilsley has mentioned that Dutch television cameramen were present to film the off loading, what he did not say in the story is that, as the sole representative of the British Press present, he was interviewed by the TV men about the journey from Sheffield to Tilbury and over on the ferry. Stating that all had gone smoothly, and that, in fact, for Pickfords it was "all in a day's work" for them, it B30
was not until the proceedings were at a close that Norma realized that the interview was being filmed for Dute television. • As readers may have gathered, we have now ac,con panied several different kinds of vehicle, both A license and C licensed, operating from this country on to ti Continent. Though, for the drivers, it is mostly a case "all in a day's work ", these articles have received favou able comment from readers.
The Reluctant Dragon
WARNING: don't mention dragons to John Moon f
the time being! He was in Cardiff recently, readit a paper to the local centre of the Institute of Road Tran port Engineers on a Friday night, and, faced with tl prospect of having to return to London by train on t Saturday morning, settled for one of the Western Regiot " crack " expresses—" The Red Dragon ", which scheduled to leave Cardiff at 10 a.m. and arrive at Pa dington at 12.55 p.m. He got to Cardiff General Statil 20 minutes early—and "The Red Dragon" snorted 1 hour 50 minutes later! The staff at Cardiff station ke on making excuses about there being extensive track repal at a place called Pyle, but apparently the diesel lo originally assigned to the train had broken down Llanharan, and the replacement took 90 minutes to obta You can't rely on a thing these days—or do roads oil a solution after all?
One for the Book
INTO my department of queer statistics I really must pla
one compiled for me by Joe Smith, managing director. Lennox Ladders (Walthamstow) Ltd., a London C-licer undertaking. Having recently raised the question of sm clearance (or lack of it) with his local chamber of co merce, Joe has come up with the information that 1 cost of one Polaris submarine is equivalent to 14,2 modern snow ploughs.
Wot! No discount for fleet orders?