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That was the year...
Page 14
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CM was launched in 1905; for our centenary year we're bringing you stories from years gone by. This week we're back in 1941 and 1991.
1941
Germany attacks the Balkans and Russia.The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbour, finally bringing the US into World War Greta Garbo retires at the age of 36 and Orson Welles redefines cinema with Citizen Kane. Plutonium is isolated and found to be good for.., oh so many useful things.
Wrong again
Our esteemed CM correspondent said the apparent decline in steam was an illusion. He wrote:"The ebb of steam is stemmed — its tide will rise again."The writer noted steam turbines gave a power output no other modern technology could touch;"nor has it yet been superseded for traction in this country".
Status boost
CM exhorted readers to plan ahead for the end of the war. Road transport was a critical factor in the war effort and as such -the industry has just undergone a tremendous improvement in status. It is now acknowledged as being of national importance... a force to be reckoned with." Ironically, the requisition of all their vehicles had left them curiously powerless... and the probable reward for being of national importance? Nationalisation.
New fuel
Fuel shortages saw Rochdale Corporation running its fleet on a mixture of creosote and oil. Minor alterations were required to engines, but was more than repaid by fuel-cost savings. The creosote was washed to remove tar acids and some vehicles did 60,000 miles on the mixture. CM claimed the process was "entirely successful if proper precaution be taken".
1991
Apartheid was repealed in South Africa. Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia peeled away from Russia,preparing the way for the USSR to crumble after Gorbachev's resignation. The Gulf War broke out and Baghdad crumbled. Nirvana released Smells like Teen Spirit and Thelma and Louise drove off the edge of the Grand Canyon in a 1966 Thunderbird.
Testing times
Then editor (now editor in chief) Brian Weatherly praised the Vehicle Inspectorate's aptitude for listening to what hauliers wanted at test stations, but decried the DSA and Department of Transport's decision to withdraw HGV licence testing on Saturday mornings after just two years. It had meant drivers could take their test without disrupting the working week.
Detroit's finest
We looked again at Detroit Diesel's Series 60 "drive-by-wire" engine which no manufacturer had used in the UK despite its excellent driveability.The engine's fuel economy was good but not remarkable — until seen in relation to journey times when it revealed itself as "quick, very quick, particularly in the hills averaging 44.5mph over our gruelling test route.. "Truck mak ers still said they had no need of another choice of engine.
Disastrous perception
A series of motorway disasters gave a distressing image of the tanker industry. CM contrasted this with the reality of a tightly regulated,safety conscious sector.A BP manager said:"Newspapers talk about tankers as if they are all carrying inflammable liquids. In fact the total is fewer than 2,000 vehicles."