The Menace of Trailer Tramcars.
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
We are opposed to the idea of trailer tramcars in London, and we have written upon the subject on several occasions. We may particularly refer back to the article under the above title which appeared in our editorial columns of the 7th September, 1911. The Editor of this journal and his principal assistant recently paid a visit to Paris, at the instance of the Roads Improvement Association, for the specific purpose of looking into the alleged similarity of the conditions in the French capital to those which obtain in London. Twelve of the inner termini were carefully inspected and observed, under the guidance of one of the principal inspectors of the Service du Controle des Tramways et du Metropolitairi. That inspection has confirmed our views that the admission of trailer tramcars to the streets of London would be an undue user of the highway, dangerous to the general public, and most obstructive to all forms of ordinary wheeled traffic. The traffic conditions in London are essentially different from those in Paris. In the French capital, the tramway undertakings enjoy the possession of areas which are virtually reserved to them for use as shunting grounds and sidings, and the fundamental objection to the use of trailer and coupled tramcars in London is found in the unavoidable obstruction at dead-end termini. The coupled units, which consist either of two electrically-equipped cars or one electrically-equipped car and a drawn unit, must be provided with a circular track at the terminal point, if obstruction is to be avoided. In Paris, at many of the inner termini, these big units are shunted and disconnected at leisure. It is nothing short of impudence to assert that the Paris conditions are similar to those which obtain in London, for Paris possesses numerous squares and other open spaces, of considerable area, in which the tramcars and trailers can be manceuvred with comparative immunity. This would be impossible at any of the inner termini in London such as at Theobald's Road, Aldersgate, Moorgate, Aldgate, etc. One interesting difference between Paris and London, and the existence of which qualification largely accounts for the widespread present use of trailer tramcars, is the general provision of first-class compartments in the Paris vehicles. Everybody with experience in running over railways or tramways knows that a large number of unoccupied seats has to be pulled round to allow provision of this sort to be made, but we see no reason for the introduction of this feature in London. It might be a convenience to some of the passengers, but it would greatly incommode the larger number of other users of the highway. Again, in Paris, there is at present an amazing lack of uniformity in the type of tramcar employed, and the cheapest way to overcome this operating difficulty is found to be by the use of trailers. Some of the Paris tramway undertakings do not intend to use trailers when they have modern electric cars and when the types are not so badly " mixed" as they are now. Those who are qualified to judge know that lack or uniformity in the power units quickly puts a public service into a state of unequal frequency of running. They have remedied this flaw, in Paris, by having recourse to trailers—for the present. ln the centre of Paris, there are no tramcars at all. At some of the inner termini, trailers are either not used or not allowed. In all cases where a complete loop or circle is not provided, a considerable pause in the service is required, a.nd such pauses and interruptions would cause absolute chaos in London at any specific existing inner terminus. Our investigations show us that the points that were not made clear to the House of Commons Committee, which passed the preamble of the Bill inclusive of powers for the L.C.C. to run trailer and coupled cars, were the following: the difficulties at dead-end terminal points ; the fact that the Paris police have absolute contiol in respect of the public safety and the manner in which sanctioned routes are to be operated. It has afforded us much pleasure to bear our share in the fight against trailer and coupled tramcars in London. At the time of writing, the result of the opposition before a Committee of the House of Lords is not known.
The Commercial Motor Show.
To-day (Thursday), the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders will decide whether it will hold the next commercial-motor show at the end of November or the end of January. We very strongly favour the later date. The close bringing together of the dates for the private-car show and the commercialmotor show will find many important members of the motor industry quite unable to put forth their best efforts on the second occasion, whilst considerable sections of the buying public will scarcely wish to take advantage of two exhibitions in such rapid suecession. Again, the reasons which have been proved to hold for the choice of November. as the best date for the private-ear show do not apply to a commercialmotor show, We believe that an all-commercial-motor exhibition, at Olympia, early next year, will be found by far the most beneficial arrangement that can be approved. There will be a proper interval of time to notify its organization to Dominion and Overseas readers, and otherwise to work up that measure of publicity amongst home trades that is so eminently desirable. Circumstances have greatly changed for the better, since the last commercial-motor show was held, at Olympia, in the year 1908. At that date, the industry was depressed by the failure of the R.A.C. Trials of 1907 to produce fresh business, and its depression was not allayed when the exhibition in question failed to draw a representative attendance. This lack of attendance gave a real basis for grumbling, and the show was universally voted a comparative failure. In consequence, an interval of more than four years has been allowed to elapse, but soon we are to have another show. The promised exhibition will receive our most-cordial support in all senses.
Prospects of a good attendance, when the doors of the Show open, appear to us to be remarkably bright. During the past four years, very many large producers, merchants and shippers have become sufficiently interested in the commercial-motor movement to cause them to pay one or more visits when the opportunity is presented, whilst everybody who is connected with the transport work of the country will undoubtedly go, and these include the principal carriers and haulage companies, as well as individuals and firms who are concerned in the conveying, hiring and jobbing businesses. Additionally, teamowners and others who have so far relied upon horses will certainly be induced to go, as a mere act of selfpreservation, in their hundreds.
Compared with the state of affairs which obtained in 1908, it has to be remembered that a distinct impression has been made upon the general trades of the country, and for this impression we are glad to feel that the series of special articles for various trades, from the pen of our Editor, which was published last year, has been to no small extent responsible. The result will be seen in the multitude of bakers, brewers, confectioners, drapers, grocers, Italian warehousemen, laundrymen, millers, municipal engineers, country store-owners and potential buyers too numerous to mention, who will be sufficiently keen to spare some hours of their time, when the forthcoming show is ready for inspection. Since the Olympia Show of 1908, a " turn" has been given, within reasonable bounds, to various annual shows of particular trades, as well as to the annual show of the Royal Agricultural Society, and a growing volume of interest on the part of owners and users has steadily been built up. The membership of the Commercial Motor Users Association alone, for example, is now approaching its first thousand, compared with a. relatively insignificant 150 or so of members 41 years ago. That fact is but one indication out of many which prove the changes that have taken place. We have not the least doubt that the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders will be able to make the next commercial-motor show a big success, and we hope that it will pay due regard to the special directions in which publicity may with advantage be secured, for in this connection methods which are eminently satisfactory in connection with a private-car show are undoubtedly quite unsuitable for a commercial-motor show. The two classes of the industry do not go hand in hand, in any sense of the word ; they call for the application of essentiallydifferent methods, alike for an exhibition as for salesmanship.
The Need for a Cow-catcher.
It were perhaps best to employ a term which, though it may not be strictly accurate from the technical point of view, has something to recommend it from the picturesque standpoint. Most people know what is meant by a cow-catcher. To talk of a lifeguard is apt to court confusion with a branch of the military force. Whatever be the name that should be employed for such apparatus as may hereafter be devised efficiently to protect pedestrian users of the highway from an oncoming motor vehicle, it must be admitted that there seems to be need for some such apparatus in the interests of users. Many owners of motor vehicles favour the adoption of some such device, but it must be admitted that hitherto nothing has been produced which will stand the criticism of technical and commercial experts. This is the sort of requirement which has much attraction for the chronic inventor. The man who has spent his life-time in inventing collar supports or carburetters, sideslip preventers or salves for sea-sickness, is drawn as to a magnet by the suggested desire for some device which will prevent careless or unlucky pedestrians from being crushed beneath the wheels of self-propelled traffic. The activities of such inventors, however, are of little public use. Most cowcatchers, and they are numerous, which have been submitted to users and to Scotland Yard have, amongst other inherent faults, that of being too cumbersome, that of being unable to think what is going to happen before it happens, and that of being too expensive. Much has been made of the fact that the tramcar has a life preserver of a kind, but few data are available to show bow often this, life preserver satisfactorily enables a prone pedestrian to escape with his life. There is little doubt, however, that they ar,e efficient, and it should not be beyond the skill of the practical designer to evolve something on these lines which will render the motorbus immune from head-on collisions with pedestrians. High clearance from the ground is a stipulation for which Scotland Yard has striven with excellent results. so far as concerns public-service-motor vehicles. If the track of a motorbus is able to be avoided, it is possible for the machine to pass clearly over a human body in the roadway. Such immunity, of course, is not attainable with horse-drawn traffic of any sort, nor is it possible so to devise the sub-structure of a tramcar to give equivalent clearance. That such clearance. is not with certainty effective is unfortunately evident from a case which occurred last week in which a man, who had fallen in front of a motorbus, cleared the front wheels, and, by the skill of the driver; would also have cleared the rear wheels had he lain still, attempted to roll towards the gutter when he was under the bus, with the inevitable fatal result.
If some simple arrangement which is not unwieldy, not complicated, not likely to get out of gear, and, in short, not likely to accentuate existing difficulties, can be produced—and it should be possible to con trive such a device—there is little doubt that its use would protect motorbus companies, and, indeed, many other users of heavy self-propelled traffic, from the repeated exhibitions of pedestrian carelessness and foolhardiness which, unfortunately, are increasingly evident in the streets of the Metropolis and other great cities in this year of grace. The neglect of the subways is evidence of increased apathy.