LEAVES FROM THE INSPECTOR'S NOTEBOOK.
Page 11
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Prominent Busmen at the Front. Two. Holes or Three ?
THE COMMERCIAL-VEHICLE INDUSTRY has, in all conscience; sufficient to be proud of in the effectivenese of the military transport belonging to the British Army and Aircraft organizations. Few of us, however, realize to what extent that peculiarly British innovation, the Tanks has been dependent-upon. the knowledge and skill .which that same industry has ,evolved. I am particularly reminded of this in learning that much, if not all, of the maintenance of the Tanks of the British Army overseas is in the hands of three men who were early identified with the development of the motorbus in the metropolis. I refer to Lieut.-Colonel Frank Searle, Major G. A. Green and Major Brockbank. I chanced upon Searle recently, enjoying a brief spell of leave with some of his home folk -in a London jplace of amusement. He. looked lal'onzed, and even taller, keener and fitter than ever. He bore on his right uniform sleeve a piece of emblazoned military pateh-work which crudely showed
a Tank in side elevation. * *
Few of our readers will need to be reminded that Frank Searle was, at one time, chief engineer of the whole of. the London General Omnibus Co.'s huge organization, and that subsequently and previous to the war he took Up a very important position on the staff of the Daimler Co. Be went to America, I believe, to purChase war material for the Daimler Co., subsequently throwing himself with characteristic energy into the opportunity 'which offered in.-connection with the maintenance of the mOdean automobile Green was Searle's right-hand man at the L.G.O. Co, for a long while, and helped the latter to pull the whole organization into .shape by his unapproachable . energy and application. He joined the company at a time when insuperable difficulties had nearly put' " paid " to the company's automobile enterprise and had half killed some of the existing staff with 'worry and strain. He was subsequently offered, and took, an appointment as chief engineer to the Brussels General Omnibus Co., a concern which was to run Ryknield machines, and' thereafter he went, to New York as chief engineer and superintendent to the Fifth Avenue Coach Co. in New York, where he had charge of Over 1000 motorbuses.
I suspect that it was Searle who, hinted to Green of the great possibilities ahead of him in convection with the .Tanks", for Green soon came back and threw in his lot as a specialist military officer, associated with Searle.
The third of the :trio, Major Brockbank, was also prominent with Searle at the .L.c1-10.C. He had a period of activity in South America,and on his return to this country joined up with the other two. A fine team in the right place, which is unfortunately by no means always the case in our national organization. There are others who are associated with Tank activities in this country and who have 'been no less closely associated with the commercial-vehicle industry, but it were perhaps wiser at the present time not to speak of their share in this remarkable development, a share. which has been no less praiseworthy than of the maintenance men that have just been mentianed. Sir William Tritton's historic share, of course, is already known. That is all another tale that will not lose by the keeping, until times are easier and many such yarns can be' told without fear of -disclosing information which might be valuable to the enemy.
Two Holes or Three ?
So once more our old friend the Channel Tunnel is being actively exploited. The national circumstances. at present, of course, make a very ready and popular appeal to most of us in favour of this submarine artery. What such a tunnel would have saved in cross-Channel maritime transport is .totally beyond reckoning for most of us, but that it .would have. released enormous amounts of tonnage goes without saying. I surmise, however, that our anxieties during the Huns' -thrusts -for the Channel ports would have been evenacuter than they were had we fully realized what a rich prize there was fOr our enemies in capturing such a point d'apPui.
• The.prineipal interest of the scheme for those of us who are concerned with the commercial-vehicle industry is, of course, the practicability of embodying in the tunnel provision for the transit of road traffic on its own wheels. I see no reason to depart from my original conviction _that; at any rate in its first stages, the tunnel will Most sensibly—for, of course,' it will come—be devoted to rail traffiC and to rail traffic only, , and that most certainly for electric haulage alone. It has to be remembered that if part of' the tunnel or a separate one were devoted to road traffic we should have probably from 20 to .24 miles of roadway artificially ventilated from the ends, and traversed by strings of vehicles all driving at the speed of the' slowest unit. .. There could he no possibility of anything but the strictest traffic control below the seas, and passing and re-passing would probably only -be permissible in serious emergency. Given a speed of 10 miles an hour average, which would be likely.to be in excess of that set by the slowest machine, always, of course, making allowances, too, for possible chance of a mishap occurring on the' way across, the journey would take at least two hours, and the scenery and the atmosphere would, without doubt. be monotonous and abominable.
These limitations, which would be certain to, exist more or less, all point to the desirability of provision for rapid rail transport for motor traffic through the tunnel. It should not be a matter of great difficulty to arrange loading and unloading facilities of an elaborate nature at both. ends of the tunnel. Low platformed wagons Standing at the loading bays with their floors level with the roadway could be ready' to receive the motor wagens, lorries, vans and private ears as they drove up, and before ahe Customs had secured all the information and signature's required the wagons would be coupled up to the, train, ready for the gtiArd's whistle that should start.them off to 'another land. The speed at which such transport could then be made below the sea would more than make up for any loss of time due to these suggested terminal delays. • I .imagine 'this is not the p-opular metering view—a state ef affairs which always interests me. But what the motorist would lose by not having his own particular submarine hole I cannot conceive. . Scenery? Atmosphere? Speed? Safety?
I don't think so!