Passing Comments
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Once Upon a Time
win, do people choose to travel by bus instead " of by train? Officials of British Railways in South Wales think it may be because buses go at regular intervals which can be remembered easily, whereas train times follow no easily recognizable pattern. To put this theory to test they are reorganizing timetables on certain routes so that trains will leave once an hour.
Apart, of course, from the question of easily remembered departure times, buses have certain advantages in the matter of cost, convenience, cleanliness and comfort. Perhaps these are trifling benefits, but the public are notoriously fickle.
Guildford Set on Setts
OR some reason, possibly tbe retention of the " olde worlde " atmosphere, Guildford is to repave its hilly High Street with granite setts. It is understood that about 1,000 tons of these will be required—roughly a ton per sq. yd.—and the total cost of repaving is estimated to be £15,000.
It might be thought that a more modern non-skid road surface would have been employed, for on wet and muddy days, heavily laden vehicles are apt to sidle about like crabs on stone-sett roads, but perhaps this is a subtle way of discouraging such traffic.
Shuttle or Shuffle ?
TWO ideas designed to solve the urgent problem of crossing the Firth of Forth are now in circulation. One is that a railway shuttle service for road vehicles should be operated between North and South Queens
A28 ferry. Flat bogie trucks specially designed to cat several vehicles are suggested. These would form continuous line of bogies, with power units at ea end.
The other suggestion is that a system of advisi drivers of the state of the delay at the ferries shot be relayed along incoming routes, so that drivt could, if they desired, use the Kincardine bridge.
These proposals are no substitute for a road brid over the Forth, but they might well be adopted w. temporary measure.
Swords Into Ploughshares
SIXTEEN armoured cars recently sold in Glasgi Li for the Ministry of Supply fetched £1,68.! approximately the cost of one vehicle when rie Buyers included. a detective and guard agency w required an 'escort vehicle for work in connecti with the banks and a civil engineering compa wanting a four-wheel-drive machine for operati over rough ground.
Promoting Factory Visits
nUR1NG the Edinburgh Festival, some 16 co
panies opened their works to visitors, and Scottish Tourist Board are now promoting the among manufacturers and coach operators .t factory visits might be organized on a wider sa Companies are being approached to see who wo be' willing to welcome parties, and lists will circulated among operators.
Implementation of the idea will not only stimul tourist traffic, but create goodwill and publicity manufacturers who take part.
Sweden Wants Bigger Engines
ZZOME interesting facts on commercial vehicle's in --' Sweden were given to The Commercial Motor )5/ Mr. Holger Warn, Stockholm sales manager of :Torenade Bil, A.B., Leyland agents, when he was in ondon recently. The Swedish manufacturers ;culla Vabis and Volvo continue to hold their lead in he " heavy " class, but Leyland are steadily gaining ;round with medium-capacity vehicles. The Cornet ' 90" is becoming increasingly popular, but, he Ldded, itwould be much more so if it had a larger ngine. Operators there are accustomed to engines Pf 135 b.h.p., and they would like to see British aachines with comparable power. It was interesting o note, therefore, that Leyland are soon to supply heir Swedish agents with a number of heavies acorporating 150 b.h.p. engines.
• American-built lorries are losing ground because of heir petrol engines, and, in any case, their price is lmost prohibitive, but the German Mercedes-Benz ; gradually making itself felt. Austin, Bedford and ilorris-Commercial vehicles are popular in the ghter class.
British oil engines are often preferred to those of wedish manufacture. Helsingborg city transport perate 21 Swedish vehicles, five of which have ,eyland engines, and they are said to be showing better fuel consumption than the others. One recently completed 270,000 km. without requiring attention,, an achievement which was considered quite remarkable.
With regard to the positioning of power units, Swedish operators prefer the conventional position at the front to that under the floor because of the extremely cold weather.
Helping the Press
AN appreciated service to the editorial staffs of technical and other papers by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders is their request to exhibitors atthe shows with which members of the Society are concerned, to provide information of their products in useful forms.
The Society point out that it is of mutual advantage that exhibitors should be in a position to supply such information well in advance of the opening of such a show. Apart from early and detailed specifications, there is always a general call later-for summarized descriptions in quickly assimilable form.
So often, when information is required from a concern, all that is available is a batch of catalogues and leaflets with little or no emphasis on new designs and developments. Thus valuable publicity may be lost at the earlier stages, before exhibits can, be actually inspected.