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Eric Jenkins
• At the age of 40, Eric Jenkins is one I the youngest chief engineers of any large pi undertaking in Europe. He was appointe chief engineer of the West Midlanc Passenger Transport Executive on January this year in succession. to Mr R. Edgley Cc after being works engineer of the WMPT since 1971. He points out that the things F' does today are all the more importai because it will be 25 years before he retire: Because he is looking so far ahead h• consults a crystal ball from time to time. TIlast thing he wants to see in it, he said, is take-over of the Gardner engine compan, That he would regard as a tragedy. But he ht caught a glimpse of a fully automatic gearbc with fluid flywheel of a type that he is lookir for.
Eric has transport (and engineering) in h blood. His father worked for Liverpo: Corporation Transport and was machine shc foreman when he retired. From 1969 to 197 Eric was fleet engineer of Bass Charringtc Ltd, his first job as goods vehicle operato But he had had experience of maintaining E. types of vehicles including refuse collector excavators, and fire brigade units as depu. engineer of Leicester City Transport froi 1963 to 1966, that was before he WE appointed chief engineer of Oldhai Corporation's bus fleet.
While maintaining non-psv types vehicles added usefully to his knowledge engineering problems, he is grateful that f can now do everything in his own workshc4 apart from grinding a camshaft.
He was apprenticed to Liverpoo Corporation Transport in 1948 and when h: left in.1957 to join Southampton Corporatic Transport as technical assistant he was draughtsman in the Liverpool drawing-offic: There will be a dearth of profession engineers for transport jobs in the comir years, in Eric's opinion. He is convinced th: taking a sandwich diploma course whi employed by an undertaking is the best wt open to the younger generation of achievir professional status. But he is "sad" that ye few boys with a grammar school educatic apply for apprenticeships. Starting at th bench and working up is preferable, h considers, to student apprentices beir groomed for higher posts.
Eric insists that getting away from it occasionally is essential to doing your jc well, and golf provides the opportunity in h case. He has a son aged 10 who likes makir things from kits and a daughter of 15. And f believes that no one can be a good transpc man if he hasn't a good transport wife. 11 quite evident that Eric is a very good transpc man. P.1