WHEELS of INDUSTRY 'The wheels of wealth will be slowed
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by all difficulties of transport at whatever points arising, as a carriage is by the roughness
of the roads over which it runs."—John Beattie Crozier.
Overseas Visitors and the Forthcoming Shows.
The executive of the British Manufacturers Section of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has displayed commendable vision in its desire to provide every possible facility for overseas buyers visiting the private-car and commercialvehicle exhibitions, to be held at Olympia in October and November next respectively. Special rooms will be placed at the disposal of representatives of the trade outside Great Britain, and admission to these will be granted upon production of trade cards. These rooms will be at 9, Maclise Road, London, W.14, which adjoins the back of Olympia.
Free State Bus Statistics.
Returns for June, issued by the Irish Free State Department of Industry and Commerce, show that the number of bus passengers carried in that month was 4,205,189, as compared with 2,508,396 in June, 1928. The number of vehicle-miles run was 1,983,150, and the average passenger receipts per vehicle-mile were 9.02d.
The number of companies or proprietors operating in the Irish Free State had increased since January from 148 to 152, whilst the gross receipts had gone up from £54,992, in January last, to £74,569.
A Striking Dual-purpose Vehicle.
A. delivery van possesses a considerable amount of useful advertising space, so that ,a vehicle of. this type may be made to fulfil the functions of a transport unit and of a publicity agent. This, fact has been well to the fore in the minds of officials of the Gray's Inn Trunk Stores, Ltd., 9, Gray's Inn Road, London, W.C.1, in putting into service a new Ford 30-cwt. chassis equipped with a striking body, made in the form of a trunk with appropriate fittings. Another type of trunk is depicted in the upper portion of the driver's cab.
The sides of the body are glass panelled to serve as display eises for trunks and suitcases, towards the ends, whilst the central portions are used for smaller goods such as ladies' handbags. The name of the company is illuminated at night. The machine was supplied by W. Harold Perry, Ltd., Invicta Works, North Finchley, London, N.12, to the contractor by which it is operated, B. Paul and Co., la, Granville Place, London, W.C.1.
In a Line or Two.
We learn that the Albion Motor Car Co., Ltd., has received from the War Office a further repeat order for 24 4-ton six-wheeled vehicles.
The chief constable of Douglas (I.O.M.) advocates that all drivers of hackney carriages should undergo a severe test of efficiency before a licence be granted.
The Red Line Motor Spirit Co., Ltd., has opened offices in Newcastle and has allocated a motor-delivery fleet specially for work in the area.
Important Statistics Regarding New Zealand.
From the point of view of the British manufacturer of commercial and other motor vehicles, valuable information is contained in a statistical survey of the motor trade in New Zealand, which has been compiled by The Charles Haines Advertising Agency,. Ltd., of Wellington, New Zealand.
The report gives the exact number of commercial vehicles of each individual make registered in New Zealand as at February 28th, 1929, also the number of each make registered in each particular postal district of the whole Dominion. A host of other figures is included which is, practically speaking, indispensable to any manufacturer who wishes to make an effort to establish the sale of motor vehicles in New Zealand.
Preston's Bus Profits.
Preston Corporation, which on March 31st last was operating a fleet of 16 motorbuses, secured a gross profit of £4,592 from the operation of these vehicles, in the 12 months to that date. The revenue totalled £22,873 and working expenses 118,281, but after meeting interest on loans, sinking fund, income tax and other charges, the amount of income in excess of expenditure was i701. Adding £183 brought forward from the previous year, the balance to be carried forward amounts to £884. The total amount standing at the credit of the reserve fund on March 31st last was £1,119.
During the year the revenue amounted to 17.977d. per bus-mile as against 19.145d. per bus-mile in the previous year, the number of passengers carried in the respective periods being 3,704,659 and 3,506,059.
The Preston authorities run a fleet of 16 Leyland vehicles which seat from 22 to 55 people.
The Welfare of G.W.R. Employees.
A new institute is to be erected at the old Parade Station, Queen Street, Cardiff, for the road-motor and railway employees of the Great Western Railway Co. The new building will comprise concert, lecture, reading, writing and billiards rooms, and it is hoped that'it will be completed so that the 1930 musinal festival, organized by the social and educational union of the company, may be held at Cardiff, instead of at 'Swindon.
Douglas Bus Accounts.
Accounts of the tramways department of Douglas (I.0.31.) Corporation show a balance of £6,725. Six motorbuses were purchased during the year, at a cost of £9,500. There has been no borrowing in respect of any of the motorbuses which were acquired by the corporation, and these now number 29. Up to March 31st, 1929, the cost of tho five buses, viz., £7,629, has been charged against the depreciation and renewals fund, and no provision for depreciation is made in respect of them. Personal Pars.
Mr. C. G. Egan, who has lately been in the service of Bean Cars, Ltd., has now joined the sales staff of Comer Cars, Ltd., and we are told that he will act as an outside representative for the company in the south and southwest of England.
Mr, J. Stuart Broadbent has recently been appointed motor-vehicle rollingstock engineer to the Leeds Corporation, and will take up his duties in the early part of next month. He has acted as chief engineer to the Devon General Omnibus and Touring Co., Ltd., and has had considerable experience in organizing maintenance work on large beets.
Mr. C. P. Lawrence King, who contributes an instructive article in this issue on the interim report of the Royal Commission on Transport, is assistant general manager of Morris Commercial 'Cars, Ltd., at Birmingham, controlling both export and home sales. Before joining his present company be was for several years associated with S. Smith and Sons (M.A.), Ltd., on the technical , side, and, amongst other well-known inventions, he was responsible for the Smith single and twin-jet carburetters.
Mr. Lawrence King is on the Council of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, and the British Executive Committee, and he displays a keen interest in transport problems, not only as they affect this country but in many ether parts of the world.
We reproduce on this page a portrait of Mr. Thomas Barty, who is well known to our readers as being responsible for the department of the Westinghouse Brake and Saxby Signal Co., Ltd., dealing with brake equipment for road vehicles. This gentleman was educated at Ewart High School, Newton Stewart, and in the mechanical engineering section of the Royal Technical College, Glasgow.
Mr. Barty served his apprenticeship in the locomotive works and drawing office of the Caledonian Railway at St. Hellos, and was then placed in charge of the running sheds, later being pro
meted to assist the Locomotive Running Superintendent of that railway. In 1907 Mr. Barty was appointed to the staff of the Westinghouse Brake Co., Ltd., in London. From 1915 until 1919 he was on military service in this country and in France, commanding light-railway and broad-gauge-railway companies of the Royal Engineers. He retired with the rank of captain, returning to the service of the Westinghouse Company.
Ile is a member of the Institution of Locomotive Engineers, the Institute of Transport and the Institution of Automobile Engineers. During the past six years A'Ir. Barty has had to tackle many difficult problems in developing the vacuum-servo brake gear for road vehicles, and an article on the subject of the latest vacuum-storage brake equipment to be marketed by his company appears on another page in this issue.
Atnbulance Bodies Required.
The Director-General, India Store Department, Belvedere Road, Lambeth, London, S.E.1, is inviting tenders for the supply of 116 ambulance bodies for mounting on six-wheeled chassis. Tenders have to be delivered by August 30th.
Coach-parking at Paignton.
At Paignton, long-distance coaches may now stand in Victoria Park, an annual charge of £1 1s., for an agreed number of vehicles, being made. If, on occasion, it be desired to park extra coaches, these must be paid for at the ordinary rate.
A IG.W.R. Road Toll.
The Great Western Railway Co. has instituted a charge upon heavy vehicles making use of its roads at the Swansea docks. As from August 19th a charge of 3d. per ton is made, calculated upon the deadweight of each vehicle over a maximum of 5 tone per axle. The charge is reckoned on the laden weight, divided by the number of axles.
An Albion Fleet in Australia.
A trio of Albion 2-ton vans, owned by the NestI4 and Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Co., of Australia, is illustrated on this page, these forming part of a fleet of 30 vehicles of this make in the service of the company. These particular machines are used as travelling salesmen's vans in the Adelaide area. We are told that the machines have displaced five horse-drawn vehicles similarly equipped and the manager of the company reports that three men can now comfortably tackle the work which was previously undertaken by five men.
The bodies are of an unusual design and have double walls, whilst there are two distinct air spaces in the roof. Each van is equipped with 30 lockers.
The machines were supplied by the Adglaide agent for the Albion Motor Car Co., Ltd., the All-British Motor House, Ltd., the bodywork being executed by Messrs. J. Lawton and Sons, who are amongst the leading commercial coachbuilders in Australia, having built up an important business. 14-to-date Refuse Collectors.
In view of the growing use which municipal authorities are making of upto-date methods for house-refuse collection, an accompanying illustration, depicting two Karrier CYR-type ]ow loaders ready for delivery to authorities in Nelson and Hemswortb, will prove of interest. In each case the body is 10 ft. 6 ins, long and 6 ft. 6 ins, wide, and is of the steel-lined, end-tipping type, operated by a single hydraulic ram situated immediately behind a fullwidth driver's cab. This pattern of cab affords ample room for both the driver and his mate and is standard on this particular Karrier product. The cab of the machine for the Hemsworth authorities is of the totally enclosed type and has large drop windows at the sides.
The CYR-type Karrier chassis is a two-tonuer, embodying in its design a four-cylindered engine with a bore of 05 mm. and a stroke of 140 mm. the power from which is conveyed thi:Sugli a cone-type clutch to a four-speed4indreverse gearbox and thence to a wormdriven rear axle. Important features of the CYR-type refuse collectorare its ease of loading, generous body space, manceuvrability and good speed. This model was introduced earlier in the year and has achieved much success in municipal circles.
Belfast Bus Stands.
A new list of officially appointed bus stands in Belfast has been issued. There is now accommodation for 180 vehicles, a great increase in space having been made at a number of the old stands. The biggest stand is on the Laganbank Road, and may be used simultaneously by 50 vehicles.
Utilizing Worn Tyres.
To permit .a worn or tread-damaged tyre to be used for a further period is the object for which Stronghold selfvulcanizing, anti-friction tyre liners have been produced by Messrs. Saul D. harrison and Sons, Brunswick Road, Bromley-by-Bow, London, E.14, This firm also market tyre gaiters.
These are made for high-pressure tyres in sizes from 26 ins. by 2i ins. up to 40 ins. by 8 ins., the prices for liners being 10s. and 12 respectively. For low-pressure covers they are made for 26-in. by 3.5-in. tyres in the smallest size, up to 34 ins, by 6 ins, as a maximum. The prices are 10s. and Li 10s. respectively.
We recently fitted one of these Stronghold liners to a tyre which had suffered badly as a result of a concussion burst, due to impact with a sharp-edged kerb. An illustration on this page shows the state of thecOver ; the canvas foundation was broken right through, and a bulge had occurred in the wall of the tyre owing to weakening of the foundation. The liner was fitted by cleaning the inside of the cover with a rag dipped in petrol; it was then applied without solution or other adhesive, and the cover fitted in the normal manner.
The tyre has been.in use, on a vehicle weighing over one ton, for a distance of 400 miles, and is still in a usable condition and in regular service.
Hoists and Winches for Motor Vehicles.
A comprehensive catalogue of MeadMorrison hoists and winches for commercial vehicles has been sent to us by the Rothermel Corporation, Ltd., 24 and 26, Maddox Street, London, W.1. These are the products of an American company which has made a very thorough study of users' requirements.
Ambulance Working in 1928.
In his annual report for 1928, Major-. General Sir Percival Wilkinson, the acting Chief Commissioner of the St. John Ambulance Brigade in this country, states that the ambulance transport service possesses some of the finest vehicles in the country, and that during the year many new ambulances have been given to or purchased by units of the 'force. To show the activities of the brigade, it is mentioned that, during the year, 106 ambulances dealt with 2,292 accidents and the removal of 16,371 invalids. The distance covered was1271,532 miles.
A Dunlop Tyre-testing Machine.
One of the.,latest testing appliances in the research laboratory at the Fort Dunlop works of the Dunlop Rubber Co., 'Ltd., has been installed in order to find out the chief causes of tyre wear. At the will of the controller the machine can give the same conditions as a wet road, a rough road or a road covered with dust.
Speeding-up Works Transport.
To many engaged in the commercialmotor industry the problem of conveying goods from one part of a factory or garage to another is a very difficult one. Booklet 321, published by Herbert Morris, Ltd., Loughborough, deals with the Morris overhead runway, showing the variety of uses to which it can be put. One feature of the outfit is that the various parts are bought from stock and the runway is assembled quite easily by a handy man possessing a few hand tools. Up to one ton may be carried.
Inter-available Road and Rail Tickets.
Although no important arrangements have yet been made . regarding the general issue of inter-available tickets for rail or road transport, in cases where the railway company has interests in bus undertakings, the London and North-Eastern Railway Co. is steadily developing local arrangement's whereby the return halves of tickets issued for travel by rail or by road may be used on the homeward journeys by road motor or train.
Until now, such arrangements have been introduced between Hexham and Newcastle, Corbridge and Newcastle, Redcar and Middlesbrough, Scarborough, Filey and Bridlington and Darlington, Stockton and West Hartlepool.
Carrintore Trailers in Demand, Carrimore Six Wheelers, Ltd., Iligh Road, North Finchley, London, N.I2,.is experiencing a lively demand for its various types of trailer, and substantial orders have been received from many important transport operators, these including several of the leading railway companies. In addition, the makers of Leyland, Thornycroft and Berliet , vehicles have indented for Carrimore trailers.
The success of the company's light six-wheeled attachment has, we are told, been exceptional, and large numbers of these units are required for use with Morris-Commercial, Ford and Chevrolet vehicles. The use of this attachment incTeases the carrying capacity and space available on light 30-cirt. commercial-motor vehicles.
Severn Bridge Scheme in Abeyance.
At a conference of local authorities in the West of England and South Wales, held at Chepstow recently, it was announced that the Government departments concerned had declined to adopt as a national scheme the erection of a new bridge across the River Severn near Aust in order to shorten the journey between Wales and Loudon. It is not thought probable that the local authorities will be able to interest the Great Western Railway Co. in the scheme which, therefore, is likely to fall through.
Price of the New Case Tractor.
In connection with the article on page 10 of our issue dated August 20th, in which we described the new Case Ctype, 12-20 h.p. agricultural tractor, we are now able to state that the machine will be marketed in this country at £248, this price including delivery to the buyer. We are informed by the concessionnaire, the Associated Madulecturers' Co. (London), Ltd., of Wharfdale Road, London, N.1, that definite advice has just been received from America to the effect that the weight of the tractor is 30 cwt.
Free State Imports.
During June last no fewer than 113 commercial-motor vehicles, valued at 123,817, were imported into ,the Irish Free State, bringing up the total for the first six months of the year to 562 vehicles (1107,916), as compared with 289 (94,523) 'n the corresponding period of 1928.
, A New G.W.R. Facility.
Always to the front in providing facilities for those making use of its great railway and road-travel system, the Great Western Railway Co. announces that, by paying 2s., in addition to the cheap day or half-day fare from any provincial station, the public may have unlimited travel during the day over the greater part of London's vast motorbus and underground-railway organisations. The arrangement is to be tried as an experiment in September, and a considerable number of bookings has already been made. For children the charge is only is.
Bus Working at Derby.
In the year ended March 31st last the revenue received from the operation of the 18 motorbuses owned by the Derby Corporation amounted to 124,807, whilst the working expenses totalled 119,264, the resulting gross profit of 15,543 being transferred to the net revenue account,, where it was reduced to 12,967—representing net profit—after meeting interest and other charges ; this figure compares with 12,511 for the preceding year.
Reduced to a per-bus-mile basis, income amounted to 15.607d., and expenditure to 12.120d. During the year the buses covered an aggregate mileage of 381,471 and carried 3,653,871 passengers, the average number of passengers carried per bus-mile being 9.57.
Irish Orders for Merryweathers.
Merryweather and Sons, Ltd., Greenwich Road, London, S.E.10, has in hand several orders for fire-engines from prominent local government authorities in Ireland. The Hatfield 250-gallon model is in good demand.
Post Boxes on Nottingham Buses.
In extension of the experimental arrangements which had been successfully undertaken at Nottingham, considerable developments are to be effected in regard to the facilities that are afforded for the late posting of letters on tramcars and motorbuses running from suburban areas into the centre of the city. The boxes are collected by the postal officials upon their arrival in the Great Market Place.
Seat-padding Nair hi Shut, Form.
Members of the coachbuilding trade will be interested to learn that the firm of L. L. Trost, 45, Hatton Garden, London, E.C.1, has, from August 1st, been converted into a limited-liability company. The new name of this well-known house is Trost (London), Ltd., and Mr. Trost takes his seat on the board as managing director.
The company supplies much of the velvet-lined and felt-lined rubber channel for motor-coach windows, but is, perhaps, most familiar as the concessionnaire in this country for Rapid° padding, which is used in the upholstering of seats of both service buses and the more luxurious coaches. The padding is in sheet form and its use marks a great improvement on the era ployment of loose hair, since the thickness is easily kept uniform, not being dependent upon the skill of the upholsterer, and because it permits of considerable saving and of far more accurate estimates of cost.
Bus Powers for Carlisle?
At next month's meeting of the Carlisle City Council a resolution will be moved to the effect that the general purposes committee should consider the advisability of applying to Parliament to enable the authority to secure powers for running municipal buses in the city.
An Increasing Spare-parts Business. We are informed that, in order to cope with increasing business, Patmore's Motors, Ltd., of 240, Ring Street, Hammersmith, London, W.6, has taken additional premises in the Hammersmith area to provide further storage area for its large stocks of cellamereial-vehicle spare parts. '
M. of T. Upholds Manchester's Action.
Manchester Corporation's action in refusing to grant licences to a number of private motorbus owners to operate in the city has been upheld by the Ministry of Transport. Following the corporation's refusal, an inquiry was held, last month, in Manchester, the appellants being the Coopwood Express Motor Service, the Pioneer Motorbus Service, A. H. Duigenan, Goodfellow Services, Ltd., and Mr. H. G. Orr. On Monday of last week the decision of the Ministry was received, stating that it had been decided not to make any order on the licensing authority.