PROGRESS IN PASSENGER TRAVEL.
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The Latest Doings and Developments in the Bus .and Coach World.
Preparing to Meet Competition.
What is Being Done by an Enterprising Coach Owner to Attract Custom During the 1922 Season. Piercing the Weakest Spot in the Railway Companies' Armour
UNDOUBTEDLY the motor coach will have to face serious rivalry from the railway companies next summer, bat one Yorkshire fleet, proprietor, more far-seeing than most, perhaps, is now laying out his plans to circumvent the railway officials in their efforts to get all the holiday traffic. It must be realized that in the matter of prices the railways can beat the motor coach, if only by giving cheap excursions on which they lose money, trusting to recoup themselves through the ordinary passenger or on goods traffic.
It is hopeless for the coach proprietor to attempt to beat them at their own game, but, speaking to a representative of The Commercial Motor recently, the Yorkshire coach proprietor referred to told of the preparations he had already made for. next sea-ann. In a word, he is seekingthe Weakest points in the armour of his railway, opponents, and will play on these points when the openlug of the season arrives. In the first place,. he is going to leave to the railways the work he thinks will be unproductive, and the day excursions to the various seaside resorts are not now receiving much of his consideration if they are to be simply straight journeys out and home. The railways can de that. work at a price no motor coach proprietor could consider, and give longer hours at the destination. But, on the other hand, he intends to play upon the attractions of the journey by motor coach, and, of course, upon the advantages. the coach has over the railway in the matter of more comfortable travelling, a more enjoyable outing, no overcrowding, and a number of other points which readily suggest themselves. His motto will be something in the nature of the phrase:— " To travel hopefully is better than to arrive," the point of view being that the journey is more important than the time spent at the destination.
Pleasant travelling will be his first consideration, and every precaution will be taken to ensure that there is nothing to mar the pleasure of the journey. Great pains are being taken with the overhaul of the, vehicles during the winter, and nothing is being left to chance for the running season. The vehicles are being made so that they do not soon look travel-stained, or dilapidated in any way, and these features will be put before possible passengers by pointing out how smart the coaches always are. If the holiday resort journeys are not to be pushed next year, what kind of traffic is this coach Manager going to set out to cultivate? will be asked. Al; ready he has spent a good deal of time in planning tours, and in his endeavour he has, used a good deal of midnight oil with maps laid out before him. The predominant idea has been to seek out places away from the railways. Many places have become famous simply because they have been boomed by the railway companies, but there am hundreds of places equally attractive which have
not had this advantage. Consequently, the public knows nothing of them, and there has been no demand for motor coach journeys to them.
Our Yorkshire proprietor intends to seek out something novel, however, and in his own car has visited many outlying districts to which coaches have, as yet, scarcely ventured. Particular attention has been paid to the possibilities of obtaining meals, and, so -!ar as possible, stopping-places are being selected at the prettiest points. This owner intends to urge upon his possible customers the attractions of the various country elietricts into which he intends to run the coaches. In his own ;where he will' have to do the booming of the places, and, irk a modest way, make known their claims. Unless people are told a place is Pretty they do not realize it, he says; and not only will he point out the attractive places to be reached during the stopping times, but will, by the aid of route cards, prompt the passengers to be on the look-out for pretty scenery while the coach is travelling. In this connection photographs are being secured to tempt passengers to take the journey. A point upon which this proprietor laid particular emphasis was the necessity for the promoters of motor coach trips reminding passengers that the country through which the road passed was interesting or pretty. If people were not reminded of this they never saw anything to talk about. In this connection ho gave an instance of a trip he ran last. season. The trip was advertised as an outing through the beautiful "Blank" country, and the " glorious " scenery was emphasized fast of the passengers had been through the same district in journeying to a popular seaside resort, but they cams back with glowing accounts of beautiful scenery such as they had never seen before, and that simply because the idea had been put into their minds that they were going to see a beautiful country.
Comparatively few people know much of their own country. They do not object to things being pointed out, however, and in an unostentatious way this proprietor intends to show to the public in his own neighbourhood something of the beauties of " uuexplored " Yorkshire -and Lancashire, and to point out, without being schoolmasterlv, some of the interesting places referred to in "our rough island story," and to give a smattering of a number'of subjects which, if they are only named to the average passenger of a motor coach, would have almost disastrous effects.
Nevertheless, there is something to intereSt almost everybody in natural history, geology, architecture, and many of the sciences if the pedant and the pedagogue are eliminated. This is what it is hoped to do. He means to make motor coaching something more than a mere travelling from place to place.
Detachable Side Screen for Coaches.
A Simple Means for Providing an Allthe-year-round Vehicle.
/FITE CONVERSION of a motor 1 coach from summer to winter use is usually carried out by fitting a detachable rigid top, in which aide screens are part, and parcel of the removable part, the -ordinary Cape cart hood being set aside during the winter employment of the machine. By the use of a top of this type the vehicle can be made very comfortable and completely weather-proof. Such conversions, however, involve capital, and if only irregular-use is found for the vehicle during the winter the coach owner may feel that this expense is not justified. It is to these users that the Rawlence detachable side screen, manufactured by I. C. Rawlence and Co., 40, Sackville Street, London, W., will appeal, because it can be used in conjunction with the ordinary hood. Moreover, it can be kept in position during the summer
months and thus afford passengers protecalon from dust, and wind, at the same time enabling them to enjoy the advantages of the open coach.
The screens are made in sections, each section consisting of one fixed panel and one hinged panel carried on an iron standard, which is either bolted permanently to the body, or, preferably, is fitted into socket in the body so that it can be readily detached.
The fixed panel covers the space between the doors, and the hinged panel opens with the door, being attached thereto by means of a swivel bracket. The hinged panels can, however, be freed from the doors at will and folded back against the fixed panels and firmly. clamped to them.
All the sections are so easily detached that they can be fitted or removed in the space of a few minutes; moreover, they take up very littki room, and can be very easily accommodated in the vehicle. The frames are of brass, and are glazed with 3-16th in. coach plate glass. Two turn-buttons are fitted at the top of each panel, se that, when the screens are used in conjunction with the hood, a valance from the hood can be attached to them. Turn-buttons, are also fitted on the rear, end screens for attaching a curtain to fill in any apace between the end panel and the hood.
A Skid-pan for Coaches.
Just as a Sprag Will Prevent a Vehicle from Running Backwards, so will a Skidpan Hinder the Forward Progression of a Machine Descending a Hill.
WE HAVE on many occasions in the past, emphasized the desirability of fitting sprags to passenger vehicles, and particularly those operating over hilly routes, in order to prevent them from running backwards; but to pursue the argument to a logical conclusion, it is equally necessary to incorporate some fitting which will retard the program of a vehicle should it become unmanageable when descending a hill. If the brakee fail when the vehicle is climbing a graclient, a sprag, especially if it be of the ratchet type, will hold the machine in cheek, but should they fail when the vehicle is running downhill, there is nothing to hinder the gathering speed of the vehicle.
We have advocated thel'fitting of a third brake to obviate such occurrences, and in this direction the importance of using the engine as a brake, such as is done by the manufacturers of the Saurer vehicle, ehould not be overlooked.
The general adoption of a third brake on passenger vehicles will probably come intime, but for the moment the only method of guarding against untoward accidents on hills is by the employment of some such additional fitting as a skidpan. Some local-authorities prohibit the use of a such a device in towns, on the ground that their use damages the road surface, but, generally speaking, there is no objection to their proper employment. We de not suggest that skid-pans are by any means the most suitable fitting, although, in so far as they possess a. retarding action, they can claim some attention.
For this reason ethe arrangement of said-pan, described by Mr. J. B. Gayler in patent specification No, 171,310, which .is controlled from the driver's seat and is intended to serve as an emergency brake, particularly in connection with the use of motor coaches, is deserving of consideration.
According to this invention, the skidpan can be fitted to one or both of the back wheels of a vehicle, Each shoe is mounted at its forward end upon a radial arm which is pivoted loosely about. a bearing formed in the hub cap of the wheel, and connected at its free end to an upwardly bent neck or lug at the front of the skid-pan. A chain or other suitable flexible connection extends front the forward end of this neck to a stout bracket, which is mounted upon the frame of the vehicle, and this connection is of such a length as to locate the skidpan in tha correct position beneath the tread of the wheel and to take the 'drag" of the pan. ,
In order to hold the skid-pan normally out of engagement, a flexible cable is connected to the neck of the skid-pan and passes over small pulleys mounted on the frame.. The free end of this flexiblecable is provided with an eye, adapted to engage over a pin located near the driver's seat and readily accessible to one of his hands. In the ease of an emergency in which the ordinary brakes refuse to act or are ineffective, all that is necessary is for the driver to release the end of the flexible cable, when the skid-pan will fall down and engage beneath the vehicle wheel, and in -this way lock it.
A separate pen may be provided for ,each of the two rear wheels, which could aupported and released by a single cable, or twin cables could be employed.
Motor Omnibus Feeders.
The utilization of motor omnibuses as feeders for the theatre is the venture that was made on Christmas Eve by the management of the Liverpool Olympia, and the enterprise seems suggestive of new 'possibilities for.the passenger motor vehiCle.
The Liverpool Olympia is not exactly a "down town" place of amusement, and to reach it from the suburbs involves usually travelling on . two tramway routes. The inconvenience of travelling, and especially the changing at the tramway junctions on the return jott nay at a late hour at night,probably deters many people from the joyful participation in a night at the theatre. So it was then that four big areas of the city were each allocated to a motor omnibus, which, it. was announced, would start from a specified place at a certain time, to proceed along a detailed route to the Olympia, due to be reached a few minutes before tile commencement of the performance. These arrangements were made for both the afternoon and evening performanee-S and also covered the return journey.
Noisy Traff c at Night:
Having had representations from the Warblington Urban District Council as to the disturbance and . annoyance of residents by the use of horns and other noisyinstruments by . excursionists b t night, the Hampshire County Council has drafted a by-law dealing with the nuisance "between sunset and sunrise" as follows ;- " No person shall during the period between sunset and sunrise on any publio coach or other public vehicle for the conveyance of passengers, or on any coach, brake, wagonette, or other vehicle hired or used for the conveyance of pleasure parties and the like, blow any horn or use any other noisy instrument or make or combine with any ether person or per'sons to make any toed singing or outcry while passing through any town, village or hamlet to the annoyance or interruption of residents. Nothing in this bylaw shall prevent the use of a born in a reasonable manner by one person on a coach or similar vehicle. Every person who shall act in contravention of this by-law shall for any such offence be liable to a penalty not exceeding 5.."