For DRIVERS, MECHANICS & FOREMEN.
Page 21
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A PRIZE OF TEN SRILLINGS is awarded each week to the sender of the best letter which we publish on this page ; all others are paid for at the rate of a penny a line, with an allowance for photographs. All notes are edited before being published. Mention your employer's name, in confidence, as evidence of good faith.. Address, D., M. and F,,, "The Commercial Motor," 7-15, Romberg Avenue, London, E.C. I.
Lamps Alight.
On Saturday, May 31st, light your lamps at 9.33 in London, 10.40 in Edinburgh, 9.57 in Newcastle_, 9.55 in Liverpool, 9.46 in Birmingham, 9.43 in Bristol, and 10.39 in Dublin.
An Extemporized Petrol Tank.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the Ms. prize this week.
[1975] " (Battersea) writes: " Some time ago I was engaged upon some rather extensive carhgretter experiments, and these, owing to the design of the carburetter, had necessitated frequent removal and subsequent replacement of the petrol supply pipe each time one of the special adjustments necessary in connection with the test had to be made. This too frequent .disturbing of the somewhat fragile connection had the inevitable result that ultimately the flange to which the branch is attached came away from the underside of the petrol tank, leaving a gaping hole where the pipe was usually connected. At the time, of course, as always seems to happen, I was out of the town, far enough away from any garage, and had no hope of 'any useful repair being effected. Some means of getting home, however, had to be devised, and eventually I hit upon the following expedient.
"I happpened to have a length of rubber tubing in tlay toolbox. This I attached to the end of the petrol pipe. I opened a fresh tin of petrol and stood it on the seat. I then filled the carburetter float chamber, the petrol pipe, and the rubber tubing right up with petrol, nipped the end of rubber tubing in my fingers and dropped it into the petrol can. This made it possible to operate the pipe as a sYphon, and with the two gallons in the can I was thus able to reach home without any further trouble."
A Winter's Tale.
[1976] " W.G.11." (Victoria) writes :—" This may seem hardly to be a topical story, but as the events to which it refers happened the day following that heavy snowstorm at the close of last month, and as that snowstorm was not regarded by most of us as topical either, perhaps I may be excused. At 6 o'clock a.m., Monday, April 28th, I set out on a trip from London to Newark, loaded with atractor, a plough and some spare parts, totalling rather over two tons, on a two-ton Burford lorry. The snow, which had fallen very heavily on the day before, Sunday, was still on the ground, so that it was necessary, before starting out, to rope the hind wheels of my lorry so as to give me a chance of getting along over the snow. Having done this, I got away all right, atd all went well until at about eight o'clock I arrived at Barnet, where I ran into a snow drift about 3 ft. deep. This, I thought, is likely to be the end of my day's journey. I immediately 'phoned to my employer, stating the condition of the road and telling him where I was. He advised me to get my breakfast and 'phone him again at 10 o'clock, and he would in the meantime try to get into communication with Newark to discover the condition of the road further north.
"It had taken de two hours to do 12 miles, and people capable of providing breakfast were not yet up at Barnet. So, as I did not fancy the idea of standing about for two hours in the cold, I decided to have a shot at getting on. Slowly, and with a little bit of snow shovelling (I had to clear the radiator twice of snow which had accumulated on it), I managed to get through the drift. I plodded on, meeting no other vehicle, and seeing no signs of any other-,–L. was the first on the snow—and eventually reached Potters Bar. From there I commenced to make a bit better going, as the trees at the side of the road had sheltered it and it was not so thickly covered. I reached Hatfield at 10 o'clock, and again tried to get in communication with London but failed, as the wires were down.
"After leaving Hatfield, I met with trouble of a new kind; several trees having fallen across the road. It was clear to me that I could not wait hours for someone to come along and cut them away, so I got as close to the first one as I could, fastened al rope round_ it', hooked it on to the front of my lorry, which was fortunately provided with towing hooks, and dragged the tree sufficiently to one side for me to get past. I did this with the others and continued my journey. When I got to Welwyn, however, I had trouble of a much 'more serious order, as three huge trees had fallen across the roadway, and were resting on the telegraph wires on the opposite side of the road. There was a gang of men at work, and they were cutting these down. I waited until they had finished and then helped them to pull the trees to one side of the road, leaving room for a vehicle to pass.
"Here I had to rebind the wheels, and shortly afterwards met the first road vehicle—a, car—coming in the reverse direction. I had a word with the driver, and he told me there was little sign of snow on the roads the other side of Biggleswade I found that he was correct, and my journey from thenon was made in good style. I arrived at Newark at 6.0 p.m., having done the journey of 130 miles in 121 hours. This, in the circumstances, I thought was remarkably good." . _ [Long journeys, such as that described by "W.G.H.," often bring in their train difficulties unforeseen, not always of the mechanical.order, but, nevertheless, incidental to the running of the vehicle. A few minutes spent in putting such experiences on paper will well repay you.—BP.]