Our Despatches from the Front (No. 54).
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More about Overseas Workshop Methods—Early Active-service Experiences with the Canadian Transport—A Few Useful Criticisms.
These messages from Our Own Special Correspondents have been submitted to and censored by the Press Bureau, which does not object to their publication but takes no responsibility for the correctness of the statements contained therein.—En.
M.T. Repair Shops,
(Continued from p. 151.) Another carburetter repair provides for the skimming up of the seat by means of special cutters which reduce the seats in the float chambers. A series of cutters and guides is provided for dealing with the most usual type of carburetters.
Testing Repaired Magnetos.
Every magneto is thoroughly overhauled and tested before being refitted to its engine, and a very useful testing appliance is adopted for this purpose. A small table is provided with a shaft with a two. pulley belt gear, the speeds corresponding to the starting and normal speeds of magnetos. The end of this shaft is fitted with a split screwed coupling adaptable to the driving end of the magneto armatures. Each magneto under test is secured to the table by clamps and attached to the shaft which is driven by a belt from the shop shafting. The plug wire terminals are then connected with an adjustable spark gap which is regulated by a graduated wheel and pointer, the actual gap being variable while the current is passing between the points. This test is applied before the magneto is overhauled and the results noted for comparison with those obtained upon completion of the overhaul.
Armatures as Induction Coils.
The armatures are tested after being removed from the machines by means of mounting them on an attachment whereby the armature is made to act as an ordinary trembler induction coil, and the resulting spark is tested by the ,adjustable gap already described.'
Two powerful electro-magnets complete the equipment of the magneto-testing table for use in cases where the field magnets are not sufficiently strong adequately to excite the armature.
An Adjustable Engine Bench.
On the completion of each overhaul the engines are mounted on an adjustable engine testing bench and allowed to run in under a belt from the shafting for a couple of hours.
When the oil has worked well into the moving parts the engine is given a run of a few minutes duration to ensure correct timing, after which the radiator and water pipes are fitted for a final run in under power.
Careless Work and "Fatigues."
This test continues for at least three hours, including a test under load applied by an adjustable brake on the flywheel. The tester goes round all the accessible bolts and nuts and if any are found loose the artificer who did the work is required to dismantle the whole engine for examination as a precaution against possible breakdown due to careless erection. Needless to state one example of careless work alone is necessary to qualify the culprit for "fatigues." The final test is made by the O.I.C. Units who decides when the engine is fit to be handed over to thelerecting shop.
Gearbox Repairs.
On the side of the shop opposite to that occupied by the machines, benches for engine and gearbox fitters are arranged, and the units under repair are located in a row down the centre of the shop. Each bench is fitted with four vices, and one bench is devoted to a particular make of engine, thus grouping the mechanics together and keeping the component parts conveniently located. A large jib crane is fixed at the entrance of the shop, and is used for unloading units from the railway trucks which arrive at the entrance, and a portable crane is used for transferring the units to the particular bench where the repairs are to be carried out.
WITH THE CANADIANS. Getting Away.
In the afternoon of the MENNE we struck our camp at MENNEN, and after much packing up of tents and tidying up of the grounds of 11111.11.111 House (where Bob Sievier trains his horses), we had tea, or what Canadians call supper, on our piles of kits and blankets in the open. After supper we loaded up, get our trucks all lined up, with workshop trucks in the rear, for our trip to the port of embarkation.
Wooden Feathers.
For my own part, I took one look
at the long line of headlights coming up a long hill and then made myself snug in my blankets, just taking off my boots for comfort. I slept like a top until I "heard daybreak." On looking out I found we were on the outskirts of INIIMINEN. The jolting of the truck is similar to the less vigorous rocking of early youth in the cradle, and the hum of the engine and gears has a " singme-to-sleep " effect on the brain, so that sleeping in a truck is not half so bad as the hard wooden feathers would otherwise make it.
1MIEWIEW11111111111111111111111 11•111111111111111111101111111111111111111111111 111•11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 1111•11111111111111•11111111111112111111E111 111M111111=111 Holds Lined with Earth.
When we arrived outside the 111111111111111. Docks, we stopped for breakfast of tea, bully and hard tack, and then pulled down to the quayside. The trucks were put aboard two ships by means of hydraulic cranes, the time taken to sling, lift, lower and secure a truck being about six minutes each. The bottom of each boat had been previously filled with earth, and a, stout floor built on to this foundation, strong wooden struts and scotches keeping the trucks secure.
En Route on Board.
In the afternoon we had a little time to ourselves, which we spent buying candies, fruit, tobacco, etc., for our trip. I had a good wash and brush up and was well lathered
for a, shave, when the " " blew, so I had to double up and go without the shave. However, I was in good time.
I managed to get a wooden hatch to sleep on, which was slightly better than the snap-headed rivets of the iron 'tween deck.
We left England about midnight of the =MEW and arrived outside EMIIIONN at about 10.30, and A26 after a very careful examination with the aid of some powerful searchlights, we were allowed to pass into the harbour, where we spent the night. In the morning we proceeded to ENEEMMe where we disembarked and had our trucks parked On the i outskirts of that nteresting old city by 4 o'clock.
SOME USEFUL CRITICISMS At a Base, MEE Reputations and Their Futures.
Only in the highest praise can one speak of the Mechanical Tranaporeas a whole out here. Considering under what conditions the vehicles are running and are being driven, it is positively wonderful. Some makers are achieving greatness, whilst others are upholding their past reputation, but it may be quite interesting to consider one or two minor flaws and defects with a view to improvement.
Conditions are Worse.
The drivers and mechanics enlisting now in the A.S.C. are, as a general rule, admittedly not so good as their predecessors. Then again, roads have depreciated, and there is evidence that some makers, in speeding up their output, now allow themselves less time to turn out a perfect machine than heretofore. The state of things is therefore generally more difficult than it was.
"Knocked Together."
There is a difference between being very busy and rushing. British firms, say what we may, do not posses .% that happy knack of knocking a car together so successfully as de American concerns ; the results are therefore often regrettable when it is tried. Already a certain British maker's lorries are no longer being sent to the Front owing to their unreliability,