AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

Passing Comments L ORRY drivers are finding, L-ito their surprise, that

29th June 1940, Page 38
29th June 1940
Page 38
Page 39
Page 38, 29th June 1940 — Passing Comments L ORRY drivers are finding, L-ito their surprise, that
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

they did, after all, use signposts in their jounieyings. When the signposts were ordered to be removed, they were not dismayed; they averred they knew the Ways blindfold. In practice it was discovered that they must have relied upon signposts much more than they realized. Discussing the route to any place, the description would run: " Go along the North Road to the turning for E—." Realization would then come that the turning marked E— used to be marked by a signpost, now non-existent. A new technique is now developing, and a direction is in such terms as " Go along the North Road through A—, cross one railway bridge and a canal bridge, and then take the second turning on the right by an old farm house with a broken five-barred gate."

No Signs Means New Route-finding Technique . .

GERMANY is making big efforts to overcome the difficulties caused by the shortage of fuels and lubricants. In connection with the latter, tests of compounded engine oil, consisting of castor, olive and rape oils mixed with various inhibiting agents have been tried. The engine used the national Hungarian 20 per cent. alcohol-petrol fuel. A blend of a refined and a blown rape oil increased in viscosity, after 45 hours' running, from 315 secs, Redwood at 50 degrees C. to 380 and 1,050 secs. with and without an inhibitor, respectively. Piston rings became stuck after 25 hours without an inhibitor, but with it the engine operated satisfactorily for over 45 hours, but carbon formation was excessive in each case. Blends of 50/50 refined rape oil with Engine Oils Compounded from Vegetable and Mineral .

Pennsylvanian or Rumanian oil were alinost equivalent in service to pure mineral oil of comparable viscosity. There was, however, more carbon and a rapid increase of acidity. Piston rings were, however, free in their grooves after 135 hours, and the cylinder walls showed no scuffing. It is claimed that it is possible, by the use of suitable inhibitors, to improve vegetable-mineral oil blends to give entirely satisfactory performance.

Modern Road TransHE last stronghold of non port for Rag and 1 mechanical transport—the bone Men . . . . barrow and moke of the rag

and-bone man—is now invaded, and soon may be captured. Down our street the other morning we saw the local rag-andbone man, who formerly used to push his own barrow, using a Morris 10-cwt. van. He himself sat in the driving seat of the vehicle, travelling at a walking speed, while his mate walked alongside, crying his need for his wares: " Any old iron." •

Measurement of an REACTIVITY an important Important. Property of property of gas-producer Solid Fuels . . . . fuels. Upon it depend the readiness of the fuel to ignite and the responsiveness of the producer to

throttle openings. Now a method of classifying fuels according to their degree of reactivity has been established. The characteristic is measured '. in terms of the minimum quantity of air required, to keep the fuel burning. This is called the critical air blast and the units are cubic ft. per minute. For charcoal am& low-temperature coke the reactivity• figure is 0.01, for bituminous coal it is 0.02 and for anthracite 0.035. The limit appears to be 0.04.

Tests with Rayon Tyres Show Remarkable Results. . . . THE Director of Rayon Research for the E.I. du Pont de Nemours Co., in an address to the American Chemical Society has referred to the new rayon developed for tyres as having produced astounding results. Tests showed that the new material stands up to work under heat much better than does cotton fabric, as the rayon tyre is as safe from deterioration at 105 degrees F. as is the ordinary tyre at 75 degrees. On trial, at high speed, overloaded, and in a hot climate, the rayon type gave 80,000 miles of service under conditions that wore out ordinary tyres in 3,000 miles. In another test they held up for 18,000 miles at a temperature of 106 degrees F., which ended the usefulness of standard tyres in some 600 miles. The rayon used is about twice as strong as that in ordinary textiles. Cotton loses its strength as the moisture is removed, whilst the strength of the new rayon increases. Actually, raw cotton is still the basis of the rayon.

Do Not Damn TrolTHAT small but talkative

leybuses in Early L body, the Pedestrians'

Stages . . . , Association, is concerned at

what it terms the bad accident record of trolleybuses in London. It points out that the accident record for 1938 was much greater than that for trams, based on passenger-vehicle miles. It asks if the acceleration is too rapid, the braking too fierce, the front lighting satisfactory, and whether the silence of the vehicles is a dangerous factor. It must, of course, be remembered that the trolleybus in London is a comparatively new development. It may be that many of the drivers during that year were men who had hitherto been bound to. the rails, and were not accustomed to being able to manceuvre about the road. The extremely little noise made by these vehicles must, at first, have been a cause, but this is something to which the public will become accustomed, and any criticism should be delayed until more normal times, when true comparisons will become available.

Tags

Organisations: American Chemical Society
Locations: London

comments powered by Disqus