Mid-Lancashire Enterprise.
Page 26
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ALTHOUGH to the man in the street the amazing popularity of motor coaching seems quite a post-war development, those at the helm of the road transport industry know that it is the outcome of the concentrated endeavour of nearly a quarter of a century. Our interviews with motor coach proprietors have focused many interesting points of view, but none, so far, has been more uniquely a record of the historical progress than the one we had with Holt Bros. (Rochdale), Ltd., -whose business commenced with the purchase of a pony and has gone on so rapidly that last year the company had a turnover running into seven figures. This is atypically Lancashire firm, dominated by
an enterprise in their coaching p concetions, and a doggedness in their execution that is an eminently north-eeuntry trait.
With a very pronounced mid-Lancashire dialect, :Mr. R. Holt, one of the directors of the firm, told a representative of The Commercial Motor all
about the " Motor tours by the yellow coaches" with a reminiscent pride that revealed a canny shrewdness in serving the public, not with what they thought it should have, but with what it aetnally wanted.
. About 16 years ago, when the firm purchased their first mechanically propelled vehicle—a Foden five-ton steamer, which they sized, with a trailer, for general haulage purposes—they conceived the possibilities of passenger traffic by road; and four years later, when they obtained delivery of a Aden three-tonner, they made the venture by having a set. of seats (all under cover) on a solid foundation, which could be lifted in a feW minutes on and off the lorry platform. These steamers were used mainly for furniture removals and the dimensions of the passenger "body" bore'scum relation to the size of a furniture removal Van..Accommoclation was provided for about. 35 passengers, and at 3s. to 4s: a head good business resulted.
The firm has connections at. Manchester and at, Oldham, controlling altogether about 25 vehicles. At Roehdale.there-arta twelve Dennis. cars, nine of them being chars-a-hanes,. a 30 es-sit. Vnlc,an, and a long wheelbase•type of omnibus, which is used for the transfer of football
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parties; at Manchester there are two Dennis coaches and lour three-ton lorries employed on milk contracts—collecting milk in Cheshire and taking it to the city; and at. Oldham there are six machines. These three important centres forus a triangle, which, on quite a moderate estimate, contain a population of at least two million people. The vehicle strength of the combined companies, however, only gives a meagre idea of the potentialities of the firm, for occasions have arisen when they have hired, as many as 20 additional machines a day.
As to the capacity of the coaches, 28 seaters are considered plenty large enough, but at Whitsuntide the company hope to take the delivery of three 30 cwt. chassis to hold IA passengers. At the present time, however, in their body building shop we noted work proceeding on a 12 seater Ford, fitted with pneumatic tyres.
These Ford 12 seaters fulfill an interesting function. Rochdale, Oldham,
and Manchester are, as has already been said, the three centres worked by the firm. Obviously, there are many intervening towns, and the Fords are used to bring intending passengers from places three Or four miles from, say, Rochdale, to the point of departure of the 26 seaters. Many thousands of passengers—precise figures are not available—were carried by the company last year, but in 14 days last August the number was %COO alone. Never since the firm has 13-0-61 established has any mishap occurred which warranted a pas.tenger making a claim against the company.
. All of the coaches are run on solid tyres. and the reason for this is that in the slack season haulage platforms are substituted for the coach bodies when loads are available. • This, however, does not apply to coaches built on special char-a-banes chassis. It was feared that pneumatic tyres would give trouble on some of the routes covered by the Yellow coaches. This year the fares are not to be increased; as a.matter of fact, if competition continues, they might be less, but Mr. Holt considers that a fair figure is 10. per passenger per mile. Many of the co-operative societies in the Lancashire industrial towns—Hoehdale is one of them—are
now running motor coaches in competition with those owned by private companies. The firm has its own repuir shop, in which the machinery is electrically driven, including a movable overhead crane for lifting the coach bodies from chassis intended to be used for haulage purposes. The disused bodies are suspended near the ceiling of the garage.
Corridor Coaches in the Fen County.
THE LARGEST fleet of motor coaches which is operated in Lincolnshire is owned by the Great Grimsby Street Tramways Co., of Cleethorpes.. The tours -which they run cover practically the whole of time county as well as parts of Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. During the season a separate branch is also run from Skegness, which covers the same areas. Special attention has been given by the company to private party orFmizations from which 50 per cent. of ineir revenue is obtained, and parties of 14 to 350 are frequently catered for.
Following their first successful venture last year of running an extended tour of six days to Scotland, they are arranging this year for weekly and fortnightly tours to Devon and Cornwall, Wales and Scotland.
The opening of the season for both short and long distance tours is Easter Monday, but fm. the seven weeks' intaval between that holiday and the Whitsun holiday, long tours are only run on three days a week, whilst after that period they are ran daily until the end of September.
The fleet of coaches which are operated include Daimler, Commer Par, Napier, Garbed, and Palladium vehicles, which are all fitted with the ordinary type char-a-basics body, with the exception of the Garfords. The Palladiums are fitted with what is known as the corridor type body, to seat 32 and 36 passengers.
The entrance on this body is at the front, two doors being provided, one for the driver and the other for the main body of the car, the latter being particularly wide. A central gangway provides access to the seats, which are arranged to seat two passengers each, excepting the seat immediately behind the driver, which accommodates three passenger, and the rear seat, which seats five. Gangway seats, which accommodate five additional passengers, can be brought, into use. These,seats form part of the sides of the ihain seats, and let down, as required, to form the extra seat. This corridor is more often than not used for storing luggage, whilst a large receptacle at the rear fulfilsthe_same Purpose.
Three steps are provided in the place of the usual two, the top step being inside the body. This space is covered, when the car is travelling, by a hinged flap fitted to the door, which, when let down, acts as a safety device, preventing the door opening in the event of passengers leaning against it. The rear of the body is protected by a covered steel :buffer, which effectively protects it from being damaged.
The company owe their success to the fact that they run all their advertised tam's, as well as to the fact that they possess special facilities for advertising tours on their electric tramcars.