The Long and Short of It
Page 59
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WHEN all the major road schemes started in 1955 are completed, and if it were possible to place them end to end, it would take about 1 hour 40 Minutes to drive over thewhole stretch. I made this calculation after receiving a chart from the British Road Federation which shows these schemes as coloured lines extending across columns representing years.
Not counting two bridges, the projects total 33 years of work. Using the Cromwell Road extension, London, as an example, I reckon that when it is completed, it will take about 15 minutes to drive from the Great West Road flyover to North End Road, Earls Court. This road will be five years under construction
I await the Federation's next charts, which will show schemes started in the first and second halves of last year. The B.R.F. comment: "The nation cannot be content With the road programme until the number of major schemes started every six months becomes so large as to make the production of further charts impracticable."
G.031. of R.H.A.
A T the age of over 80, Mr. T. Lawrenson, J.P., has at 1-14ast had to resign from the chairmanship of the public relations committee of the Road Haulage Association. He has been a member of the committee for many years and has occupied the chair for the -past two years. He has always had a keen interest in the subject, especially in liaison with ,,Members of Parliament. He has been attending meetings regularly in London until recently, but now the strain has become too much.
.Mr. Lawrenson is one of the great characters of road transport. and has a fund of anecdotes that is guaranteed to keep the party going well into the small hours. At the turn of the century he was a locomotive driver, but he was involved in an accident and he voluntarily left the railway service.
Mr. H. F. Capon, vice-chairman of the public relations committee, is taking the chair until the new committee, which is now being appointed, begins operations in May.
Cheap Pleasure
BY way of introducing the excursion and tour season, Mr. J. Cameron, director and general manager of York Pullman Bus Co., Ltd., has reminded the public that an evening coach trip is still the cheapest form of enjoyment. Although the Yorkshire Traffic Commissioners have approved a 30-per-cent increase in fares on the company's 113 excursions and tours, the new rates are still only 35 per cent, above the 1939 level. A half-day in the country for just over 5s. is cheap by any standard.
Back to Normal
THE nightmare is back. Co-incidental with the news of an easing inthe fuel situation, a big increase in motor traffic was noticeable in London. A few hours after London Transport had •announced to the Press that they were to restore their tiOrinal services on April I, 1 travelled on a bus through the West End. Sitting behind me were two traffic inspectors, who expressed surprise when the conductor told them the news--which he had heard on the radio. Th& man in Charge is always the last to learn what iS going on.
.0ff The Side
ROTH the unions and employers' associations appear El agreed that a great job has been done during recent months in saving fuel. In the interest of their oWn security. many drivers have cut out those deviations from the direct route that they previously followed for what may be summed up as " personal reasons."
Although in many cases the existence of such excursions has been well known, some employers have turned a blind eye when the drivers concerned have otherwise been wholly reliable.
Those who are in the know tell many stories of the reasons for these side trips. There was the man on the LondonManchester route who regularly returned via Shropshire in order to meet his girl friend. Then there was the driver who often put in an extra 60 miles on a 200-mile run in order to drop in at an establishment where they would "buy anything you offer them." Another case was that of the trunker who frequently overran the legal hours because he somehow always had a friend who wanted to make a long journey at about half the coach fare.
All these have been temporarily done out of their little side-lines and it is anybody's guess whether they will ever recover them.
Pro Rata
IN times past, on certain accepted routes, it has been an
▪ understood thing that there were points where intending passengers would be picked up. They expected to pay 10s. for a 100-mile run or 11 for a 200-mile run. Unlike coach travellers, however, these passengers did not settle up until safely delivered at the agreed destination, an arrangement that on occasions must have resulted in some odd departures from the scheduled courses of haulage vehicles.
736 Years' Tradition Broken
THE decision of members of the Road Haulage Association not to carry livestock on Bank Holidays has caused the biggest change in Cockermouth Market, Cumberland, since the market, received its charter in 1221. It has broken 736 years' tradition by which the market and the local shops have been open on the Easter, Whit and ,August Bank Holidays. As R.H.A. members have agreed in future to observe Bank Holidays, Mitchell's Auction Co., who operate Cockermouth livestock mart, have decided that there will be no cattle market on Easter Monday.
No Comment
ACOLLEAGUE recently sought estimates for the removal of his household goods from London to Manchester. Pickfords quoted .138 if the goods went as a part-load at a time convenient to them, or £49 for a special journey. A well-known private concern quoted £28, and explained in S covering letter that they did not expect any difficulty in arranging For the job to be done at a time to suit the customer.
Cold Comfort
ATRULY seasonal coach service will reopen early in .1nne. It is the "Polar Express," which operates from Saltdal, near Bodo, to Kirkenes in the extreme north of Norway. The journey of 830 miles, all of it in the Arctic. takes four days. And passengers complain about being chilly on a 3d. bus ride in a British town.
Take Your Pick
HAULIERS face greater difficulties in the future than Leven those created at present by fuel rationing.—M4 F. S, Eastwood, Yorkshire Licensing Authority, at the annual dinner of the South Yorkshire Area of the Road Haulage Associaticm.
Better days are coming.—Mr. J. A.1. Hanlon, Northern Licensing Authority, at the annual :dinner of the Tees-side sub-area of the R.H.A.