The Motor Omnibus World.
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The L. and Y.R. New Service.
One of the Milnes-Daimler motorbuses, which was in service between Blundellsands and Thornton, is now carrying on the new service between Chorley and Bamber Bridge, to which recently-instituted route we made a short reference last week. The fare for the whole distance, about ,5;.miles, is 6d., with intermediate penny .stages.
On Greasy Asphalt..
Tuesday last was a desperate day for motorbus drivers in London, and again brought home the urgent necessity for the lessening of street camber and a revision of the methods of street cleans. ing in relation to motor traffic as a whole. We fear, however, that it will be impossible to get rid of the mud and its slippery constituents until horse-drawn traffic is relatively diminished by the more. general adoption of self-propelled vehicles, towards which revolution the Metropolis is moving steadily, if not at the rate which many would like to See.
Damage to Street Lamps.
Kensington Borough Council, on the 22nd October, decided to ask the Lono,..n. County Council to secure the insertion ire one of their General Powers Bills of a clause having for its object the amendment of the Metropolis Management Act, 1855, so as to allow Borough Councils to recover the cost of damage to street lamps from the owners of the motor omnibuses, or other vehicles causing the damage, instead of from the drivers, as at present. The other Metropolitan Borough Councils are to be asked to support this request of Kensington Borough Council.
The Renard (India) Transport Corporation, Limited. !-I A prospectus is ready for this extension• of the parent company's programme, and the new company has been registered with the modest authorised capital of .4.30,000. The 25,000 .preferred shares will shortly be offered for subscription and there will be a public issue. The directorate is a powerful one, including Sir Frederick W. R. Fryer, K.C.S.I., Colonel Sir Buchanan Scott, K.C.I.E., Colonel J. G. V. Martyne, A,M.Inst.C.E., Mr. J. Montriou Campion, M.Inst.C.E., Mr. R. P. Gordon, C.B., and Mr. Philip Dawson, M.Inst.C.E. The secretary of the company is Mr. Kenneth H. Buchanan, late general manager of the Power Omnibus Company, Limited, and the registered office is at 82, -Victoria Street, S.W. The .company• acquires the exclusive license of the Renard rights for India, Burmah, and Ceylon, and will have all the advantages of the existing manufacturing agreements with the 'Daimler Motor Company (19o4), Limited.
Apropos the above undertaking, it is interesting to note that, in the course of the recent French army manceuvres, the locornotor of one Renard train was put to draw its own three vehicles and another three vehicles from a sister
locomotor, and that the single power unit was able to haul over a hilly tokilometre stretch, without difficulty, the useful load upon the six trailing vehicles being 20 tons.
London's Growing Traffic.
A correspondence has been taking place this week, in " rhe Times," on the subject of the traffic receipts Of the principal passenger-carrying companies in London. Those of or readers who may study the returns or any individual week, and may seek to make comparisons between such returns and others for the corresponding week of the previous year' must not fail to make allowances for the incidence of wet or fair weather, holidays, and other disturbing factors. It is much more to the point, that totals should be compared.
Traffic Regulation at Intersecting Thoroughfares.
A scheme which would, in all probability, lead to fewer delays, and consequently to less inconvenience, for the many passengers on London's motorbuses, is that for the better control of vehicular traffic, at street junctions, which has been advanced by Mr. W. Noble Twelvetrees. On page 209 we give a summary, with illustrations, of that gentleman's presidential address to the Civil and Mechanical Engineers' Society, at the Caxton Hall, Westminster, on the 3rd instant. Such a system of traffic regulation, if given a reasonable and carefully-observed trial, would, in our opinion, tend to increase the average speed of all kinds of traffic, without increasing the danger to pedestrians and others, and would most certainly tend to relieve the congested state of some of our busy and narrow thoroughfares. Worse Congestion.
Apropos our recent references (page 29 ante) to the traffic increases upon the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway, and to the bearing of such increases upon the prospects of motorbus companies' revenues, we are interested to note that the Paddington Borough Council is about to seek powers for the extension of tramways to the junction of the Harrow Road with the Edgware Road, one of the objects being the practical linking-up with the above-mentioned tube railway. It behoves the London Omnibus Owners' Federation to consider how such an extension might affect its members' interests, for the congestion at the corner of Chapel Street is bad enough without the addition of cumbersome tramcars.
Fare Revision.
We are now near the point of imminent action upon the numerous conferences which have taken place between representatives of London's shallow and tube railways and omnibus companies during the past few months, and the pending changes upon the fareboards of . so many stage-carriages should, while inflicting no hardship upon the public, be of sufficient advantage to the various companies to enable them to keep their heads above water. The public cannot be properly served by any undertaking which is working at a loss, unless for a very short period, and we believe that the various interested companies are in .effecti studying the public convenience, as much as their own shareholders' protestations, in the matter of this mutual arrangement. The last stage of the negotiations; with the Chairman of the Central London Railway, has threatened a hitch, but matters should now proceed smoothly to the stage of final signature. Postcard Advertising.
The British Petroleum Company, Limited, of 22, Fenchurch Street, E.G., has issued an admirable set cf picture-postcards, in connection with its " Shell " motor spirit.
Liversidge Bodies.
Among recent Nodies for omnibus service, J. Liversidge and Son, Ltd., has completed the single-decker for the " Comer Car " chassis which was sold to the Havana Central Railroad Company. An illustration will be found on page 12 of our issue of the Toth instant.
Vanadium Steel.
Winans and Robinson, Ltd., of Ferry Works, Queensferry, Flintshire, the maker of Vanadium steel, writes to point out that the company is prepared to supply this brand of steel with an ultimate tensile strength of 55 tons per square inch, an elastic limit of approximately 45 tons per square inch, and an elongation of 25 per cent. on two inches.
Darracq-Serpnllet Chassis.
The Darracq-Serpollet Omnibus Co., Ltd., of Amelia Street, Walwortli Road, SE., advises us of reductions in the price of its standard chassis as follow : 2o-2511.p., to 4600 ; 30-4oh.p., to Z680. These prices include tires, and the full running of the Company's new factory, which is equipped with all the latest improvements in manufacturing practice, accounts for this desirable notification from the standpoints of both sellers and buyers.
Motor Vehicle Components.
Amongst the catalogues recently received by us, we note one from the Presto Gear Case and Components Co., Ltd., of Owen Road, Wolverhampton. This company makes honeycomb and gilled-tube radiators to any special requirements, as well as bonnets, tanks, lubricators, silencers, metal mud-guards, and all kinds of sheet-metal work in connection with motor vehicles. The honeycomb radiators are of the square-tube type.
Motor Spirit Sales.
The grades of motor spirit which are imported and marketed by Messrs. Meade-King, Robinson and Company, whose principal office is at ii, Old Hall Street, Liverpool, under the trade descriptions of " Ariel " and " Giant spirit, are becoming increasingly popular. The former of these is a special, heavy quality for commercial vehicles, and it gave most excellent results in the course of the recent consumption tests at the laboratory of the Society of Road Traction Engineers.
Road Traction Engineers.
There will be no meeting in November, as the ordinary date—the third Monday in the month—clashes with the Olympia Show. Mr. W. E. Hardy, M.I.Mech.E., resident engineer to the Bath Electric Tramways, who has charge of the rnotorbuSes upon some of the hilliest routes in the country, will read the next paper, on Monday, the loth December, and will take for his subject " The Works Management and Organisation of a public-service garage."
Mr. Hardy has unique records in his possession, and he should be able to
present a paper of more than ordinary 111LeCest to .oth nieiituerb anill elates. ti large muster Lb assureu on LLi CCtLrd0ii, .1uu Lite date bnULLIL.I. Ue
noieu uy alt who are interested.
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A hard Case.
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i.sued; one for we urivers auowing nib ULLS to stank,. longer Wail Was ilel.:csary kale summons situeu a periou 01 omy lour iiiiiiutes); aim vat. roc los 'airing to stop Inc inaLitinery so as Lo avolu noise.
_tire poliLe officers who had charge of LUIS ...aae were unquestionawy can, n igOUt 11103r iluty li& acting upon Luc leqUvSL 01 a mciiwer or me is e regret that Inc gentieinan Wau tougeu tuts complaint was not urougnE tow court, so ram. the nature 01 ins grieVanee nigh nave been expiaineu iu person. lite magistrate at ruaryieuohe ponce court, 011 Inc 2211C1 appears to us to nave taKen an unduly nacsn view of the case, tor we tan to understand now either an onstruction or a nuisance could nave been caused at the point in question, where the roadway is more than 30 feet in width, front kerb to kerb, and where two motor garages, those of the Aster and New Arrol-Johnston Companies, provide pientyof motorcars at rest, outside the slisaw-rooms, from time to time. It does, indeed, seem a hardship that some outsider should come along and inflict unnecessary damage upon a hardworking driver, who has had his license endorsed twice for these nominal offences, in addition to his having to pay the fines named. We must point out, too, that no evidence was given to show Thal-anybody called upon the driver to stop his engine, as is required by the terms of Article IV (6) of the Motor Cars (Use and Construction) Order, 1904, upon which point, in the absence of a solicitor, the driver was clearly ignorant, as the magistrate appears to have been in addition.
In the foregoing circumstances, we hope that the Public Carriage Department will not fail to admit the existence of extenuating circumstances, when the time comes round for the renewal of Blomfield's , Metropolitan police license No. 3,517. The Great Western Company's omnibus and char-b.-bancs bodies are built to the maximum width of seven feet overall.
A correspondent asks whether the motorbuses in Birmingham were ever owned by the Corporation of that city. They were not.
The converted Clarkson steam omnibuses, in the service of the London General Omnibus Company, appear to be running exceedingly well.
Tire Records.
Polack tires were fitted to ir vehicles in the R.A.C. Trials, and they fully upheld the reputation which they have gained under the severe conditions of motorbus traffic in London, and in various country services.
Good Route Indicators,
The Well-lighted destination-boxes of the Darracq-Serpollet omnibuses, one of which was illustrated on page 174 of our last issue, were purchased from the Consolidated Supply Company, Limited, of Northampton Park, Canonbury, N.
To Restrain the Mud.
A correspondent of the "Daily Mail" recently drew attention to a simple contrivance which prevents motorbuses from flinging mud. This device was illustrated in our issue of the 7th March last, and a further illustration will be found on page 216 of this issue, alongside a letter which has reached us on the subject. The contrivance is admittedly simple, and we see no reason why something of the kind should not be adopted in London.
Sussex Developments.
We can now supplement our report of last week, by the reproduction of the motorbus which opened the BognorPortsmouth service on the rzth instant.. Mr. Douglas Mackenzie, A.M.I.Mech. E., M.I.A.E.,is general manager of the proprietary company, the Sussex Motor Road Car Co., Ltd., as well as of several others. See page 202.