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RUNNING ROAD LORR )N RAILWAY TRACKS.

3rd February 1925
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Page 16, 3rd February 1925 — RUNNING ROAD LORR )N RAILWAY TRACKS.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

The Possibilities of an Unusual Scheme of ' Equal Facility on Road or Rail would Ix Developed Districts Col by which Vehicles Capable of Running with for Exploiting and Expanding Partially Road to the Railway.

TIIE TITLE of this article may have aroused a certain feeling of curiosity amongst at least a portion of our readers. Possibly they may ask why should road lorries run on railway tracks.The answer is that if a vehicle can be designed satisfactorily to comply with the requirements of both road and .rail Service, it will meet a want which has for long shown itself to transport engineers.

Many attempts to design such a vehicle have already been made, but, in most of these, such devices as auxiliary flanges were employed for 'fitting to the existing wheels ; in fact, in certain instanees the effective diameter of the driving wheels was actually decreased so that the vehicles were geared lower for rail use than for the road, whereas the reverse effect is to be desired.

A Type of Chassis for Rail or Road.

It has remained Jor the Tramways Department of Liverpool to design a chassis which can he employed either on the rail or on the road and requiring no external assistance in the way of jacks by which the transference from road to rail, or vice versa, is effected.

The chassis in question carried a tower for inspection of the overhead equipment of the local tramways..

Lest there are any who did not read our article on this chassis, we would point out that it embodies two complete sets of ,Arheeis—one rubber-tyred for road use and one steel-flanged for the rails—gearing. being provided to enable either set to be driven as uesired. The axles of the flanged wheels are carried in .slides and can be forced down when necessary by hydraulic rams, and,in doing so, the complete vehicle is lifted until the road wheels are sufficiently clear of the ground ; inversely, when it is desired to run on the road the flanged wheels are lifted in relation to the chassis until the vehicle sinks on to its road wheels.

We do not suggest that this particular model would be entirely suitable for long-journey work, but it contains the germ of what may eventually prove a satisfactory form of -construction.

Now we may enter into details of how such a vehicle, which combines the power of running as a self-contained unit with equal facility on road or rail, can be employed to advantage. Take, for instance, branch-line railways. There would be nothing to prevent a vehicle of this type carrying goods, passengers, or both, from running by rail to the nearest point to a certain village, or other destination, and there leaving the rail track and proceeding direct by road, thus avoiding the need for auxiliary means of transport.

We do not suggest that sudr a method of procedure would be of any considerable value, or achieve any marked degree of popularity, in countries congested such as ours, where the railways spread their network of lines in such a manner as to bring almost every part within comparatively easy reach of a station and where really good roads join up the various centres of population; but a combination vehicle of the type with which we are dealing would appear to present important possibilities for use in partially developed countries opened up to such a small extent that they are mere fringes of civilization bordering the railway track. It may be of interest in this connection to foilow the history of such a district. To begin with, the penetration would have been by explorers. These would probably be followed by prospectors, and, still later, by settlers. Up to this time only rough roads would exist, quite unsatisfactory for mechanical transport in its present stage of advancement and possible only, in the commercial sense, to such vehicles as bullock wagons.

Railways Built Before Trunk Roads.

The next big step in transport would be the building of a railway, and it is quite probable that trunk roads leading from the nearest large centres of population and strong enough to bear heavy motor vehicles would not be constructed for years, this slowness being due more to lack of the necessary money for building rather than to lack of enterprise. Having got so far as the railway, the difficulty which now occurs is that trains are railbound, and, consequently, it is some considerable time before the surrounding country can be opened u_p with any degree of success, chiefly because of the difficulty of obtaining supplies at a reasonable cost. It would be a different matter if those in charge of the railways could arrange for goods to be brought to the settler's door, and this could be done if the vehicles employed on the railway track could, when necessary, leave the track and proceed by short connecting roads to the points of delivery in the settlement and its outlying districts. It is unusual that a frequent service of trains can be maintained on a pioneer line, as the quantities of goods and the number of people carried are seldom sufficient to provide many paying loads, and it might in the end be considerably cheaper to employ self-contained units, such as these rail-road lorries for maintaining a more frequent service.

Motor Units Save Train Halts.

Where there are no good connecting roads between isolated townships, trains have to make frequent halts to bring the goods, and people they carry within reasonable distances of their destination. Halting a train for a small quantity of goods means that the whole of the rest of the goods that are not consigned to that particular destination must also be held up, whereas with individual units this delay does not occur.

It may be thought that difficulty might occur through units of this nature being used on the lines employed by ordinary trains, but this is a problem of comparative simplicity. Loops could be provided at different points, or, if thought more advisable, the rail-road units could leave the track at certain places to allow trains to pass.

It will no doubt be realized by our readers that -railway lines are often some distance above the level of the surrounding ground, so that at each " take off " it would be necessary to form ramps by which the vehicles could be run on to the roads or off them on to the lines.

Low Running Costs.

The running costs of vehicles operating on this system should by no means be excessive. The rolling resistance on the flanged wheels would be but slight, and as the gradients on tfie railway are necessarily of small degree, the driving wheels for rail use could be geared up to a considerable extent, so that the rail speed would be much greater than the road speed, without necessitating racing of the engine. With care in design and the knowledge that the vehicles would not be employed on the road for more than perhaps one-third of their total mileage, so that _light tyres could he used, it should be possible to keep the weight of such vehicles down to a reasonable amount, although the flanged-wheel 'equipment would necessarily be somewhat heavy. To some the scheme may appear fanciful, but "nothing ventured nothing gained," and every advance made since the first achievement of man has had its critics. Both road transport and rail transport have their *respective merits, and if the two can be combined for particular work, such as we have outlined, it appears that double benefits may be obtained.


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