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TAURING the past couple of years there has been a marked tendency towards the adoption of much lighter colour schemes for coach decoration. A few years ago sombre greens, blues or dark reds seemed to be the prevailing fashion. To-day cream is largely adoption in conjunction with light greens, light reds or light blues.
In the course of a run of 110 miles during the Whits= holiday we noted that only 20 coaches out of well over 100 which we encountered were treated with a dark finish. Many vehicles were obviously two or three years old, but had been repainted in accordance with the prevailing mode and, we must say, lc Iked all the better for it.
WHEREVER road repairs are being effected to-day one sees air compressors in action for use with pneumatic picks. The engines employed are extremely powerful, but are used generally to drive the air compressors only. Why not add a very simple transmission system which could be used for short distances to make the machines self-propelled?
In one instance recently we noticed that as a compressor had to advance along the road the n18 entire gang of men operating with it had to stop work, move the Picks so far as the pipes would allow, and then push the compres. sor forward, using crowbars and obtaining the help of members of another team. This happened every 10 minutes or so, with the result that the men's actual werking time on surface-breaking was probably only two-thirds of the total. Had the compressor been self-propelled, one man could have moved it forward without stopping the others handling the picks. The only question is as to whether such a machine would then have to pay a licence duty for the " use " of the road.
NEWSPAPER proprietors owning fleets of speedy delivery vans depend, for the efficiency of their sales distribution, upon the skill of their drivers in getting through the densest City traffic in the minimum of time, and it is interesting to learn of some of the feats which are performed with regularity in the delivery of evening newspapers in London.
18re heard a few days ago that on race-meeting days no more than 22 mins, are available from the time when the editorial office learns the result of an important race to the time when a train leaves London bearing the copies of the paper for sale in a big provincial town. In this short space of time the race results are printed, the papers are bundled, loaded on the vans, driven to the railway terminus and placed aboard the train. It is not surprising that the average life of clutch and brake facings on these vans is five weeks, or that tyres seldom cover a greater mileage than 3,000 before being replaced.
SO in future passengers may smoke in London's single-deck buses, although the company's order forbidding smoking in the lower saloon of double deckers still holds good. • We understand that some ladies who do not indulge in this mild form Of dissipation are not at all pleased at this innovation.
DRIVING up Kingston Hill a week or two ago, we were startled to meet a heavily laden Carter, Paterson horsed van which had run away, leaving the driver behind. A tram was also mounting the hill, and the conductor, without a moment's hesitation, leapt off, caught a chain at the back of the van, swung himself on to the vehicle, crawled to the front and was successful in bringing the horse to a standstill. It was a plucky action and deserves every commendation.
QT-IALL we ever have an all-rubber car? Cer tainly the use of this material is spreading in many directions in connection with motor vehicles. Rubber is being used for vibration dampers, engine mountings, universal joints, engine auxiliary drives, vehicle suspension, fan mountings, spring-shackle bushes and numerous other details, apart from tyres.
IT. seems to be becoming the fashion to drop parts of the load from a vehicle, and we have already referred to several instances. Another occurred a few days ago, when an old gentleman who was being conveyed up Putney Hill in an ambulance slid out through the rear door on a wheeled chair or stretcher and careered gently down the road until brought to a stop by the kerb. He was not missed until the vehicle had reached the summit. Happily, he did not suffer anything more than a shock.