France Welcomes the I.R.T.E.
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Factories, Roads and Operators' Systems Inspected in a Week's Tour Around Paris
I4 AST Sunday, a party of members of the Institute of Road Transport Engineers, accompanied by the president, Mr. G. Mackenzie Junner, and the secretary, Mr. C. D. Morgan, returned from a week's tour of road transport and manufacturing installations in the region of Paris.
The first visit paid was to the Floriat establishment. This concern occupies rather a curious position. It is involved mainly in designing and advising on special types of vehicle, but there is little actual production, except for a few vehicles for the French colonies, all being component-built. Examples seen included mainly Latil units, except for one or two Bernard engines built under Swiss licence. A small feature noted on the wheels was that each rim spring ring carries two small projections joined by a plate which is held in position by what looks like a strong type of ordinary safety pin. It is a safety device which deserves attention. The company is also building chassisless vehicles, the framework being of square tube, and every part is welded.
It was appropriate that the Latil concern was next on the agenda. Here an historical exhibit was a front-wheeldriven car built in' 1899. Some 2,500 workers produce fine modern chassis and the famous four-wheel-driven and fogr-wheel-steered Latil tractor. A little criticism was directed at the considerable use of open belt drives to the machines from overhead shafting. Many of the tools are old, but the policy is to use the new machines only for fine work, thus saving high capital expenditure.
V12 Oilers Then the party proceeded to the Willeme works. This concern specializes in vehicles for heavy work, and builds its own oil engines with four, six or eight cylinders up to 200 h.p., also a 12-cylindered V-type for specially heavy equipment. In all of them the cylinder heads are separate and standardized. They are built under Deutz patents and are of the precombustion type. The timing is at the rear and a feature that aroused interest was that the crankshaft pinion is cut on the shaft. Blowers are fitted if required. The company possesses a large foundry, but does not tackle such complicated parts as crankcases. Its fine machine equipment deals with all gearing and it was noted that one man looks after four automatics. All engines, whether new or overhauled, are dismantled for inspection after test. The company is in a position to produce eight chassis a day when materials are available. It was noted that one 10-ton hydraulic tipper had an extension at the front to protect the cab. It was Willeme which produced a tractor-trailer to carry about 150 tons, which was illustrated some time ago in this journal. The Citroen coach provided for the next trip by Electro-Memnique de l'Aveyron was equipped with this company's induction electric brake, refer 7:20 ence to which has already been made in this journal. It is known as the 'telma, and gives three degrees of braking. In brief, it consists of a combined rotor and fan mounted between two sets of electro-magnets energized from the battery. The soft steel rotor is welded to a nickel-chrome-steel shaft and the field coils are of rectangular copper with silicone insulation. There is no friction braking whatever, and the action is so smooth as to be barely perceptible to passengers. On a long run through Paris, the foot brake had to be applied only once or twice for emergency braking, and the Telma brake could easily stop the vehicle from a comparatively high speed on a 12-degree gradient. This decelerator was most impfessive. Many countries are interested and some are considering enforcing its use by regulation. Trials are now being conducted in Britain.
During this test, a welcome opportunity was given of inspecting the recently completed "Autoroute of the West," which starts from St. Cloud with a tunnel, about half a mile long. This tunnel saved difficult grading and the destruction of much property which would have been enforced by building ,an open road.
40 Per Cent. Export The whole of one day was spent at the Renault works, which employs 75,000 people, of whom 46,000 were in the particular factories visited. One of the sights here was the Bessemer steel converters which process 50 tons of scrap metal daily. Production of cars and commercial vehicles is now 700 a day, plus 20 tractors. This is to be raised to 750 by October, and 1,000 next year. About 40 per cent, goes to export. Production is almost self-contained, including such parts as ball bearings and oil-engine injection pumps, the latter because one French make was not considered sufficiently good, whilst the better make had too low a production. One of the fine products is the underfioor-engined chassisless coach or bus, built of 1.5 mm. thick, square tube. Jigging has been brought to a fine art. There are even huge tubular-constructed rotating jigs for a complete .roof and for other large components.
Welding is used to an enormous extent, even for straightening components by expert heating in the right places. An automatic travelling machine is used for spot welding on the roofs, which are afterwards lined with sheet aluminium, insulated from the steel by thin tape. A normal working week is five days of eight hours. For an additional five hours the worker gains 10 per cent., and for a further three hours, 20 per cent.
The company builds its own special batteries of automatic tools. One set
for cylinders has 22 heads and 53 tools, another 55 drills, 55 reamers and 50 taps. Admiration was expressed freely at the layout and efficient production at the Chausson factory. Apart from making hundreds of private-car bodies daily for Renault vehicles, this company builds all the bodies for the French Ford, and at the former Chenard ct Walcker factory, is producing chassisless vans for Peugeot with side panels only '1 mm. thick, the complete " body " weighing 850-900 lb. This van involves nearly 10,000 welding points.
Of greatest interest, however, was the chassisless bus, which is enormously strong and involves 40,000 welding points. It is claimed that the weight saving, compared with ordinary construction, is at least 11 tons. Accessibility is such that the• engine at the front, a S.O.M.U.A. with Lanova head, can be changed in two hours.' The weight on the front and rear axles is evenly balanced and the steering has a compressed-air servo, whilst the brakes have a Westinghouse booster. In severe accidents to these vehicles, the localization of damage is usually remarkable, and the safety factor consequently great.
800 Renaults
A hurried visit was paid to the Astra margarine works, a branch of the Unilever concern. It possesses 800 Renault vehicles of many types, and all those weighing up to n tons are replaced every two years. Every vehicle carries a complete mechanical recorder indicating mileage, speeds and stops. The drivers are considered to be 90 per cent. salesmen.
The Paris bus company, R.A.T.P., has had a very difficult time. There were 3,500 buses in 1939 and only 340 in 1945. All the rest were taken or burnt, whilst the depots and garages were occupied by the 'Germans and many
destroyed. Searches for replacement vehicles were made in France, Germany and North Africa. The main difficulty of replacing those lost by new vehicles was that frame side members of such length were then unobtainable. Now. the company has 2.300 buses in 19 depots, and is starting a new service every Monday up to July. These will require 170 more vehicles.
Consideration of space prevents more than a passing reference to several other most interesting visits, including one to the well-equipped tyre factory of KIeber-Colombes, which is turning out some 3,500 tyres daily.
Then there was an interesting conference and enjoyable reception by the Union Routiere de France, the organization embracing all French associations connected with the road transport industry.
A visit was also paid to the Ecole Superieure des Transports. It was founded some years ago as a dependent of the Ministry of National Economy. but later became a private establishment.