Passing Comments
Page 26
Page 27
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The Biggest Thing MANY times we and other Ever in Railway "A journals in the transport
Crossings field have complained of the
number of railway level crossings still in use. We did not expect to see any more being constructed—rather, the reverse. However, at Filton Airfield, near Bristol, what is expected to be the largest crossing of this type is now being made. Officially known as a "raft," it is more than 120 ft. long, and is being built to carry the huge Brabazon aircraft aeross the local branch line which separates the runway from the new Assembly Hall.
Why Use "999" THE comment is often made For Those Emergency I as to why' " 999 " was
Calls ? chosen by the Post Office as the telephonic warning for a lea' emergency requiring police, tire-fighting equipment or ambulance. There are technical difficulties in using" 111," and no group of numbers on an automatic exchange without lettered dials begins with " 1." In lettered dials the " ABC" corresponds with the "2." If free calls were to be allowed for "222," 'all numbers of which each of the digits is this or a higher number could be obtained without payment.
24
Also many subscribers have the " 2 " or " 3 " combination. To employ " 000 " would be easy but for the fact that " 0 " is for operator." The present number is easy to dial in smoke or darkness, as " 9 " is so close to the stop. The extra time for the warning is less than 2i seconds compared with using "222."
Where it is Right IN a large Midlands city the to Drive on the Off 'current traffic regulations
Side have been modified to force traffic to use the off side of the road where repairs are in progress. Traffic must cross to the right-hand side until clear of the obstruction. Police explain variously that the regulation is intended to prevent vehicles falling into the excavations or to avoid meeting trams travelling in the opposite direction. Apparently it is considered likely that a driver might misjudge his distance on the near side and fall into the obstruction. Alternatively, by allowing ample clearance on the near side of his vehicle, he might collide with an oncoming tram. These appear weak excuses for a further regulation tinder which the already much-controlled driver might receive a summons. VERY year the camera plays a more important part in the research work at Britain's large engineering plants. Flaws in metal are revealed by X-ray, microphotography discloses grain structures, whilst stresses to which components are subjected can be reproduced in plastic models and photographed by an ordinary camera with the aid of polarized light. 'The Leyland concern has centralized its photographic processes in a well-equipped department. This occupies 2,000 sq. ft, and is so arranged that black painted walls are in labyrinth form to act as light traps, the only interior door being that for the chemical mixing room, as a precaution against dust from powders affecting sensitized surfaces. By using an electron beam from a cathode lamp, sound tracks are photographed to record the volume of noise from units such as engines, gearboxes and axles running at various speeds. Photographs are taken before
Technical Marvels at Leyland's Photographic Department
and after modifications and adjustments, so that comparisons can be made and kept. One camera takes photographs at exposures of three-millionths of a second.
Battery-electric Road IN connection with the Test Promotes interest I description of a road test of Abroad . . the N.C.B. battery-electric
vehicle, which appeared in out issue dated September 19, the makei, Northern Coachbuilders, Ltd., in a letter sent to us recently, says that it is quite astonishing that inquiries are being 'received practically daily as a result of this publication, and that the response speaks highly for the most excellent coverage of an always .interesting periodical, as some of the inquiries have come from abroad. From Buenos Aires the company has received a request for permission to translate the article into Spanish for inclusion in the monthly " Motor" of that country