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Good Wishes to the Journal from Every Quarter
WE would like to offer our thanks to readers all over the world who have sent us Christmas and New Year greetings, accompanied, in many cases, by good wishes for the continued success of this journal. It has been referred to as the leading counsel for the road, and the hope expressed that it will go from strength to strength in tackling the many problems which are likely to face the industry.
London Transport's IT is estimated that London "Heavy Weather " +(Transport carried 5,000,000 Bill Totals £105,000 fewer passengers during the period of the cold spell, as a result of which traffic receipts were affected to the extent of £50,000. In addition to this loss, :£55,000 had to be expended in carrying out special work necessitated by the frost and snow. This, however, cannot be considered as being so serious as the time when, in the days of the old L.G.O.C., a large percentage of the buses was unable to leave the various garages owing to burst water jackets or radiators.
Farmers' Union Finds Benefit in Road Com
THE National Farmers' Union expresses doubts as to the advisability of allowing agricultural transport to rely upon the generosity of the railways in the future. It refers to the difficulties experienced before the days of road competition, and wonders whether, if agriculturists agree to the railways' proposal, the position might not be rendered even worse than it .was years ago, if road competition remains shackled and the railways be given unrestricted freedom of action.
petition
Vehicle Control WithA CCORD1NG to an insurout Seeing the Road r-tance official lecturing in Ahead . . . . New Zealand, it is just possible
that the vehicle of the future will be steered by observing a fluorescent screen on thefl dashboard, although we cannot see any great advantage in such a device, except in the case of armoured cars or tanks. In connection with the latter. it was recently mentioned, during an investigation into an accident, that in some of these machines the driver cannot see the road at all, but takes his directions from an observer stationed in the conning tower.
What Makes Some IN the Daily Express for People Prefer Road 1January 2, a correspondent
Transport? mentioned that it took nine days to deliver a radio set a distance of 20 miles by rail. The reason given was that an intermediate station authority had retained it for a week before deciding that the destination was not in his delivery area. ft could have been delivered in an hour or so by road.
Some Important Points TWO interesting papers dealon Lubricating Bearing " with lubrication have been Surfaces published recently. One throws light on the changes which a metallic lace undergoes when being run in. Using electron-diffraction methods, it has been found that the surface loses its crystalline character and becomes amorphous. It passes through a plastic stage during which high spots can be modelled, and if this tough skin is to be formed, abrasion must be discouraged.
This adds point to the protective value of collaidal graphite, which averts metal pick-up and seizure. In the second paper, it is stated that an oil spreads better on a metal surface with the microscopic scratch marks at right angles than on one where they are all in one direction. It also mentions that the polar mole, cules of a fatty substance orientate, i.e., "anchor," more efficiently on a graphited face.
Was Driving in the ESPITE the railways' con Snow Really So Diffi.1-/tention that road travel was
cult almost impossible during the
Christmas period, on the Saturday we drove from Holborn to Westcliff, along the Southend arterial road, in 90 minutes, without exceeding any speed limits or taking risks, and despite the fact that we did not fit chains. There seems to be. little difficulty in driving on a fairly hard snow surface, provided that it has not melted and refrozen.