The Motor Omnibus World.
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Renard Passenger Trains.
Two Renard trains are to run daily, at the forthcoming Franco-British Exhibition, when, at moderate charges per head, their marvellous turning and other capabilities will be fully demonstrated.
Pneumatic-tire Trials.
Michelin tires are being exhaustively tested, in Paris, with a view to their use on wheels with loads in excess of 1,5oo lb. M. Michelin now proposes the use of twin pneumatic tires, placed side by side on the same wheel, and hopes thereby to gain a much longer life. Other tests, as will be gathered from the last paragraph on this page, are now being made on the streets of London.
London :Changes.
On Monday of last week, the London Road Car Co., Ltd., altered its greenlabel route, and it now runs between Wormwood Scrubbs and Bethnal Green, via Edgware Road, Oxford Street, Holborn, and Liverpool Street.
Vanguard service " No. 7" has now been re-opened : it works, on Sundays, between Bethnal Green and Buckhurst Hill, via Leyton and Chingford, as did service " No. ii " last year.
The competition between various pro_ prietors of motOrbuses in London seems to be very keen, and, unfortunately, all the recent alterations have been with a view to concentrating the motors on the route of a rival company. It is with surprise that we notice the Road Car's abandonment of the Stoke Newington route, which was expected to be very remunerative. Whether it is that this has not proved the " gold mine " that was anticipated, or whether the movement is entirely one of competition, it is difficult to say. A New Rent Service.
A 35h.p., " HalIford," double-deck omnibus, built by J. and E. Hall, Limited, of Dartford, is now running between Oxted Station, Westerham, and Sevenoaks. The fare for the single journey is is. 3d., or 25. return. No other connection is provided between Oxted and Sevenoaks, whilst Wester_ ham-Sevenoaks is served by a single track of rail, with trains at long intervals. This departure is much appreciated at places en route, and a considerable accession of business may be expected during the coming summer, the run along the valley of the Darenth being very beautiful. The surface of the roads is good, with tarred macadam most of the way.
First-class Motorbuses.
The London Motor Garage Company, Ltd., of St, Page Street, Westminster, which is the English agent for Charrons, Ltd., of Puteaux, has supplied three single-deck motor omnibuses to the General Motor Cab Co., Ltd., which started a service with them on Monday last, between Queen's Hall, Portland Place, and Cromwell Road, South Kensington. Three more are to follow inunediately, making a total of six for the present service, which is being run as an experiment by the cab company. Very careful analytical cost accounts are to be kept of each ornnibus, over a period of three months, to enable the promoters of the enterprise to ascertain the exact financial possibilities of such a service. If satisfactory results shall prove to have been achieved at the end of that time, the London Motor Garage Company is to supply a batch of two hundred for London and the Provinces. The bodies are fitted most luxuriously with bird's-eye, maple-wood, arm chairs, comfortably upholstered ; accommodation is provided for only nine passengers inside, and electric lighting and a heating apparatus are installed. At present, a zone fare of sixpence is being tried. The chassis, which is the first purelycommercial vehicle turned out by Char cons, Ltd., is fitted with a four-cylinder, 20-30h.p. engine, having a bore of iiotrim. and a piston stroke of 13omm. The R.A.C. rating of the engine is 3oh.p The gearbox is of the same type as that fitted to the 5oh.p. and 75h.p. cars, though, of course, the gear ratios are suitably reduced; the final transmission is by side chains. The most in-• terestingdeparture from normal practice, for such a heavy vehicle, is the adoption of pneumatic tires; its weight is well over two tons. The tires have to be of no less a section than isomm., and the present machines are to have
either Michelin or Gaulois tires, with huge Samson treads in addition : the wheels are fitted with detachable rims. The first few machines are to be garaged at Brixton. The Charron Company's principal object in building this type of vehicle is to supply a suitable chassis for private-house parties and shooting-brake work, and for hotel and station service.
Hallev's Industrial Motors, Limited, of -Nicker, Glasgow, has received a fourth repeat order from Mr. J. G. W. Butler, managing director of the Irish Motor Service Company, of Anayerna, Murrayfield, Edinburgh, for a 34h.p. char-à-bancs,
A Steam Trial.
The Beilis and Morcom steam omnibus (illustrated herewith), which is now undergoing an exhaustive trial at the hands of the London General Omnibus Company, Limited, has been transferred from the Hammersmith and Canning Town service to that between Acton and Bow Bridge.
Tramcar Dangers.
One of our short leading articles (page 254) deals with the dangerous state of affairs which has been introduced by the enormous increase of tramcar traffic, in the Theobald's Road, since the opening of the tunnel between the south end of Aldwych and the Embankment. We have at no time been ready to trade upon the misfortunes of tramcar undertakings in respect of lamentable accidents upon hills, but we do not hesitate to say that the L.C.C. is turning the thoroughfare in question, particularly at its intersection with the Gray's Inn Road, into a level crossing that challenges compari. son with anything of which we have knowledge, not excepting the U.S.A. To-day's condition of affairs is little short of a public scandal—caused by these " bullies of the road."
London Motorbuses.
Mr. H. Samuel, on behalf of the Home Secretary, speaking in the House on the 73th ultimo, informed Sir H. Crud; that there were, on the 27th
April, 1,137 licensed motor omnibuses in London. Our fortnightly census, taken on the 21st of the month, showed a total of 1,024 motorbuses " in commission," arid the difference is due to vehicles which, although on the official records as licensed, have_.L been out of service for so long a period as to have been removed from our own lists, or which have vet to come into service.
Motor Omnibus World
A Motorbus Offered.
A subscriber to this journal, who is the owner of a motorbus, desires to run it in the country, and he will be glad to have suggestions for routes which readers think would prove remunerative to him. Any letters on this subject should be addressed "Motorbus offer," care of The Editor.
Competition in Ilford.
Ilford Urban District Council has again discussed the advisability of extending its tramway system in Cranbrook Road, or of running a service of municipal motorbuses. On the motion that a special meeting be held to consider the question-
Mr. W. P. Griggs moved that the question be adjourned for three months. He did not think anyone was willing to go forward with tramway extension, in view of the severe competition the existing trams had to face. It was possible, if public conveyances were required along Cranbrook Road, that it would be wiser to adopt some system or light traction—electrobuses or vehicles of that kind. The advantage of this scheme would be that, if the service did not pay, it could be abandoned, and the buses used elsewhere, whereas a tramway system would have to be kept open, even though it involved a loss.
Mr. R. Stroud, who moved the resolution in favour of holding a special meeting, indicated that he was not in favour of laying tram lines in Cyanbrook Road. (Applause.) He hoped the Council would decide whether it would go to Parliament for powers or not. If it decided to do so, it woulo be a simple matter to obtain powers for running motorbuses as well as trams. They must go for both.
Mr. F. H. Dane urged that the Cranbrook side of the town was more emphatic than ever against the intro duction of trams, and said he thought those who desired the extension were now in a minority. He agreed with the proposal for an adjournment, in order that the Council might go into the results of the working of the trams during the complete financial year. The Ley Street figures showed that that section was an absolute loss to the undertaking, and that it would pay better not to run trains at all along that line, almost all the days of the week.
Mr. G. W. Davis argued that it would be unbusinesslike to close .down an undertaking because an " opposition shop" had opened. The suggestion that they should go for all the powers they could get, and be first in the field, was a most valuable one. They might otherwise find themselves shut out by private companies.
Mr. G. Broad took the view that the trams were necessary to provide access to the Council's latest purchase—Valentines Park. If it was good enough for the motorbuses to come and make a profit then—
Mr. W. J. Hammond : They are not making a profit.
Mr. Broad : If they are not, they will break. Proceeding, he said that if at any time Ilford became part of the L.C.C. area the County Council would probably run vehicles to the Park. The special meeting should be held at once —to adjourn the question meant its practical abandonment for another year. Mr. W. Everett also advised that Parliamentary powers be sought for the two systems of traction, and said that some means of locomotion must be provided in Cranbrook Road, so as to get to the Park.
Ultimately, the amendment to adjourn the matter was lost by a large majority, and it was agreed to hold the special meeting in June, in order to give the committees of the Council an opportunity of reporting as to the mat
ters which should be included in the Bill, in the event of the Council's deciding to go to Parliament for traction extension powers.
The result of inquiries in the district by a representative of " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR " show that the competition of the motorbuses with the trams has caused the ratepayers to look with disfavour on any tram extension. Mr. Brand, on behalf of the Loxford Ward Ratepayers' Association, says that new tramways might plunge Ilford into a financial chaos similar to Barking. He is of opinion that the Council should run electric motorbuses.
South Coast Trips.
We reproduce a photograph of the last new car that has started service on
the Brighton-Worthing route. The body is by Christopher Dodson, Ltd., to the designs of Mr. sDouglas Mackenzie, consulting engineer to the Sussex Motor Road Car Co., Ltd. It is mounted on an M.O.C. chassis, and was very popular during the Easter holidays. The car (which is officially termed a " motor coach ") seats 32 passengers, and has commodious steps on each side at the front end, with a folding seat, in the centre gangway, so as to accommodate five persons in each of the six rows, from all of which a clear view is got. The last row is a spring cushion, with the foe] tank underneath, but the other seats are Lees patent, There is, at present, a service of six coaches per day, each way, between Brighton and Worthing, running all along the sea front, but, as the Brighton Corporation will not license any cars to run along the sea front there, they all start from the Gloucester Hotel, Old Steine, where passengers must take their seats before the coach starts. In the summer, the service will be extended, eastwards, to Eastbourne, and, westwards, as far as Portsmouth, or thereabouts.