Brake conversion units
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AT a new factory at Oswestry, Salop, a long established manufacturer of railway airbrake equipment is producing air-pressure braking units for road vehicles under licence from the USA, and hopes to be offering triple-diaphragm chambers and other units for outfits up to maximum-capacity types by the end of the year, COMMERCIAL MOTOR was told this week.
The company is Davies and Metcalfe Ltd., whose main plant is at Stockport. It has a licence to manufacture under licence the air brake equipment designed by Midland Ross, of Owosso, Michigan. This diversification move by the Stockport company has already led to items—marketed under the name of Metcalfe Midland—being supplied to trailer makers in the UK. Examples are reservoirs, relay valves and slack adjusters, while Crane Fruehauf, BTC, Dyson and Primrose are some of the existing customers.
One of the current developments is off-theshelf conversion units for bringing mechanicaland vacuum-braked trailers up to air-pressure standards.
It is intended that consolidation in the trailer field shall be followed by entry into the vehicle chassis market. A spokesman for the company said this week that with a new automated production line completed they were now in a position to look at any order for reservoirs, and were now working on the introduction of Midland Ross units for converting single-diaphragm units to triples, and on multiple-diaphragm chambers themselves.
The retail side has been put in the hands of S. Norrish Ltd., 220 Great Portland Street, London WI, who are UK distributors for Metcalfe Midland equipment.
A licence to make Midland Ross brake equipment in this country was formerly held by Dunlop Rim and Wheel Co. Ltd.., but this was relinquished at the end of last year, when Dunlop's general braking interests were passed to Girling Ltd.