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WHEELS OF INDUSTRY
Page 90
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"The wheels of wealth will be slowed by all difficulties of transport at whatever points arising, as a carriage is by the roughness of the roods over which it runs."—John Beattie Crozier.
Albion Report for 1928.
The report of the Albion Motor Car Co., Ltd., which has just been issued for the year ended December 31st last, shows a profit of £90,477, after making provision for depreciation, income tax, interest on debenture stock, and other items. To this sum there has to be Added £21,408 brought in from the previous year. The directors have transferred £30,000 (of the available sum of £111,855) to the reserve fund, increasing that fund to £240,000, as well as allocating £2,000 to the benevolent fund.
A dividend on the preference shares at the rate of six per cent, per annum, less tax, was paid for the halfyear ended June 30th last, accounting for £4,016, and a similar sum will be absorbed by the distribution for the latter half of the year on those shares. A dividend at the rate of 12i per cent. per annum, less tax, is to be paid on the ordinary shares, and this will account for a further £46,000. After these various deductions have been made a sum of 125,853 remains to be carried forward.
The Railway-Municipal Agreement at Halifax.
It is learned that the chairman of. the tramways committee of the Halifax Corporation laims that great benefits to all concerned Will result from the agreement which has been entered into between the corporation and the London,Midiand and Scottish and the London and North Eastern Railway Co.s for the joint operation of motorbus services. The services -within the borough wi:1 remain under the control of the corporation, and the tramways (in which more than £500,0)0 of the ratepayers' capital is invested) will be Protected. All the fares taken on longdistance buses within a prescribed area outside the borough will be pooled. Had the agreement not been entered into competition would have been intense.
Branch Railway Lines Succumb to Road Competition.
The Southwold Railway Co., which was founded just 50 years ago mad operated on a single line of narrow track, nine miles in length, between the Suffolk coast resort of Southwold and the.: town of Halesworth on the L.N.E.R. main line, gave notice to its employees recently that their services would not be required after April 11th, unless assistance should become available either from the Southwold Corporation or from the London and North-Eastern Railway Co. The company has been handicapped by a Board of Trade restriction limiting the speed of its trains to 16 m.p.h.
The London and North-Eastern Railway Co. has announced that, following the closing of the smaller railway, through communication with Southwold would be provided by the Eastern Counties Road Car Co., with which concern an arrangement had been made.
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A similar ease is that of the 15-mile branch railway from Oarstang to Knott End, near Fleetwood. The line was absorbed by the London' Midland and Scottish Railway Co. a few years ago, and it connects with the main line of this company at Garstang, 10 miles north of Preston. Such acute competition has been experienced from private and public bus services in the past three years that it is expected the passenger service on this branch railway will be withdrawn, and that its use will be continued for goods only.
More Railway Goods Services.
At the beginning of December last the London Midland and Scottish Railway and the London and NorthEastern Railway Co.s inaugurated an experimental goods road service between Leeds and Bradford. It is claimed that this service was the first regular "goods only" road service to be operated by a railway company since the acquisition of road powers last year; and its success has been sufficient to warrant its continuance for a further period.
As a result of the experiene gained from this service, the London Midland and Scottish Railway Co. has in hand the question of instituting similar services in various parts of the country. The first was instituted yesterday (April 15th), and .operates between Keighley, Barwell, Earl Shilton and Leicester, being principally intended to benefit the local industries.
Ford Trading.
According to the balance sheet of the Ford Motor Co., recently issued in America, losses amount to nearly £14,500,000 for the year 1928.
A Diesel-engined Rail Coach.
The Fiat Co., of Turin, has recently introduced an interesting rail motor coach equipped with a six-cylindered vertical Diesel engine developing 180 h.p., which is used to generate electricity and drives the coach through electric motors coupled to the axles. This self-contained unit is claimed to be much more economical thau either :team or electricity when used on lines having comparatively light traffic.
The Coach is nearly 60 ft. long over the buffers, it accommodates 58. passengers, has a luggage compartment. a Postal compartment and Et lavatory. The weight in full running order is 44 tons. The maximum speed is 35 m.p.h., and the maximum gradient that can be climbed with a full load is 1 in 25.
Difficulties With a Newcastle Bus Station.
An unusual situation has arisen at Newcastle, where private motorbus owners and even the corporation's own transport department decline to use the bus station provided, at a cost of over £2,000, by the corporation, because of the loss of revenue which will attend the change from existing city termini.
The station, which is in Marlborough .Crescent, was constructed by the corporation as a terminus for services entering the city from the West Tyne area and a ssuall weekly rental is charged in respect of each machine using the establishment.
Unfortunately for the success of tile scheme one group of owners, the Blaydon and District Bus Owners' Association, which, a few years ago, secured possession of a site nearer the centre of the city, is not inclined to move from the standing, ground at which it has built up .a. remunerative business. Other undertakings are similarly placed. The most significant development is that the transport department has interviewed the licensing cominittee. and pointed out that it cannot afford to shoulder a loss of £100 per week, which is what would happen if the present stands Were abandoned for the new one at Marlborough Crescent, in the light of the •_xisting situation. The next move rests with the watch committee, and local owners are keenly. awaiting the outcome of the next meeting .of that committee.
The watch committee, in an effort to get over the difficulty, has appointed representatives to meet the owners working in the West Tyne neighbourhood to ascertain whether an arrangement can be reached whereby all will use the station.
Mr. Norman A. Hardie's A.E.C. Tour.
We regret to learn that Mr. Norman A. Hardie, who left England last September for a tour of Australia, New Zealand and the Far East in the commercial interests of the Associated Equipment Co., Ltd., has been seriously ill in Java. We are glad to hear that he is now making good recovery and, after visiting Singapore, he will return home towards the end of May.