Previous Commercial Motor Trials (III).
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The Third Liverpool Series.
The Council of the Liverpool SelfPropelled Traffic Association did not rest cor ' 'nt with the results that had been obtained in 1898 and 1899, and we quote from the opening page of the judges' report upon the third series of Liverpool trials in order to make clear the considerations which led to the organisation of the third and last competition of the kind.
Origin of the Competition.
" The two series of trials conducted by the Association in the years 1898 and 1899 demonstrated that the selfpropelled goods lorry, as distinguished from the traction engine hauling several loaded trucks, possessed inherent merits which rendered further development highly desirable. Many improvements, to which attention was directed in the first report, were effected during the interval of fourteen months before the second competition when an adtedly important advance was evident. In the second report the Judges dwelt upon the necessity for an increased tare weight, and the Council, in order to see whether manufacturers could improve their designs so as to build efficient vehicles under the a-ton tare limit, decided to organise a third series of trials."
"It was resolved at a meeting of Council held on May 14th, 1900, and after a conference with the leading manufacturers—
(a) that the conditions and regulations should be published one year in advance of the dates selected for the tests; (b) that the itineraries should include some of the principal manufacturing towns of Lancashire;
(e) that loads of actual merchandise, not ballast, should be carried ; (d) that vehicles with tare weights above the existing legal limit of three tons should be eligible for competition in one class."
Numerous meetings of the Council were held, in connection with the arrangements for the organisation, which was in the hands of the honorary secretary, Mr. Shrapnell Smith, and the formation of nine representative local committees in every case including the mayor of the town visited, was concluded. The assistance rendered by members of these local committees proved to be invaluable : they made it a comparatively easy matter to secure the necessary co-operation in respect of dep&ts, routes, police supervision, water and other supplies, etc., etc.
Some idea of the extent of the organisation, and the official recognition that was accorded to the association, will be gathered from the following lists : Judges.
Everard R. Calthrop, M.Inst.C.E., M.Inst.Mech.E. S. B. Cottrell, M.Inst.C.E., M.Inst.Mech,E., Engineer and General Manager Liverpool Overhead Railway. Professor H. S. Hele-Shaw, LL.D., E.R.S., M.Inst. C. E., M.Inst.Mech.E., Harrison Professor of Engineering, Liverpool University College. Boverton Redwood, D.Sc., F.R.S.E., F.I.C., F.C.S. Henry H. West, 111.Inst.C.E., M.Inst.Mech.E. Elected but non-officiating. Sir David Salomons, Bart., M.A., Assoc.M.Inst.C.F., M.Inst.E.E.
Honorary Organising Secretary : E. Shrapnell Smith. Honorary Press Secretary ; Basil H. Joy. Honorary Controller of Records : Henry Fowler. Assist. Honorary Secretary : Ernest A. Rosenheirn. The conditions and regulations for the trials were duly issued, on the 13th June, two, and they provided for the division of entries into three classes, to which a fourth was added, by request, at a later date.
The entry fee was fixed at ten guineas per vehicle, and makers were given until 12 noon on the 3oth April, 1901, i.e., one calendar month before the date of commencement of the trials, to send in their forms, whilst they were allowed to have until a fortnight before the commencement of the trials for the lodging of drawings and photographs. The points which were set down for the guidance of the judges in making their awards were largely the same as for the previous two series of trials, the principal additional ones being : under cost, the matter of first cost, as well as working cost; under construction, percentage of total weight on driving wheels, when light and when laden; and, under steam-propelled vehicles, provision to secure invisible exhaust, and ease of control of water level.
The practice during the 1898 and 1899 trials had been to placard the whole of the routes, appropriate signs being pasted or secured to hoardings, walls, buildings, special posts, and even, in some cases, by the consent of the Postmaster-General, to telegraph poles, in order to help the observers and drivers. This method of indicating the route was abandoned for the 1901 trials, the whole of the 168.5 miles being surveyed by Messrs. Wood and Fowler, civil engineers, of 3, Cook Street, Liverpool, and all the necessary directions being given in the official programme, alongside the plan and profile of the entire route. This course proved an expensive one, but the results were much appreciated by competitors and visitors. Another change in the organisation was the securing of load's of merchandise, in place of ballast. These loads of merchandise were provided by Lancashire manufacturers and merchants, and by Liverpool shipowners, and they comprised: ordinary consignments of canned goods, cement, flour, grain, leather, machinery, provisions, Pratt's motor car spirit, soap and sugar (inwards); manufactured cotton in cases and bales, blocks and pulleys, gas engines, paper, soap, and spinning machinery (outwards).
The distances between the depots, at which points water was provided in a number of unheaded 36-gallon casks, which had previously been calibrated and then suitably grouped at intervals some 40 feet apart ready for the waterlifters of the competingsteam vehicles, varied from a minimum of 7.2 to a maximum of 14.2 miles.
Close upon 40 hired and private motor carriages followed the contest throughout, and visitors were carried in the former of these at an inclusive charge of is. per seat per day. The majority of the hired vehicles were supplied by the Daintier Motor Company, Limited, of Coventry, Messrs. Watson and Company, of Chester, and the Thames Valley Motor Company, Limited, of London.
Observers Duties.
The duties of the official observers in charge of the vehicles during the runs, as well as of those who were in charge of the depAls, had been set out in even greater detail than had been the case at the preceding trials. We quote from the instructions for a typical day (Tuesday, 4th June, eaot), and it may be added that a senior observer was in charge of every six ordinary road observers.
Attend at George's Dock Depot, with personal luggage, at 8 a.m., and take charge of vehicle allotted. Weigh luggage, and take your own weight. Send the driver to end of shed near James' Street to be weighed.. Messrs. Hy. Pooley and Son will have men in attendance with official weight cards. See that the 1 x 5 gall. and
1 x 1 gall. cans are on board.
Obtain log-sheet from office in depOt. See that the bunkers, fire-grate and ash-pan are quite empty. Allow the driver to begin laying his fire, or warming his oil-burner, at 8.15 prompt, the weight of wood or other materials taken, the weight of coke used, and the time occupied from laying the fire to there being 1801b. of steam on the gauge to be recorded. Apply to Mr. E. A. Rosenheim to see that right type of fuel is taken. Don't allow the bags from which this fuel is taken to be placed in the bunkers. They may be used for firing up to the start and must then be left behind in the depOt.
While steam is being raised, allow the competitor's men to place in the bunkers a number of bags of coke. Count and record these. A sufficient supply for two days must be taken on the vehicle. Don't have the contents of the bags emptied into the bunkers, but merely lay the bags in and cut oft the seals as required, unless the construction of the vehicle renders this impossible, in order to 'save trouble in weighing at the termination of the run. No stoking must be done from the bags on the vehicle until after the start. Where the boiler is oil-fired, the oil tank must be filled completely both before lighting the burner and immediately the correct pressure is reached, the quantity of oil poured in to fill the tank a second time being recorded. The competitors must fill up their water tanks during this interval. See that the water level is got up to nearly a full glass (where one is fitted).
Any persons applying for permission to ride on the vehicle must have printed permits for the run in question and official weight cards. Under no circumstances allow either a visitor or the servant of a competitor to get on the vehicle until he has handed these in. Return weight card when you have noted on log-sheet. All permits are issued subject to there being room on the platform, and the decision of the Senior • Observer in charge is final. The observers are to occupy seats by the driver, and any mechanic must sit on the load or platform. At 9.15 a.m. exactly, without any signal from the Judges, be ready to start. All tanks must be full, all passengers aboard, and the load carefully secured. When the first vehicle of the line moves forward, draw after it and follow. Leave behind the bags of coke from which the fire has been supplied prior to the start. The Honorary Controller of Records (Mr. Henry Fowler) will measure the height of the fire at the exit gate. Record the time of departure from the exit gate. Watches to be set by the clock at the bottom of James Street.
Keep the log-sheets provided. The legal speed of five miles per hour must be adhered to as closely as possible (8 m.p.hr. in Class A.).
(a) (I)
(I)
Intermediate Depots.—The water tanks must in every case be filled completely by suction from the unheaded casks. Any heavy vehicle not competing must take its water last of all. Each cask is graduated up to 35 gallons, the secon.d row of drawing pins (from the top) indicating 5 gallons, the three spaces below being each 10 gallons. Any volumes between the rows of pins must be measured by using the cans carried on the vehicle. Measure to centre-line of pins. As soon as the tanks have been filled, proceed on the run. (Refreshments will be brought to the. Observers at the Town Hall Yard, Warrington, where the competing vehicles must "line up" for a few minutes, immediately outside the railings of the Town Hall, in Sankey Street, for a photograph to be taken.) When nearing the terminal dep6f, have the level of the water in the boiler run to the same point as the start.
On arrival at the Police Yard, King Street West, Manchester, the Honorary Controller of Records (Mr. Henry Fowler) will measure the height of the fire and remove from the bunkers any broken bags of coke. The water and oil tanks roust be completely filled here, and the log-sheets handed to Mr. Fowler.
The official run ends here. Leave luggage in yard for conveyance to Queen's Hotel. The boiler can now be fired from fresh fuel. Each vehicle must proceed to the Town Hall entrance, deliver its load in accordance with directions which will be given at the terminal depot, and then run out to Belle Vue. Instruct driver to attend at 7 a.m. on Wednesday morning, and to get up steam at once. Stand by until driver and attendants leave, unless extensive repairs are necessary, in which event note details before leaving. Take Hyde Road tram for Queen's Hotel. Dinner at 8 o'clock. Details of Wednesday morning's work will be announced and log-sheets distributed.
Every precaution was taken to avoid error on the part of the observers, either in respect of measurements or time records, and we reproduce specimen time and log sheets.
The observers' duties were greatly simplified by the use of the plans and profiles of the route, a specimen section of which is given on page 512. The horizontal scale is one inch to the mile, and the vertical scale one inch to mo feet. It might be mentioned, too, that the observers were mostly third-year men from Dr. 1-1c1c-Shaw's students. Routes and Time Table. These were fixed as under :
June 4th. Liverpool (George's Dock) depart 9.15 a.m.,
(Tuesday) Widnes. (Town Hall) arrive 11.30 a.m. Warrington (TownHall) arrive 12.45 p.m. Warrington depart 1.45 p.m. fOr Manchester via Hollinfare and Eccles. Manchester (Town Hall) arrive 4.30 p.m., Belle Vue (Longsight entrance) 5.30 p.m.
June 5th. Albert Square depart 9.15 a.m., Bolton (Town .twedeesday)Hall) arrive 12.15 p.m. Bolton depart 1.30 p.m., for St. Helens via Atherton, Leigh, Pennington, Newton and Haydock. St. Helens (Town Hall) arrive 4 p.m., Liverpool (George's Dock) arrive 6.15 p.m.
June 6th. Liverpool (George's Dock) depart 9.15 a.m., for (ThImday) Wigan via The Horns, Knowsley, Rainford and Billinge. Wigan (Market Square) arrive / p.m. Wigan depart 2 p.m., Chorley (Cattle Market) arrive 3.45 p.m., Blackburn (Artillery Barracks) arrive 6 p.m.
June 7th. Blackburn (Artillery Barracks) depart 9.15 a.m., (Friday) Preston (covered market) arrive 11.30 a.m., Ruf ford (Hesketh Arms) arrive 1.15 p.m. Rufford depart 2.15 p.m., Ormskirk (Clock Tower) arrive 4 p.m., Liverpool (George's Dock) arrive 6.15 p.m.
The Competing Vehicles.
Two of the vehicles presented for trial (Nos. A i and A 2) were, for the first time in the history of the Liverpool competitions, propelled by internal-Combustion engines. The judges' report showed how their performances bore out the
remarks of the judges of the 1899 Trials under ibis sectioe of their report, whilst the non-participation of vehicles using accumulators confirmed the view that this method of pro. pulsion was unsuitable for goods traffic on common roads.
It will be observed that eight intending competitors entered 13 vehicles, but of these two (Nos. C 4 and D 6) were not presented for trial owing to their non-completion. Vehicles Nos. C 2, C 3, and D 5 were withdrawn during the trials, from the causes named hereafter.