A Visit to the Thornycroft Works
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11 A T the invitation of John I. Thornycroft and Co., Ltd., on Tuesday last, we joined a large party organized for the purpose of a private view of the Thornycroft exhibits which were staged at the Commercial Motor Show and, at the same time, of making an extensive tour of the Basingstoke works. It was only natural to find that the company had arranged matters in a very thorough manner, includingb the provision of a special train to and from Basingstoke, with handsome and comfortable double-saloon six-wheeled and single-saloon four-wheeled buses for conveyance between the station and the works.
A Wide Range of Types.
To those who had not previously realized the extent of the trade in commercial vehicles carried out by this famous concern, the visit must have occasioned considerable surprise and deep interest. The Thornycroft range is remarkably extensive, covering passenger and goods-carrying vehicles for home and overseas service, municipal vehicles, lire-engines, etc., and the wide frontage within the gates was occupied by what almost amounted to a commercial-vehicle exhibition of finished vehicles these consisting of machines ready /or delivery, and demonstration models, quite apart from a large number of vehicles and chassis going through the works. •.
We have visited these works on many, previous occasions, but never before have we had an opportunity for going. anything like so thoroughly into detail. The area covered by the machine and other shops, the huge number of modern machine tools in operation, and the many up-to-date processes employed proved something of a revelation, not only to us but to all the party.
Extraordinary care is taken to prevent any faulty material or inaccurately dimensioned part escaping detection. The hardening and tempering of the materials employed are carried out with the utmost precision and with a view to obtaining the maximum life. For instance, ease-hardened parts, such as gudgeon pins, are treated at two temperatures, and after the casing has been obtained the core is toughened by dipping at 900 degrees Cent., whilst the casing is improved by again dipping at 800 degrees Cent. Naturally, great attention is paid to that very important unit—the engine, and one of the checks is to pick out any production engine which has passed through its ordinary test and, without any special preparation, submit it to a 24-hour non-stop run at full throttle and at 2,000 r.p.m., at the end of which time the loss of power is usually found to be not more than .2 b.b.p. Every engine is carefully examined internally after its preliminary test, and completely stripped should a serials fault be found ; in the latter event it comes through the test department again exactly as if it were an ordinary production engine, being run-in by motor until sufficiently free, and then taking up its load by degrees.
Extensive Export Business.
During the luncheon interval Sir John I. Thornycroft referred to the remarkable advances made by the company, particularly in connection with the export trade ; he stated that some 50-60 per cent, of the total products now goes overseas.
His brother, Mr. Tom Thornycroft, spoke regarding the home market, and pointed out that many of the troubles of the manufacturers would be solved if users would give them some definite advice as to their requirements ; this would avoid excess production of vehicles which might not be in demand. Each visitor was presented with a handsome, well-arranged and well-illustrated souvenir brochure giving a short history of the company and details of certain very interesting products.