BOLTON A HUB OF
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Z.-WORKING
Interesting Joint Services Operated in ction with Other Corporations and Cornare a Feature at Bolton : Worthwhile are Being Obtained from Detergent Oils
by Andrew Seacombe
ALARGE number of joint services is a characteristic of the activities of Bolton Transport Department. Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., Lancashire United Transport, Ltd., South Lancashire Transport Co., and the undertakings of Salford, Bury, Wigan and Leigh Corporations are involved in many inter-town services, but the most interesting joint working is that with S.L.T.
The Bolton Corporation Act, 1925, empowered the corporation to operate trolleybuses within the borough, and it will probably come as a surprise to readers familar with Bolton to learn that the transport department possesses four double-deck trolleybuses. These are operated for the corporation by, and in the livery of, S.L.T. on a 21-mile route between the Howell Croft South bus station and the south-west borough boundary at Four Lane Ends, a point whence S.L.T.'s own services continue through to Atherton and Leigh.
Overhead equipment on this stretch is owned by the corporation, who find it practical and economical to pay S.L.T.—who have full facilities and equipment—to attend to any dislocation that may occur in service. The corporation look after regular inspection of the line, equipment and major repairs and renewals. Operating costs of the four trolleybuses, all of which are 64-seat Roe-bodied double-deckers based on Leyland chassis, are paid by the corporation.
Last year, trolleybuses operating within the borough covered 445,234 miles and carried 7.2m. passengers— compared with the 94.2m. passengers carried by the corporation's motorbuses, of which an average of 220 were in service each day. In the quiet periods of the day only 79 motorbuses are in service, compared with 234 during the peaks.
With certain exceptions, each undertaking involved in a joint service provides vehicles in proportion to the route mileage inside its own territory. One exception is service 40, running from Bolton to Farnworth, which, whilst being joint with L.U.T., is operated solely by the corporation in an involved tie-up to compensate S.L.T. (who are associated with L.U.T.) for running Boltons' trolleybuses.
Among the inter-town joint services are those to Walkden, Farnworth, Eccles and Westhoughton (with L.U.T.), Little Hulton, Worsley and Manchester (L.U.T. and Salford Corporation), Horwich to Leigh, via Westhoughton, and Warrington (L.U.T. and Leigh Corporation), Wigan (Wigan Corporation), Bury (Bury Corporation), Chorley, Darwen and Blackburn (Ribble), and an express service from Blackburn to Manchester (Ribble and L.U.T.).
Bolton. (population 167,000) is largely dependent on cotton, engineering and bleaching. It is served by seven_ bus stations and terminal points distributed at strategic points throughout the town centre.
On the western perimeter is Moor Lane bus station, with the station at Howell Croft South nearby, and in the east is Thynne Street lying alongside Bolton's main railway station at Trinity Street. Opposite the entrance to the railway station is the terminal point for five town services, from where there are 120 departures during the 5 p.m.-6 p.m. peak.
At the heart of the shopping and business centre there are terminal points in Great Moor Street, Deansgate and Victoria Square. There are paying-in facilities at Moor Lane, Howell Croft South and Trinity Street.
Moor Lane bus station, which is controlled by the town's markets committee, is used by •Ribble, L.U.T. and Wigan Corporation, as well as by the Bolton undertaking. All buses entering the station unload either in Black Horse Street or Ashbumer Street, which form a right angle to the large open square on which the station is situated. They then proceed to the queue barriers, where they stand nose-on, reversing when leaving.
Similarly, buses using Howell Croft South unload in Ashburner Street before entering the station. Only two Bolton motorbus services operate from this station, the remainder being given over to the S.L.T,'s trolleybus services to Hutton Lane, Four Lane Ends, Atherton and Leigh. Bolton Transport Department's route mileage is approximately 159, nearly half of which is outside the borough boundary. A new fare scale—the third since the war—was introduced in July. This gives half .a-mile for a lid. minimum ordinary single, li miles for 2d., two miles for 3d., three miles for 4d. and so on up to nine miles for 10d. An application to abolish workmen's returns did not succeed. Children's rates are permitted up to the age of 15 years.
A town tour, first introduced in 1952, was so popular that it is now a regular feature of the annual "wakes holidays." An enterprising local printer publishes an A .B.C. Handy Guide to all bus services in Bolton and district, so the department does not issue its own timetable. It has, however, published a useful guide to the town, listing all the bus services together with points of
interest en route. • Of Bolton's 268 motorbuses, 259 are double-deckers. Leyland 8-ft.-wide bodies are fitted to 100 Leyland PD2 chassis, and the remainder have 7-ft,-6-in.-wide bodywork. These comprise 67 Crossley (Crossley bodies), eight Crossley (Craven), 15 Leyland (Crossley), 15 Leyland (Northern Counties) and 54 pre-war Leylands on which are mounted bodies by various manufacturers.
Five of the nine single-deckers are pre-war Leyland Tigers with bodies by Leyland (two), Park Royal (two), and Massey (one). The other four were built throughout by Crossley.
M.C.W. and East Lancashire bodies will soon be making their debut in the town, for there are at present on order 15 Leyland-M.C.W. double-deckers and a Leyland-East Lancashire 44-seat single-decker. The single-decker, a Royal Tiger, will be the department's first underfloor-engined vehicle.
Tenders for a further 18 double-deckers with 8-ft.-wide bodies and a 44-seat 8-ft.-wide single-decker are under consideration.
One-man Operated Crossley
One of the Crossley single-deckers has recently been converted to one-man operation. A 32-seater, it has been employed since January this year on the corporation's one remaining service on which single-deckers are still run—Affetside, a comparatively sparsely populated " country " route.
At present, it is used in its new role only in off-peak periods. A conductor is on duty during peaks, chiefly to permit standing passengers to be carried. Its equipment includes a Brandt change-giving machine, tickets being issued by the driver-conductor from the normal T.I.M. Major machine which is standard throughout the undertaking.
The success of this experiment has led Bolton's general manager and engineer, Mr. A. A. Jackson, M.Inst.T., to consider the use of larger-capacity singledeck one-man-operated buses on routes at present served by double-deckers. He has obtained permission from the North Western Licensing Authority to run these vehicles during peak, as well as off-peak, periods, on routes normally worked by double-deckers.
Maximum Acceleration It is to this end that the 44-seat Royal Tiger has been ordered. Due to go into service this month, the vehicle will probably be tried first on a circular town route, before going on to the Belmont and Radcliffe services.
The specification of the new single-decker calls for maximum acceleration when starting, irrespective of fuel consumption. Mr. Jackson believes that if the experiment is successful, the sacrifice of fuel economy will be more than compensated. The fact that the purchase of another large-capacity single-decker is already under consideration is, perhaps, indicative of Mr. Jackson's confidence in the project.
Four garages, at Crook Street, Bridgeman Street, Shiffnall Street and Breightmet Street, house the fleet. Crook Street depot, which accommodates 130 buses, has 11 servicing pits, six of which are in the running shed and five in the fitting shop. There are facilities for running repairs and minor body repairs at both Crook Street and Bridgeman Street.
Pits extending the full length of the running shed and maintenance department are also installed at Bridgeman Street (85 buses), where the equipment includes an Essex bus washer and a Weaver steam jenny working in conjunction with a twin-post lift.
Economies in cleansing, including the installation of the bus-washer, have enabled a substantial reduction to be made in cleaning staff. This is reflected in a decrease last year of £3,000 in the cost of cleaning vehicles. As he plant was installed only in August, 1953, and the B18
'financial year is from April I to March 31, the savin in a full year is likely to be much more. The effect a the steam jenny—which went into service only in Jul this year—is not so easily related to direct costs.
An interesting system is employed to avoid confusia among drivers about the garage at which their vehicle are based. A metal plate lettered " A " (ShitIna Street), " B " (Bridgeman Street), or " C " (Croo Street), is fixed in the cabs of buses according to th location of their base. The system also has the advan tage of enabling traffic inspectors to identify, withou hesitation, the origin of a vehicle, for the plates ar placed, with the letter showing outside, in the near-sid window of the cab.
Bolton has employed mobile inspection methods sine 1949, but because of a shortage of staff and suitabl vehicles for this purpose, the system has not been use as extensively as the general manager would wish, fo Mr. Jackson believes in the efficacy of the "element o surprise" in ticket inspection.
The recent purchase of a Bedford 12-cwt. eight-sea shooting brake has enabled the scheme to be resume( to a certain extent, but it is still retarded by staff short. age. Two out of a total of 35 inspectors are norinall3 employed on mobile checks, but this number is increase(
according to demand and the availability of staff. The shooting brake has Pye two-way radio equipmen.
intended primarily for use when the vehicle is engage( on traffic control at race meetings, Bolton Wanderers football matches at Burnden Park, and other specia.
occasions. Another Bedford 12-cwt. van is similar]) equipped.
The two mobile units, together with three walkie=talkie sets, are claimed to give complete radio control over Bolton's entire operating area, the ground of which irE generally undulating. A fixed " master " radio station at the transport department's headquarters in Bradshaw. gate, near the town centre, has direct contact with th( two mobile units and one walkie-talkie set. Thi. manually carried pack is, in turn, in communication with the other two walkie-talkie sets. Direct contact between these two transmitter receivers and the mobile units completes the cycle.
All but one of the buildings used by the department as garages or workshops were originally designed and constructed to accommodate trams (trams were finally abandoned in 1947), but they have been cleverly converted for their present purposes. A good example is the main repair depot in Carlton Street, which lies behind the transport offices.
Here, all the principal departments have direct access to the central stores. The fitting shop has nine pits, five accommodating one vehicle each, and four, two vehicles each. All the pits are connected underground by cavities which serve admirably as storage places for such large components as axles and engine flywheels.
Equipment at Canton Street includes a Guyson plant for shot-blasting small articles, Trico degreasing plant, and a special motor-driven compressor rig designed by the department to test Westinghouse air brakes. A Hartridge fuel-pump tester, a Merlin Servicemaster for grinding injector needles, and a Leyland jig for centralizing nozzles, are among the equipment installed in the pump room.
To obviate shadows east by vehicles in for repair, the electric-light fittings suspended from the ceiling in
the body shop can be raised or lowered as necessary. A spray section is soon to be incorporated in the paint shop.
Although Bolton has employed detergent oils since April, 1950, their use is still considered to be in the experimental stage so far as they affect periods between engine overhauls. At present docking periods are being revised, and a close watch is kept on fuel consumption.
Before detergent oils were used it was found necessary to give the engine of a Leyland P13.2 a piston dock at 60,000 miles. It is now hoped to increase this period to 100,000 miles. Piston life, it is claimed, has been increased by 75 per cent.
1 was shown the stripped-down engine of a 1949 Leyland PD.2 which had completed 235,000 miles, with oil and injector changes at 6,000 miles, on detergent oil. Wear on the crankshaft was 0.0005 in. and on the cylinders, 0.006 in. The valves and pistons were clean, bearings were good and the carbon soft,
The average fuel-consumption rate for the fleet in 1946 was 7.25 m.p.g. In 1953 it was 8.79 m.p.g. Over the same period, the mileage per gallon of lubricating oil has increased from 240 to 946, although this improvement is attributed partly to the replacement of pre-war vehicles. Even better figures will probably be shown this year. Average consumption rates in June were: fuel, 9.16 m.p.g.; lubricating oil, 988 m.p.g.