Newspaper Office Goes to the Story
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A New Mobile Photographic Darkroom for Temple Press Ltd. is Also a Staff Headquarters, Sales Counter, Crew Caravan and Public-address Van for use at Outdoor Events
BENEFITING from many years' experience of the operation of mobile photographic darkrooms and sales vehicles, Temple Press Ltd., publishers of "The Commercial Motor," have recently added a new multi-purpose vehicle to their fleet. Attractive functional exterior lines have been combined with interior appointments calculated to meet the require
ments of photographic, editorial and gales staffs.
The new vehicle, based on an Austin coach chassis, is a mobile dark-room, staff headquarters and sales and publicity vehicle which will soon become a familiar feature of the many sporting and public occasions recorded in the journals published by Temple Press Ltd. Sympathetic attention to the needs of the de tments which will operate with the an and the enthusiastic cooperation of the bodybuilder, Thomas Harringto , Ltd., Hove, Sussex, have produced a distinctive but essentially practical chicle.
Immed tely behind the coach-type cab is th photographic section. Entry into the ntorior is gained through a full-heigh hinged door in the near side. A step i linked with the door and folds into the skirt panel when the door is closed. Immediately in front of the door is a bench on which is mounted a horizon al enlarger. Beneath the shelf are chem. I racks, and on the off side facing it s a vertical enlarger.
This is shielded from the bench running along the off side of the body and recessed in the bench at the rear is the developing tank. This is fed from a 40-gallon water tank under the floor by a Bee electric pump actuated by pres
sure on the tap. Waste water and chemicals pass into another tank under the basin.
Ample locker space, a stainless-steel draining board and plate racks are also provided on the off side. Immediately opposite the basin in the near-side rear corner of the room is a vertical drying cupboard, heated by a single electriclight bulb at the bottom. Air drawn in below the bulb passes up through the cupboard and under the influence of an extractor fan at the top travels out through a louvre.
The wide bench on the near side is also equipped with lockers and open shelves, and conceals a Stuart Turner 3-11.p. 24-volt 1,500-watt generator set. This charges the two sets of Nife 24volt batteries which provide current for all the electrical services. The benches are covered by Formica panels.
Traps in the upper surface of the near-side bench provide access to the radiator and fuel tank of the generator set. Above the bench is the main electrical control panel.
As the interior of the section is completely light-proof special Measures have been taken to enable the staff working in the room to communicate with people outside. A light-proof letter box in the entrance door enables a photographer to pass exposed plates and film into the van. Finished prints may be passed out of the vehicle through a sliding haich at the rear. This can be opened only from the inside, and a red light in the rear compartment indicates when developing work is proceeding.
The rearmost section of the van is equipped with two bunks, and heating, cooking and washing facilities. These enable the crew to spend a night in comfort in the vehicle if hotel accommodation is difficult to arrange. A locker under the bunks—which can be folded to form a bench seat—contains blankets and linen. A reading light, radio set and Ascot water heater (also fed by the Bee pump from the main tank) are other amenities. Two 4-ft. wardrobes are built into the rearmost corners of the body.
Folding tables complete the "living quarters," in which editorial staff may also prepare their reports. Calor gas is used for space and water heating as well as for cooking. Two large windows provide natural light and ventilation.
Close attention has been paid to the question of ventilation. The dark-room is ventilated by four Ashanco roof vents, and air ducts are taken through the double-skinned roof from intakes under the fore-peak to 10 hit-and-miss grilles in the interior.
c4 The roof itself is reinforced for use as a photographic platform and to support the public address equipment which may be installed. Four Tannoy loudspeakers may be operated from an amplifier mounted in the roof of the cab. The amplifier may be run on mains power and alongside it are lockers for the driver and crew.
The Radiombbile set in the rear of the van is linked with a second loudspeaker in the cab, which also contains a Tannoy gramophone for relaying music over the public-address system. Roller blinds at the sides, front and
rear display the name of the journal on behalf of which the vehicle is operating.
At the rear, the roller shutter which encloses the living quarters may be replaced by a book stall, and photographic . display cases are concealed behind small roller shutters in the sides of the body.
Slightly over 10 ft. high, the van is 25 ft. long and 7 ft. 2 ins. wide. Its unladen weight is 5 tons 1 cwt. Finished in white, with broad chromium-plated bumpers and overriders at the front and rear, the van is equipped for long journeys at home or abroad.