How to Meet Complaints ,Against the . Motor Coach.
Page 39
Page 40
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
V' E are convinced that some agency is at work • on a propaganda against the motor coach, not with a view to its attempted suppression, for that would be utterly impossible, but in order to secure the passage of legislation that shall limit its speed; reduce its freedom of action and increase its cost of operation.
If the speed were limited under the projected Bill, which the Minister of Transport has long tried to get introduced into Parliament, to 15 miles per hour, with the understanding that the law would be enforced, and if the coach were prevented from using certain roads on the score that those roads were' not suitable for the traffic, anti if the size of the vehicles were restricted, the motor coach would cease to be such a serious rival to the railways—and here, perhaps, is to be found an indication of the source of the propaganda now at work.
The other side of the story, therefore, deserves to be shown. The average coach-owner is no fool, and the large operators are highly qualified and perfectly reasonable business men. The choice of chassis suitable for coach service is now so wide that any requirement can be fulfilled, whereas, when the motor coach business was instituted in 1919, the choice largely lay solely amongst ex-warservice lorry chassis, which, equipped with a coach body, accommodated from 32 to 35 passengers.
The day of the large and cumbersome coach on solid tyres has gone, and the few vehicles of the type still running are rapidly becoming obsolescent. The smaller capacity coach on pneumatic tyres has taken its place (and that, incidentally, is why we are now hearing complaints about speed !) and it is of a size that permits it to go anywhere in safety,_ it can reach the places of scenic or historical interest that are often off the beaten rack, and .it is less of an obstruction than its slower and more bulky predecessor.
The real complaint nowadays is not damage to the roads, for pneumatic tyres and light weights have effected a reduction in road wear ; it is not unsuitability for the narrow and dangerous roads, for one rarely hears of accidents on such roads, and the danger spots, moreover, are being removed ; it is not the manner in which coaches are driven, for actually the driving is considerate and good ; the complaint arises from the inability of the 35 and 40 m.p.h. motorcars to pass the 25 and 30 m.p.h. coaches. Here, we think, coach-owners and coach-drivers could do something to quell the complaints. A better look-out to the rear should be kept, every opportunity should be given to vehicles to overtake and, above all, motor coaches should not be driven in close order, for the difficulty of passing a single coach is by no means a measure of the difficulty of passing a close convoy. We have known three motor coaches, travelling together at 30 m.p.h. (admittedly a respectable speed), to hold up for miles a long string of motor cars. Had the coaches been kept a hundred yards apart, room for manceuvring would have been left and dozens of motorists on this particular occasion would not have been given cause for offence. A study of small matters such as this would materially help the coach movement when the projected Bill comes before the Hous of Commons.
A Notable Triumph for the Six Wheeler.
Ti-OW extremely interesting it is to find that the -I-1-motor vehicle can become the means for the revival of age-old method, and can cause a reversion thereto after they had, by reason of the introduction of the railway and the steamship, fallen into complete or partial disuse. The trade route between the Mediterranean Sea coast and Baghdad must be one of the oldest in the world, for 2,000 years ago it was based upon a perfect organization of camps, guard houses, patrols and wells. The opening of the Suez Canal brought Baghdad within 24 days of London. To-day, the motor coach is reviving the ancient route, and has so far bettered the performance of the steamers via the Canal and the Persian Gulf that the journey is no longer than eight days.
How the service across the Syrian desert (thought to be scarcely practicable only so recently as the spring of 1923) has become established and is actually run to a definite time-table is a complete romance, and whilst certain details have recently reached this country and have been given publicity in our columns, the full story is only now available, and it is recounted in this issue by a writer who knows the promoters personally, knows the country thoroughly and has travelled over the route in the different types , of conveyance employed, including the latest six-wheeled coach on pneumatic tyres carrying 16 passengers in armchair seats—for the journey is long and the going rough for much of the way.
It is very interesting to know, too, that the man who has produced the latest vehicles introduced Into the Syrian desert services was virtually responsible or the introduction and development of the six-wheeled vehicles in the United States and that it was he who brought all the facts and data details and specifications, to the Editor ofThe Commercial Motor some years ago, resulting in the commencement of the six-wheeler campaign which this journal (at first against much opposition) has persistently pursued. Knowing how successful has been the six-wheeler in the United States of America, how it Is there becoming an important fiktor in passenger transportation, not only between cities, but in the cities themselves, how it has solved the problem of passenger and goods 018 transport over rough ground, how useful it is becoming to military authorities and how valuable it is proving in the conservation of road foundations and road surfaces, we are almost tempted to prophesy that, in a few years' time, the use of but four wheels will be confined to light vehicles, small loads and dead-smooth roads.
Solid Tyres on Rigid-frame SixWheelers.
WHEN the rigid-frame six-wheeled vehicle was first produced many were the doubts cast upon the semi-bogie arrangement of the rear wheels which is now a marked feature of so many types. Critics even went so far as to say that such vehicles Could not be steered, as it would be impossible to make a semi-bogie pivot on its own centre, owing to the side resistance on the tyres.
When practice proved that this was a fallacy, the criticism was modified, and it was then freely stated that excessive tyre wear would occur on the driving wheels, but that with pneumatic tyres the abrasion might be reduced to a certain extent through roiling of the tyre casings and spewing of the rubber. At the time this appeared to be accepted, but soon protracted tests with sixwheelers proved that a remarkable decrease in tyre wear could be effected, and that the actual loss of rubber was much less on the six tyres of such a machine than on the four wheels of the ordinary type. Still the pessimistic people shook their heads and entrenched themselves behind the statement that It would be found impossible efficiently to employ solid tyres on six-wheeled vehicles. it would appear, however, that they will have to relinquish even this last defence of their opposition, for rigidframe six-wheelers on solid tyres and carrying loads of 10 tons are now in everyday service,and giving remarkably efficient results. One has been running over a year, and the tyres look as if they had done little more than two or three months' work ; in fact, the tyres on the front wheels are worn rather more than those on the four driving wheels. Incidentally, this machine is used in the Liverpool area and covers nearly 80 miles per day, so that it has already run considerably over 20,000 miles.
In the matter of costs the user of the machine in question finds that it costs only one penny per mile more to run than his 5-ton four-wheelers.
In another solid-tyred six-wheeler of 10-ton capacity it was found, after the first 600-700 miles of test running, that the slight moulding rib in the centre of each tyre had not been worn off, proving that the side drag or abrasion was practically In our opinion and in that of the designer of these vehicles the remarkable results attained are due in great measure to the stoppage of wheel-spin: In fact, we may modify an old adage and say, "What is lost on the skid is more than saved on the absence of spin."
It must be remembered that, with the driving wheels mounted fairly closely together and with a long-wheelbase chassis, the maximum theoretical slip is only about three-quarters of an inch or threeeights of an inch per wheel, and it is quite probable that most of this is taken up by the slight side play which necessarily exists in the wheels, spring pins, etc., and other parts constituting the means of connection between road and chassis.
Whilst these results would suggest that neither type of tyre, pneumatic or solid, can now be re garded as ben* impracticable with the rigidframe six-wheeler, we believe that one of the great advantages offered by this machine will be the encouragement of the use of pneumatic tyres.