THE MARCH OF THE MOTOR.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 13298, 6 February 1914, Page 9

THE MARCH OF THE MOTOR.

REMARKABLE ROAD TRAIN../ The wonderful advance made m commercial motor vehicles dining recent years is all concentrated' m /a remarkablo petrol-electric road ..train that has just been landed m Melbourne to the order of My 11. K. raikiuer. of the Kellow-Falkiner Motor ...Company . ; The hugeness and completeness of the train amazes even the hardened motorist,' and nothing like it has been seen m any part of the world, except tho larul of its birth — Germany — whore leu similar trains are m commission m the German army. Only immense wealth and influence has enabled Mr Falkiner'to obtain possession of the Muller train, as tho (jerman authorities were not too favorably disposed towards allowing a Muller train to ■ leave their country. However, this wonderful road tractor, with its inventor— Major W. A. Muller ■ --is m Melbourne, the. train assembled nil ready to demonstrate what it can do under Australian conditions. The j train consists of a. motor van and ten trucks, the propelling-, power - being drawn from two motor units of 125 h.p. each. These units are placed, one =iv the front of tho van and one. m the back, each engine comprising six cylinders (120 man. bore by 220 m,m. stroke), the work of the Aus.triaivp.ainiler Co. Kadi set of engines has ; .carburetters and two magnetos. These: -motors- m j turn drive a huge dynamo, which, sup- | plies a direct electric current^to. propel the. train, which weighs, unloaded \ 4<s£ tons, alt any pace up to 18,.miles per hour when empty, and from., 4 to 10 miles per hour when loaded. . , The train is not drawn by the engine, as m a railway train, but each truck is itself driven independently by two electric motors, one to each'axie and pair of wheels, the electric current-being derived from the dynamo m the motor van, which is propelled in -.the .same manner as the trucks, namely, an,electric motor, fitted m tho. centre of each axle and pair of wheels, all of which run on ball bearings. The power . unit of each vehicle m the train is! equivalent to about 25 hip., the weight of each empty truck being 3£ tons, whilst tho motor van weighs 8£ tons. The driving power is transmitted from each electric motor through ,a differential gear, and hence by chains to the road wheels. Two speed gears are provided to each set of wheels, the gear case being set between the electric motor, and the differential gearing. These are. changed by pulling out a lever, the, whole operation taking about two. minutes. The whole mechanism is, manipulated by one driver, who sits m. a covered cab with a set of petrol engines at each end, and the dynamo m the centre of the cab, the controlling mechanism being wonderfully simple.! When the train is m motion on a .'level, road or track under light travelling' conditions, an < automatic governor cuts out one set of engines, the full power being again automatically brought into "action,- when extra power is necessary, say, for hill-climbing or . heavy going. The petrol consumption is about one and a half to two gallons per mile, according to the road^ surface and gear m uso. Tho trucks are all detachable, and the train can be made up as ■desired.' according to lofjdin,?. The length of the train, including ten 1 rucks, is 218 feet. v/. A remarkable feature of tho train is its steering. The dtfiver handles Jus sU'rring wheel, anjß iis tho train moves along .every pair *6f£ wheels, throughout (he train follows ffiii samp track as the front wheels of ttfeL motor van. This enables the (rain 'to trail about snakebite, and it can turn m an ordinarystreet. The engines arc. started up by cranking m the. ordinary way, without the electric current on. A 'Bosch sellstarter then sets the -motor running. Wooden wheels), strengthened by heavy steel bands 3ft lOin 'high-^-with smooth 10-inch iron lyres—are -fitted throughout, and when tho electric power is applied, 22 pairs of • wheels arc simultaneously .sol m. motion by tlioir r-espec-tivc electric motors, and -the wnolp train moves off without; a jolt. la th<.' 'event of the motor van getting -bogged with no grip for its wheels, all that has to be done, is, to reverse 1 , the > electric motors, and .the ten trucks draw the van backwards on to $olid ground. again. Each truck' is made to carry six tons of merchandise, making a total load of 60 tons. The train, is manned: by only one driver and an assistant. Effectivo electric brakes are provided on each., of the 22 motors, and ..in addition there are supplementary hand-operated brakes, acting on the iron-tyred wheels.. It is stated that remarkable .results have. been obtained with these trains m connection with the 1 German. . military manoeuvres, they traversing country under heavy loads that horse waggons were unable to move on. An idea of the cost of this remarkable road tractor may be gathered from the fact. that the Commonwealth Government! want/Vto collect £4700 duty alone, which will bring the lauded cost i^i Australia to- about £17,000. Mr Falkiner's idea is to utilise the Muller train, m connection with some Of his pastoral properties for wool-carry-ing, etc. ..At, a .private . trial m Albert Park before representatives ,pf the Com; monwealth military,, , authorities, tho train first of all demonstrated what, it can, do. on the. soft sand park land, averaging about four miles aii hour, whilst pn .the. macadam, road the whole train, weighing complete over 100 tons, easily set a pace -of 10" miles an hour. A demonstration of tho easy manner m which the train can be manoeuvred about was also anothor very .interesting feature of the trial, the train circling around a motor car stationed m the centre of the roadway, the diameter of the circle .described* being about 40ft. Needless to say the trial was a rmqst impressive one. ~Thc first long trip contemplated Is a 277-mile run, from .'Melbourne to Wag«a (N,S,\V\), with 6t> tons- of merchandise aboard. We are indebted t« the Dunlop Rubber for the above particulars of this remarkable invention.