Motor 'Buses. THE TRACTION OF THE FUTURE.

Progress, Volume I, Issue 4, 1 February 1906, Page 85

Motor 'Buses. THE TRACTION OF THE FUTURE.

The year 1906, we are assured, will witness the triumph of the motor 'bus at Home. Motor 'buses are now a common feature of the London street traffic and so popular have they proved that the large omnibus companies are replacing their horse vehicles by motors as fast as they can. The London Motor Omnibus Company has contracted to deliver over 300 petrol 'buses before the end of 1906, and in view of some local experiments, it is interesting to learn that motor 'buses are faster, quieter, and more comfortable than the old-style omnibus, with its top-heavy body, rattling windows, and overworked hor.ses. And now further developments are foreshadowed of a kind that suggest a return, under

new and vastly improve^ conditiqns»4o,,£he^ood °^ coaching days of bygone, generations^} l^ lily A motor omnibus is now running daily from London to Brighton "and"" back," leaving Northumberland avenue at 9 a.m., and arriving back at 9 p.m. the same day. Passengers are allowed to take 4olb of luggage free, and are charged 7s. 6d. for the return journey. Small parcels are taken anywhereion the route for 6d., and regular stoppages are made at various places. The speed limit at present is twelve miles, but when trunk roads for motor traffic only are built the trip will always be done at under three hours, at an average speed of twenty miles an hour. The 'buses each hold thirty-four people, and can be hired privately for the journey to Brighton and back for ten guineas m summer, and /9 in winter. The hiring of motor 'buses by private parties is already a feature of the new regime, and one of the companies has been asked to quote a price for hiring one of its 'buses for a thirty days' tour m Great Britain. A similar idea has been adopted abroad. A party of twenty travellers has been arranged to be taken for a thirty days' tour m the south of France m a motor coach. The travellers will be met at Rouen, and taken by way of various old towns to Lyons, where the coach will visit places of interest in the district. From Lyons the purney will be to the Riviera, where the party will be allowed a week's stay. There the return journey will be made by a different route. The possibilities of this form of " tripping " are enormous.

Motor cars are steadily going up in number, and coming down m price. The recently opened Olympia Motor Car Show gives an idea of the astonishing progress of the trade since the first motor car was introduced mto Great Britian. Of recent years English manufacturers have been steadily overhauling their French competitors, and have built up a great and flourishing industry. Within the last five years motor factories have sprung up in the great engineering centre* of the United Kingdom, many of which produce cars in no way inferior to the foreign article. And, wonderful as the expansion of the trade has been m the last five years, it promises to be even greater in the future. Besides supplying the constantly growing demand m this country, British manufacturers are doing a thriving trade with foreign countries and with the colonies. The colonial connection is developing rapidly, and one well-known company makes the significant statement that their popularity overseas is increasing to such an extent that

they will shortly be doing more business in the colonies than they are m England itself. Already they have their own agencies m India and all the colonies, and their most recent orders include a consignment of twenty-four cars for South Africa and twelve for New Zealand. The great reduction m price caused by competition and improved methods of manufacture is one of the chief factors m the growing popularity of the motor car. A 7-h.p. two-cylinder car, to carry two people, can now be had for £18 5, and this type of car has achieved tremendous vogue. Some of the makers of large cars, moreover, have made a considerable reduction in price for the coming year The 28-36-h.p. Daimler, for example, has been reduced from to £590 for the chassis , the 30-h.p. from to ; and the 35-h p from to

According to La Revue Mmeralurgiqiie, the of water-power installations for the production of electric power in Switzerland is increasing considerably. A gigantic plant of this nature is about to be erected in the canton of Schwyz. It is proposed to dam the river Sihl, thus forming an artificial lake m a valley. The superficial area of the lake will be n.6 square kiloms., with a capacity of 96,500,000 cubic metres of water. The dam will be 26 metres high and nearly 100 metres long. The horse-power produced will be 28,000 for 24 hours, or 60,000 for 1 1 hours.