Has something gone wrong with the archive? The search engine does not work at all now (although it took a few tries to be certain!) and the Browse by Issue feature has also bitten the dust.
[zb]
anorak:
Has something gone wrong with the archive? The search engine does not work at all now (although it took a few tries to be certain!) and the Browse by Issue feature has also bitten the dust.
It seems to be OK this morning, but have reported it.
Rikki-UK:
[zb]
anorak:
Has something gone wrong with the archive? The search engine does not work at all now (although it took a few tries to be certain!) and the Browse by Issue feature has also bitten the dust.It seems to be OK this morning, but have reported it.
Yes, the problem appeared to have cleared itself up within a day or so. Either way, thanks for your efforts. The archive is a superb reference work for this forum. Any chance of making the search engine work better, or the issue/page display less ■■■■■■■■■■■ Sorry to appear fussy.
While it’s interesting seeing what thing were like many years ago, the problem is that not many drivers had time for taking pictures let alone having a camera in the cab, we were usually hard at work and too knackered to be bothered what we might show when we retire, I actually started my driving in 1957 in the army, then went driving in the early 1960 when I came out, but still very interesting to read stories of the past, but I still think we had more fun and enjoyed the job far better than they have today, too many restrictions, to many laws and rules that don’t make sense.
Jack Graham:
While it’s interesting seeing what thing were like many years ago, the problem is that not many drivers had time for taking pictures let alone having a camera in the cab, we were usually hard at work and too knackered to be bothered what we might show when we retire, I actually started my driving in 1957 in the army, then went driving in the early 1960 when I came out, but still very interesting to read stories of the past, but I still think we had more fun and enjoyed the job far better than they have today, too many restrictions, to many laws and rules that don’t make sense.
Hello Jack, Talking of restrictions ETC, ive just been reading an article in the CM, that says there is a new law coming out that states HGV Drivers will not be allowed to overtake bloody cyclists on certain roads, Well IMO for a start cyclists should pay road tax because the way things are going they are all over the place, In the village where I reside they take over the shopping center where there is a coffee shop one has to walk round them because they block the entrance,s Not just to one shop but several, IMO,Driving wagons like you and I did plus thousands of other lads did is not worth a light these days HGV Drivers don’t get paid enough for all the ■■■■■ they have to put up with, Its time that the Powers To Be got it sorted out, Regards Larry.
In the past few days, all the pictures on the CM archive have gone blank. There is just a red “X” over a white rectangle. What has happened? How can the archive be viewed?
When I enquired about copies of a road test carried out on a vehicle I own I was quoted about £10 per page plus VAT for the PDF copies. That would have cost me around £50 for four sheets of paper that I would print using my paper.
I bought a copy of the original magazine on ebay for about £3, a much better deal I thought and more authentic.
Just reading this stuff on Commercial Motor magazine made me trawl from the depths a story that would be fitting here.
In 1966 I was still at school at the age of 14, I had a paper round and a keen interest in the lorries of the day so I regularly bought Commercial Motor for about a year. I would read and study the pictures over and over. I had the complete set of the 1966 editions, kept them for years ! Years later I was about to leave home and get married, I finally committed the old magazines to the dustbin.
Many ,many years later I rued the day I dumped them and often thought how interesting the reading would be now.
I attended the Commercial vehicle rally (when it was held at Crick Truck Stop) some 40 years after dumping the magazines. Looking around the stalls I spied the complete 1966 volumes, wonderfully bound together !! I paid the princely sum of £10 for them and won’t let them go again !!! God works in mysterious ways eh ?
An article from 1910 on bus traffic and road surfaces…
"There were unending complaints about the motorbus traffic which passed between Hammersmith and Barnes. The residents on the road between the bridge and Ranelagh, which is known as Castelnau, were particular sufferers, in that the noise rendered sleep or rest well-nigh impossible"
Some of this old stuff is fascinating…
Steam or Petrol?
The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR." 1907
“Sir :—When will this controversy be settled? Do you think the R.A.C. Trials will be conclusive in proving one or other the real superior? It is very hard to come to a decision, and I think, myself, that another ten years will elapse before the internal-combustion engine becomes as generally understood as is the steam engine. There are comparatively few drivers who know all they. should about petrol motors, and the necessary adjustments for them, as well as for the transmission, but there is an excess of steam-wagon drivers. Can you tell me whether the superheated-steam systems are coming into use more widely, and is it true that their fuel consumption per mile, for equal loads and speeds, are no more than for petrol engines?”
The magazines response was…
“Our correspondent should continue to study the trials reports. They will certainly establish reliable hard comparative data. Drivers of steam vehicles require more special knowledge, as a mile, than do drivers of approved types of petrol vehicles, and the experience of large users of petrol motorvans indicates that the supposed difficulty over the provision of drivers is not a real one. Superheated steam systems, such as the Darracq-Serpollet, arc rapidly coming to the front, but their fuel consumptions are not so low per mile as where internal combustion is employed. It should be noted, however, that paraffin is burnt”
Its fascinating to think they weren’t sure whether the internal combustion engine would be better or not. Look how far things have come now.
This was literally history in the making!
up on your comments.
I would like to record that I have found the CM Archives to be a real treasure chest of useful information whilst researching for my two Lorries of Arabia books. It has meant that I’ve been able to quote from them or make references to them, or acknowledge material found in them throughout my current writings. This has the happy unintended consequence of increasing readers’ awareness of just how valuable CM can be, and perhaps increasing its readership! Who knows? Robert 
I think this archive is great,you can spend hours in there.
What ever happened to Hargraves refrigerated transport I think from Glasgow they used to stop over at the Ashford truck stop in the late 1990’s (1999) just wondered if they were still going. Cheers scot.
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Is was on Driver CPC with the Editor of Commercial Motor with EP Training a few years ago.
Did ask for a nice discount on the magazine but nothing than the usual one in magazine, that we thought was not such a plan.
Normally most people who have had a subscription are most likely to auto renew if they like the magazine.
Does anyone on here have any old copies of the magazine for sale? I’m looking for an original copy from 1960 that features my grandads Austin lorry. I have the particular dates somewhere as it was in an advertisement in multiple issues.
Was looking around a few years ago but haven’t thought about until seeing this forum.