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Show BIG TRUCK TRAIN MAKING HISTORY The army truck train, which Is now on its way from the capital to the Pacific Pa-cific coast, is accomplishing several things. sa B Motor Age It is making history', in the first place. Never before be-fore has a truck train attempted as long a tour as this It is a self-sustained unit. It is bringing home to the different communities through which It passes and to the country at larce the need of good roads and the value of building real roads right now. ; It is bringing home the plausibility ol the transportation In time of need by motor truck. It is gathering in needed personnel for the Motor Transport corps, though this last is merely a minor result Transcontinental tours by cars, especially es-pecially in the earlyl days of the industry, indus-try, did much to help advance the engineering design and sale of the car. It paved the way for the vast streams of motor cars that follow our city boulevards and keep 'awake our country' highways today. It made possible pos-sible earlier improvements in construction con-struction through that constant endeavor en-deavor to produce cars thai would endure en-dure these long trips and come out little lit-tle If any the worse for wear The passace of the army truck train across the continent is fraught with the same valuable results. Though no records of the speed, mileage, and so on of the trucks are to be given out until the end of the trip. Its successful completion of approximately half the Journey augurs well for a happy end-j end-j ing, and the condition of the trucks and attendant cars at that half way point adds to the augury. Not for nothing have the two truck companies piloted and attended the sixty-two trucks and some odd motor vehicles this far from sea to sea The train, reached Chicago Heights which is re ferred to as approximately the half way point, in excellent condition.! , W ithin an hour and a half from the I time of arrival the entire equipage had I been cleaned and polished until it J tairly glistened with efficiency.! Which it had. Both In mechanical 'respect and in appearance, the trucks j j were no worse for the trip The men who had them in charge had not ben Idle during the trip Not only were I the trucks kept in repair, but means I for strengthening ihem and improv- ' Ing them in the future were discov- j ercd. to be passed on to the proper I parties who can put them into effect I for the benefit of the public at largo 'When the official data is completed, ! there is no doubt but that the in ,dustry at large and, thereby, the pub. Ho will be benefited Immensely. No matter what the truck train itself it-self may reveal in the way of mechanical me-chanical excellence or defects, the need and value of good roads will be understood The country will realize more fully the benefits that accrue with hard surfaced highways. The train will bring home, through its day-by-day records, the greater efficiency of transportation under good road conditions con-ditions than with bad. |