Fire Engines Photos

Hi Petros this appliance is the 2nd away from station 30 Tollcross,the central station in Edinburgh running alongside 1st away Scania SN08COH and F986NRV Volvo/Metz TL (Ex Hampsire)

Added by Grant Melville on 08 February 2010.

Petros, the local jargon in Edinburgh is: -
first away = The Runner
second away = The Second (machine)
Your picture shows Tollcross's Second machine call sign 302.

Added by Colin Foster on 04 May 2012.

Who was the Station Officer at Tollcross that enlightened us to the expression "Off the run"?

Added by Andrew Middleton on 04 May 2012.

No idea Andrew, but the expressions 'on the run', and it's opposite 'off the run' go back a long, long way. When showing vistors around the Museum of Fire in Edinburgh we often take these sayings right back to origins, the days of manually hauled and manually pumped machines.

Added by Colin Foster on 04 May 2012.

If we are on the origins of things, I like to hear other peoples explanations of why fire fighters go on "shouts" and why they ride "fire engines"

Added by Monkey Boy The 3rd on 04 May 2012.

Very true Colin, the terms do indeed go a long, long way back, and are used by virtually every UK brigade.

Added by Ian Moore on 05 May 2012.

I was told about this expression in 1996 at Tollcross by a very happy Station Officer (Remember them) who informed me that an appliance was put on an elevated angle to assist the horses with the first pull and the platform was called a "run".

Added by Andrew Middleton on 05 May 2012.

Hi Andrew, before horses were used to pull the fire engine, it had to be manually hauled using a pair of drag ropes (with 'handles' spliced into the rope). The firemen would run to fires dragging their fire engine behind them. Indeed the only way to call out the engines (before 'phones etc.) was to run to the fire station and gasp out the details. (the 'fetch the engines, fetch the engines sort of thing). So, being 'on the run' literally meant running to fires. As for the word 'shout' I think it comes from the same process, people running towards fire stations and shouting ahead for some other obliging runner to dash ahead. (this of course may be entirley wrong). As for 'fire engine' I believe that in the days long gone, a mechanical device would be called an 'engine' (steam engine being a simple example). An 'engine' used to put out fires would naturally be a 'fire engine', or is that too simple and is there a really complex reason for the name?

Added by Colin Foster on 06 May 2012.

And rather curiously, originally a fireman's job was to light fires and not to put them out! The term 'fireman' existed long before the streets echoed with shouting men, hand-hauled rickety wooden pumps and cries of "fetch the engine".

No, the original fireman delivered his highly dangerous service deep underground, inside a mine, ridding the tunnels of explosive and noxious gases, therefore making the miners' jobs that little bit safer. Literally fighting fire with fire. Fireman - a term a lot older than we might have thought.

Added by Yelp Bullhorn on 12 May 2012.

I remember hearing the term'shout' referred to when the firemen would literally shout their way to a job ( calling out 'Hi Hi Hi ' ) as a way of warning the public they were in a hurry long before bells and then 2-tones.

Added by Stevie Murray on 12 May 2012.

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