Fire Engines Photos

Unusual in the least! I believe that it was known in Gloucestershire as "Trumpton" due to its odd looks. Glos. also ran 2 Ford/HCB Angus Pump Escapes too. I have a photo here (not my copyright) of DDD700L Formerly at Cheltenham. The other being EAD958L which served at Stroud and Gloucester.

Added by Gary Simpson on 27 March 2010.

Yes, it was indeed known as "Trumpton" and was bodied by Pyrene.

Added by Ian Moore on 27 March 2010.

It appears to be have the dual red/blue rotating beacons, was this standard for City of Gloucester appliances or a one off!
How many stations and appliances did the City have.

Added by Alan Jones on 04 February 2012.

Great to see this in colour. I believe that one of these unusual machines survived in preservation. I last saw it at the Southampton Fire Engine Rally many years ago - I don't re-call it having the dual colour beacons. Unusual yes, still not sure if it is to my taste. But I admire the concept

Added by John D on 04 February 2012.

Gloucester City had 1 station, and 3 pumps, 1 ET and 1 HP.
I believe that they all had red/blue beacons except the HP.

Added by Bristol Bob on 05 February 2012.

One of relatively few D series built to carry an escape, and also one of only a handful of Pyrene bodied Fords.

It might have looked a bit less odd if they had shrouded the rear body to partially enclose the escape's wheels, which almost every other body builder managed to do!

Added by Rob Johnson on 20 September 2019.

FFH960K for searching. Some Liverpool police vehicles has red blue beacons at this era.

Added by Petros on 08 September 2022.

Many countries use different colors for emergency vehicle warning lights, with the red/blue combination very popular in Australia and the USA, while in Japan red is the only color. In the US both clear and/or orange lights are also very commonly combined with other colored ones, and in Chicago green lights are also used by the CFD - which was a tradition started in the 1930s. In Kuwait I came across green lights on all the ambulances, which in my opinion hardly suggested they were emergency vehicles. But I expect local road users were accustomed to this rather odd idea.

Added by Rob Johnson on 09 September 2022.

This pump was used as a retained pump at station 5 Gloucester. It carried 200 gallons of water and had 4 deliveries, 2 either side. Unlike the other pump escapes in county, you never had to remove escape ladder to operate pump. I rode this pump for years. The dual lights red & blue workshops disabled the red lights only and eventually removed and placed on there workshops vehicle.There were very few retained crews that I was aware of rode a pump escape as the norm. Originally made by the Pyrene company as a one off we were told. A very good bit of kit. It was sorely missed when it went.

Added by Steve m on 18 March 2023.

Back in the fifties and sixties I believe there were actually quite a lot of county brigades where the first due unit out of a two pump retained station was often a PE or WTE. I can think of examples from Northumberland, Durham, North Riding, Nottinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Essex and Bucks - and I think there may well have probably been quite a few others. Generally it seems county brigades were the earliest to stop using wheeled escape ladders, as it was a higher priority for them to have water tenders with larger tanks to cater to incidents where hydrants were not available and/ or had limited capacity. In addition, the extra maintenance required by a wooden wheeled escape ladder may have been a concern. As I was very involved in the Ford D series fire appliance business for a while, I am glad you liked it!

Added by Rob Johnson on 18 March 2023.

This appliance is alive and awaiting its turn in the restoration queue; it was resprayed back in the mid 1980s but needs another one now. I purchased it in about 1985 and for most of the time since then it's been kept undercover so it's in not too bad condition. I bought it from Taylors, Ford dealers. Steve M will probably remember it being borrowed for a fire engine pull between Cheltenham and Gloucester a year or so later.

Added by Simon Rowley on 09 April 2023.

Personally I have to say I am very glad to hear it. Not a classic, but nevertheless a very rare build, and worthy of preservation.

Added by Rob Johnson on 10 April 2023.

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