Fire Engines Photos

Thanks Mike for sending this picture in, it must have been one hell-of-a-task to even know where to start on such a large appliance, but in the end it was well worth preserving.

Added by Pete Matten on 18 August 2011.

Yep....its an iconic machine....truly a one off and it must have been a very brave CFO to actually order it at the time. Does anyone know if it was ever used very much at full extension?

Added by Barrie Green on 18 August 2011.

was this the only 150'TTL in this country?

Added by Dave Price on 18 August 2011.

Barrie and Dave, it was able to be used to maximum but I would imagine it rarely was so apart from drills. After WWII I am told its maximum permitted extension was 120' but I cannot verify this.
CKH407 was the only 150' TL in the UK prewar and the tallest Leyland Metz ever built.
I understand its purchase came about after a 120' Grain Silo was lost in a serious fire prior to 1936. The Police Fire Brigade were unable to get water high enough to fight the fire, the only TL being an 85' wooden metz in the Brigade. The cost new of CKH was over £4000 in 1936, a great deal of money, however I am told there were at least 2 other grain silos of 120' in Hull and they were far more valuable than the cost of buying the 150 footer.
There were some 45m (150') TLs in Germany on Mercedes chassis and at least one survived WWII in Berlin.

Hope this helps

Added by Mike Hebard on 18 August 2011.

I won't want to be on top of that fully extended on a cold windy night!

Added by Andy on 18 August 2011.

I climbed our 105 footer last year. ......Not fun at 65 I am getting too old.......as is the Turntable Ladder which is 1938 vintage

Added by Barrie Green on 18 August 2011.

If anyone is interested there is film footage of this 150' TL at work doing drills on Vintage Fireground 2.

Added by Grant Melville on 18 August 2011.

Mike, compared with the 100' Metz, does it have extra top and bottom sections, or two extra bottom sections? How far advanced is the restoration?

Best wishes,

Barry.

Added by Barry on 18 August 2011.

Someone told me recently that it had a section removed so that could tie in with the 120ft restriction. It is obviously still complete. Have you had any luck finding an engine?

Added by Neal Glover on 18 August 2011.

Barry, the 150 footer has 2 additional sections wrapped around a 101' ladder set. As a result the turret is wider.
Restoration has been on hold for many years, plans have been drawn up to get on with it but don't expect to see it for a long time yet, there is a great deal to do.

Added by Mike Hebard on 18 August 2011.

Neil, sorry I missed the bit about the engine. Tim took the engine out late 1970s. I still have it in my garden shed. It did a stint in DGJ309 when its original engine gave up the ghost.
DGJ309 is running with the engine from the Barrow Metz and has been since 1986.
The 150' engine will need overhauling but I do have a spare if needs be when the time comes.

Added by Mike Hebard on 19 August 2011.

In answer to some of the questions I drilled with this machine many times and attended a few incidents with it too. Now eighty I still remember the top extension ladder feeling very inadequate!My memory tells me that there was a reduced extension limit as far back as at least 1960.Drills with the Davy Escape were memorable but I don't recall that being done at 150Ft. So far as I know this was the only 150ft ladder in the British Empire and was used extensively during the Hull Blitz.

Added by Mike Edmondson on 12 July 2017.

My father, Fred Bulmer, drove this Leyland-Metz turntable ladder during and after the war. It had pedals like dinner plates. I have a cutting showing AFS men in front of this machine.

Added by E.Bulmer on 11 February 2019.

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