Fire Engines Photos

So characteristc of an Alfred Miles body, but an unusual combination of painted and unpainted areas, not to mention being one of a few Miles R series Bedford 4X4s if not perhaps the only one!

Added by Rob Johnson on 09 July 2020.

Hi Rob, a bit late but there were lots of those Miles 4x4 jobs. Newcastle Airport had one, Leeds/Bradford had two and believe it or not York City Fire Brigade had one for town work. Several others went for export.

Ed: Ron do you have a photo of the York 4x4?

Added by Ronald Henderson on 01 September 2023.

Thanks Ron. I did not spend much of my misspent youth around airports, so your comments are very welcome! When I was at Cambridge in the mid sixties the new central fire station had two R series 4X4s. One was a locally bodied ET, which is on this site, and the other was a 1000 gallon tanker with a transverse PP mounted at the back, plumbed into the tank and featuring a first aid hose reel. A bit like most of the famous French ex US army GMC 6X6 conversions. The county had a lot of R series water tenders at the time, but I think the ET was a one off, and I never quite fully understood why the city would need a 4X4 tanker like this. They obviously thought otherwise, as it was replaced by a similarly designed and equipped TKM a few years later!

Sounds like both Cambridge and York had some different ideas from most other brigades. Apart from the second series of Green Goddesses, where the brigades did not probably have much choice, very few municipal or county brigades in the UK seemed to be keen on 4X4s, unless they served airports. Quite a contrast to Germany, Austria and Switzerland, all of which loved them, and still often do…

Added by Rob Johnson on 01 September 2023.

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