Fire Engines Photos

Road- rail rescue trucks are quite common in Germany, but this 35 ton tandem axle rig is a lot larger than most other examples.

Anybody who has ridden in a regular fire truck running over railway sleepers for any length of time will appreciate the benefits of having railway wheels. Not only do the crew arrive on scene in one piece, the vehicle itself is not shaken to bits and the gear in the lockers is still where it should be!

Added by Rob Johnson on 19 July 2021.

Comment removed at request of Commentor

Andy - Quite true, there are situations where these have some limitations. But II think one of the main reasons many German fire services have these is a focus on railway wagon fires in marshaling yards for freight trains. At these incidents, the yard staff can switch railway points to help get the rig into position relatively quickly, and some big yards even have their own fire and rescue truck with road and rail wheels. This example, and some others, also have a small bogie in the rear compartment too, although I am not sure how these are used in practice.

Unimogs are also used very often in Germany and Switzerland for road/rail incidents. They are probably the best units if you are forced to use the road wheels to switch from one rail line to another, but of course they do have a rather limited payload - certainly compared to this Stuttgart Mercedes Actros!

Added by Rob Johnson on 21 July 2021.

On a small technical note these vehicles have sliding doors for the cabin, not swinging

Added by Jacques PETER on 21 July 2021.

The vehicles now used are a pair of Fuso Canter 4x4 trucks. On the English side there is a dedicated access point and concrete apron incorporating the main line tracks approx 100 metres before the tunnel entrance. Avon also had a Land Rover road rail vehicle which could tow a number of rail trailers to carry rescue workers and equipment into the tunnel.

Added by Graham Pritchett on 22 July 2021.

JP - The sliding doors sound like a very good safety feature!

Added by Rob Johnson on 22 July 2021.

Comment removed at request of Commentor

Andy, There used to be an emergency train kept at Severn Tunnel Junction too, but it disappeared a few years ago.

Added by Graham Pritchett on 24 July 2021.

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