Fire Engines Photos

Very interesting photo! It looks like the fuel filler was in the crew cab floor, or was it perhaps relocated on this training unit, like the hose reels. In addition to London’s 62 units, another 52 were bought by other mainly city brigades as well as Lancashire and Middlesex. I personally saw examples in Newcastle, Hull, Gateshead, Oxford and Cardiff. I think Newcastle may have been the first, or very close to the first, brigade to buy one. Cardiff in particular hung on to theirs for a very long time, as it had a 1000 GPM pump and was always part of the first due response to incidents in the docks for this reason. Later Merryweather pumps had a less powerful pump.

Added by Rob Johnson on 30 October 2025.

Quite right. The fuel filler was under a flap in the floor. No fuel gauge but a dipstick hanging on a hook on the bulkhead. In London the pump was rated at 7-900gpm. The dropped chassis rails gave very low C of G, hence minimal body roll on cornering. Very safe.

Added by Alan T. on 31 October 2025.

The later AEC Mercury chassis retained the same fuel tank positioning at the rear of the N/S/F wheel arch, with the filler still inside the cab as Alan described. The tank was now cylindrical and had an optional gauge, readable through a small round aperture cut in the lower body panel adjacent to the cab entry step, on the single sliding door version.

See photos

picture 15771

picture 33416

picture 45892



to 'spot the slot' on the typical TL, Pumping, and ET appliances.

Added by Keith Richardson on 02 November 2025.

It reminds me of the unique ERF pump chassis introduced in 1967. This had a three step chassis. Very low for entry by the driver and crew commander, then low for the rest of the crew (to give them easy entry and exit plus good headroom), then normal height for the rest of the body. Now of course we have the electric Rosenbauer with four ground clearance settings at the flick of a switch. Low for loading and unloading, standard for on road driving, high for off road use and very high for wading through flooded areas. For increased maneuverability it also adds four wheel steering!

Added by Rob Johnson on 02 November 2025.

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