The white front is part of the Cleveland livery, and has been since it first appeared in 1971 on a pair of AEC Mercury/Merryweathers (AXG2/29K). The white fronts originated as an idea from the then Chief Fire Officer having a visit to New York, and adapting their livery for the then new Teesside fire Brigade. At the time there were livery experiments going on in the UK to make the appliances more visible under the new style orange street lighting then being introduced throughout the Country. At one stage the brigade considered using flourescent yellow as a livery however (thankfully!)that didn't come about. In the early days some appliances from Teesside's constituant brigades had very little white on them. Some only had a white bumper bar or part of the roof. However with the introduction of the previously mentioned AEC's, the white covered the whole front, and in some cases wrapped round the windows and over the cab roofs. From 1979/80 all new appliances had full white fronts, and this practice continues today. Recently (from about 1995), the livery has been enhanced with blue lined reflective yellow stripes which improves the appliances appearance considerably. A couple of other brigades have had white fronts on some of their vehicles, Rochdale and Sunderland both ERF Emergency Tenders which featured white fronts. As far as being National practice, its a local livery, however I would love to see the Cleveland livery introduced Nationally, although I think that would upset several visitors to this site particularly those from West Yorkshire who think all fire engines should be overall red lol!
Hi all Oxford die-cast are brining out a 1/76 scale model of the new Scania in Clevland Livery also a model of an AEC regent 111 PE London Fire Brigade between now and May.
Hi Michael; for further 'Cleveland Colors'; check 'TheFireman' in 'Contributors'.... that would be 'Cleveland, Tennessee', and not to be confused with the Great Lakes 'Cleveland, Ohio' !!
As regards oxford diecast,they are also releasing a 1/76 scale strathclyde arp.
Added by Tommy Swindle on 01 March 2010.
I saw the other two Scanias at Thornaby Workshops on Wednesday (17.3.10). They both looked like they were fully liveried up with number plates ready for allocation. So I assume their entry into service may well be imminent? Any further details Ian Mac?
Added by Luc Galloway on 27 February 2010.