Fire Engines Photos

HI,
Can someone fill me in on what a Hose Reel Tender is and does. May I assume it has no high volume pump and small water tank? Is it for road accidents, chimney fire, etc? Or is it for rural use, grass, brush fires?
Is this a Bedford "J" series chassis?
Thanks for filling in the details.

Added by Bob Graham on 16 December 2009.

Hello Bob,first this is a 1955 Bedford A/HCB(Hampshire Car Bodies)Hose Reel Tender.These were generally used by Industrial brigades,but many were used by county brigades and allocated to the more small rural village fire brigades.
The meaning-Hose Reel Tender.As I'm sure your aware,many of the old 1940's Austin ATV's after the war were converted to what were known as a HRT's by the newly formed county brigades.A small water tank of approx 150gal,a hosereel and small portable pump were fitted by generally the brigades own workshops.A small doorway was added to each side of the vehicle for the running out of the hosereel.Thats how the HRT was developed.
The photo here shows a vehicle in fact having the same principle as the post-war Austins-they generally carried approx 150gal of water,200ft of hosereel and had a small portable pump.Generally the hose and pump being fitted at the rear of the vehicle,leaving the lockers for a small quantity of hose and other firefighting equipment to be carried.I hope this answers all you questions.Pete.

Added by Pete Matten on 16 December 2009.

The ATV HRT's were fitted with a small pump driven off the vehicle gearbox, the K2 box having a side plate where such things could be fitted. Many WD vehicles had an air compreessor fitted in the same way. The ATV conversions were an 'official' home office design. The vehicles also had the familiar 5 way valve fitted to the side to control pump to reel, hyd to tank, hyd to reel etc.

Added by Paul Stevens on 16 December 2009.

Nothing new in this world is there.....nowadays we call them Targeted Response Vehicles or Small Fires Units etc.

Added by Barrie Green on 17 December 2009.

Thanks for providing me with all the information concerning this interesting Hose Reel Tender and its genealogy Pete, and to Barrie who as answered another question of mine, namely if the designation is continued today, which it obviously is not. The names for such apparatus today are not too disimilar to those found in use today here in California and the rest of the USA.
In California there have been tank wagons, patrol wagons, first response units, etc. for some time, usually heavy duty Ford, Dodge or Chevy pick ups with 100-150 gals of water, hose reel, portable pumps,and the like.

Added by Bob Graham on 18 December 2009.

My records show this as a Bedford A3 / HCB supplied in 1955 to the Lincolnshire Lindsey Fire Service and possibly stationed at Waltham. I don't have a fleet list for Lindsey (has anyone got one and also for Holland & Kesteven?) so I'm not sure of its allocation. It passed to the London Brick Company as a works appliance at their Flitton (Peterborough) site. Since then it has been in preservation with various owners, my last recorded location being Ipswich. Another of these appliances (MBE 978) is preserved in Chelmsford.

Added by Simon Rowley on 19 December 2009.

I have recently bought the same fire engine, would anyone have a foto of the rear as would love to put it back to how it was in 1955.

Peter

Added by Peter on 26 December 2012.

Peter, was the the part restored one for sale recently on Ebay?

Added by Michael G on 26 December 2012.

Peter, I'm not sure what the last message means but I assume that you must have bought this appliance off Ebay. I photographed it in August 2004 at the Stowmarket Rally and it was fully restored then and I took a rear shot showing the hosereel in the centre. It was next to sister appliance MBE 978, then undergoing restoration and now fully restored. If nobody else responds with a rear shot let me know and I'll dig one out for you.

Added by Simon Rowley on 27 December 2012.

Simon / Peter, sorry poor typing! I was asking Peter if the Bedford he has (similar to but not the one above) was purchased off Ebay very recently. If so it has been traded a couple of times over the last year I think, the previous owner stated he was going to turn it into a motor home, but decided it was far too good to convert, so he carried out a partial restoration, and put it back on Ebay, only a month or so ago!

Added by Michael G on 27 December 2012.

Hello
Yes it was for sale on ebay and I bought it on maybe the second or third try.Steff you owned it before me did a very good job of putting it back together, he was very kind to let me leave it at his home until I was able to get transport down to Devon.It is with me now and I would like to continue where Steff left off with his good work.I cant seem to find any photos of how the rear should look as my intention is to get it back to how it was.It is in fantastic condition for its age and has had a lot of time spent on it over the years and it be nice to get it back on the road again.I be very interested in any pictures of how it should look or anyone who owns one.


Peter

Added by Peter on 27 December 2012.

Peter, from the pictures on Ebay, it looked like a very good project. It might be worth you contacting Aidan Fisher who runs the HCB Angus archives, maybe he might be able to help. I think he has posted on this site, although I couldn't see his name on the contributors list!

Added by Michael G on 28 December 2012.

I have been in contact with Peter and can supply him with what he need!The vehicle was built by HCB (Engineering) , as it was called then on an order from Lindsey Fire Brigade dated may 1955 and was built on body serial 202. It has a 200 gallon tank and pumping arrangement as outlined by others above. All there is at the rear is a single hose rear mounted high up centrally. Come back to me if you need more information --I have the build file here
Aidan Fisher
HCB -Angus Archive


Added by Aidan Fisher on 28 December 2012.

Peter, I've had an e-mail message from Aidan Fisher marked 'urgent' requesting a rear-end picture of NBE 691. I've sent him some pix that I took of the appliance at the Stowmarket Rally on August 30th 2004. I have also sent him shots of sister appliance MBE 978 in an unrestored condition at Stowmarket and also fully restored at Odiham on August 10th 2010. As far as NBE 691 is concerned, I also photographed it three times at Duxford in 1987, 1989 and 1991. Previous owners have included Malcolm Pedley, Colin Fisk, Ron Bridle and Ken Grant. I will submit a rear end shot to this site for other people's interest.

Added by Simon Rowley on 31 December 2012.

the rear shot of this appliance is now at picture 33722. Thanks Simon. If you put London Brick in the search engine you get all the photos of these unusual machines.

Added by Peter Williams on 31 December 2012.

MBE 978 is, I think, the ex-North Somercotes appliance.

Added by Paul Bundy on 02 January 2017.

Does anyone know who the current owner of this vehicle is? I was speaking to some owners at Odiham some years back but since lost the details. Any help would be appreciated.

Added by Matt Leggott on 19 September 2017.

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