I have fond memories of Pilgrim Street and its line up of gorgeous dark red appliances, with their bright red mudguards and locker covers and elegant silver coach linings...
In the early sixties there were two Merryweather dual purposes, a Merryweather TL, a brigade workshop built Commer Q series foam tender, a WWII Fordson Heavy Unit converted to an ET, and an Austin ATV which had also been given the full Newcastle paint treatment.
You're getting there Rob! LoL. The Fordson in the top bay was a former hose laying lorry. The Merryweather TL was a temporary resident moved there from Gateshead owing to the 116ft Metz TL being written off. The nice ATV was a Service Van attached to the workshops
It seems the UK is heading in the direction of the USA as far as big city fire stations are concerned - more locations but many fewer units in each one.
In France, Italy, Spain and Germany there are still a lot of stations with eight or more appliances, including Berlin's Tech I with over fifty trucks, vans, cars, pods and trailers!
Added by Chris Hall Teesside UK on 21 January 2011.