Fire Engines Photos

Nice pic. This is a 1961 Karrier Gamecock/Carmichael water tender ladder, 959 KJO. In addition to the 45ft triple extension required for that designation it appears also to be carrying a 35ft extension. It was new to Oxford City FB and went into Oxfordshire FB on local goverment reorganisation on 1st April 1974. In 1975 it was sold to Lister Petter of Dursley, Gloucestershire, where it served the works brigade until 1983. It was preserved and should still be around somewhere.

Added by Roger Mardon on 30 July 2011.

The other Oxford Ciy Karrier Gamecock/Carmichael was 606 DFC

Added by Ian Moore on 30 July 2011.

I have some old black and white photos of this engine when it was at listers and being used by the fire crew

Added by Gordon chin on 08 August 2011.

We were running around in near identical appliances in the 60's in Auckland, except we didn't carry the heavy ladder shown here, we had the wooden Ajax 35'

Added by Pav on 14 August 2011.

No 7 does still exist, in my care. It was going to be scrapped by its previous owner in 2006 and I took it on, looking for a good permanent home in a museum or charity status collection as I am not keen on private ownership of preservation-worthy vehicles. It has suffered down the years and now lacks the nearside roof ladders for example but still has full locker kit. My understanding was the crews hated the 45ft extension ladder and refused to use it as a first attendance appliance. They called the ladders the "Merryweather Mankiller." Also, as other Karrier Gamecock owners will know, using this chassis as a fire appliance came really towards the end of a long production life, so various components such as the gearbox design are pretty historic and not really up to scratch for something you would want to make good progress on the road when attending a fire. It is c6.75 tonnes gvw by the way and with the big ladders and carrying full ex-City and fullCounty kit in the lockers (for personnel trained separately up to the 1974 reorganisation) it is rather underpowered. Great picture, best I've ever seen.

Added by Stephen Jolly on 19 April 2012.

This appliance was in fact based at the Slade Fire Station in Oxford. I am almost certain this picture was taken at the old gas works in Oxford which, because of the restricted training facilities at George St., we used the gas works, which had been closed down. Another feature of these vehicles was that once you got them going at any speed, the problem was stopping them, as they suffered from dramatic brake fade.

Added by Andrew Hewlett on 12 May 2012.

my granddad Laurence parry drove this engine when it was in listers , I know a fare few years ago the engine was owned by someone is Weston super mare

Added by Mike Chandler on 01 April 2013.

Both Oxford and Cambridge ran a pump with a 45 foot Merryweather ladder (Cambridge had a Dennis F8). These were in addition to a conventional PE, and were deployed to some of the old university and college buildings, where narrow entrances and courtyards made it difficult to work with wheeled escapes.

Added by Rob Johnson on 01 April 2013.

959 KJO is 1961-built, not 1966. The crews found the 45ft extension ladder too heavy to handle and nicknamed it 'Merryweather Mankiller.' This WrL spent most of the time in a training only role.

Added by S Jolly on 01 April 2013.

I bought this Fire Engine from the late Roger Brown who had acquired it from Lister Petter. I restored and rallied it for about 10 years before selling it on.

Added by David Hall on 10 December 2016.

I still have it in my care.

Added by Stephen Jolly on 15 December 2016.

Ladder technology has mercifully improved over the years. You can now buy a 14.75 meter aluminum extension which weighs a mere 53 KG...

They are widely used in both the US and several European countries, and are for example standard on Paris pump appliances, which always have a crew of either six or eight....

Added by Rob Johnson on 16 September 2019.

Still in my care, stored.

Added by Stephen Jolly on 25 September 2019.

Good to hear that Stephen. Is it still in a barn. I still have photos of it from when I owned it but I can't find a way to upload one to this site

Added by David Hall on 16 October 2019.

Yes, that's right.

Added by Stephen Jolly on 17 October 2019.

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