Fire Engines Photos

Both Oxford and Cambridge ran a compact short wheelbase 500 gpm pump with a 45 foot (13.5 meter) ladder, in addition to a pump escape and a turntable ladder. Cambridge had an early Dennis F7.

The idea was to be able to access roofs and upper floors in some of the medieval college buildings. which were difficult to get into with a wheeled escape and impossible for a TL. But these alloy ladders were heavy and difficult to manage, and not at all popular with firefighters!

Added by Rob Johnson on 06 June 2014.

I was the owner of this appliance at the time this photo was taken and that's my wife with it . A few years after I sold it. it spent some time in the Oxford Bus Museum. The last I heard it was was in a farm barn and had been vandalised.

Added by David Hall on 15 June 2019.

I since learned that Cambridge's Dennis F 7 was possibly the first delivery. It is currently being restored by Dr. Barry Hutchinson.

At the time Oxford's line up was completed by another unique appliance, a Thames Trader which retained the original factory cowl and grille.

Added by Rob Johnson on 18 June 2019.

David Hall... Had the rear "jackknife" doors been modified to open as conventional hinged doors? You can't open them like that unless the guide rollers have been removed/pushed clear of the guide rails. Also looks like latching rear door handles. Not usually seen on Carmichael folding doors.

Added by on 21 June 2019.

Yes, the doors had been modified before I bought it but I have no idea when or who did it. I bought it from the late Roger Brown and brought it back on the Isle of Wight Ferry to Berkshire where I live. I can't remember how Roger came to own it but he did buy and sell fire engines and fire equipment.

Added by David Hall on 21 June 2019.

It has not been vandalised. I was only briefly kept at the Oxford Bus Museum after delivery from the previous owner who lived in Shropshire. Stored elsewhere in Oxfordshire.

Added by Stephen Jolly on 20 June 2023.

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