Fire Engines Photos

This 1931 Magirus ladder set was one of the earliest steel turntable ladders, as this was the year they were first introduced by this pioneering manufacturer. All previous turntable ladders were wooden, reinforced with steel wires, which were heavier and required a lot of maintenance. In practice, their weight limited their length, and the longest I have heard of were only 25 meters.

This would make VYE 234 a rather important historical survivor, if it is still around...

Added by Rob Johnson on 20 July 2020.

The ladder mounted on VYE234 from 1962 was actually from BLC555, removed and repatriated back on BLC’s chassis in 2001.

Added by Mike Cotton on 13 February 2024.

BLC555 is here



Added by Petros on 14 February 2024.

So it was originally delivered in 1935, which means it was four years after Magirus first introduced their steel ladders. Perhaps not quite so much of a historical artifact, but still well worth preserving. My home town, Darlington, had a 27 metre steel ladder with the same “Morris Magirus” badge, EHN 118, but it was even newer, being delivered in 1938. Interesting that during the blitz a fair number of ladders used by London Fire Brigade were either Leyland Metz or Dennis/Morris Magirus.

Added by Rob Johnson on 14 February 2024.

We have just finished restoring a 1934/5 open cab Morris Magirus TTL. I belong to a preservation team of volunteers from the Dept of Fire & Emergency Service [DFES] in Perth West Aust. Ours still has hard rubber tyres. The Meadows 6cyl petrol engine was totally unrepairable so DFES gave us an old low mileage rusty ACCO V8 petrol & Allison trany. They were in good condition . We installed them; it goes great & is "future proofed", as it is now an automatic. With the hood closed it looks original, but better still, it is now driveable after being left in a shed for over 30 years as the engine was U/S. Any comments on this resto? Rick Louden saw it in its unrestored state and was surprised to find we had it.

Added by Stephen Knox on 11 November 2026.

I am so pleased to hear about your Morris Magirus, as I grew up with one in Darlington, County Durham England. It was a 1938 vintage 27 metre version EHN 118 - and was not unfortunately ever preserved or restored as far as I can find out. Indeed, it almost did not make it through the war. One of our local firemen told me they had a number of occasions when repair shops refused to work on it because the ladder was German! Eventually, London helped them out. LFB had loads of Magirus and Metz ladders, and the need was so great that any TTL built anywhere by anybody was worth maintaining and repairing. Darlington is around 250 miles from London, so not exactly convenient but Hobson’s choice! If you could post a photo on this site I am sure it would be appreciated….

Added by Rob Johnson on 11 November 2026.

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