Fire Engines Photos

Rick - it does nicely illustrate the coachbuilt HCB Angus cab on a Bedford TK, contrasted with a different firm’s approach, which was to use the original factory cab and doors.


Added by Rob Johnson on 26 December 2022.

Rob, If you mean the TK next to JFU 637E then it is either JFU 635 0r 636E...both ordered at the same time as the Dennis F106 (known at Immingham as 'Water Tender Large' due to its 1000gpm pump)..JFU 635E (Caistor) and 636E (Brigg) were not HCB Angus bodied but were Dennis 'M' Series bodywork which was the former Alfred Miles Ltd which Dennis' bought out in the 1960's...however, all 3 were built to the standard Lindsey Specification of 'Stucco Aluminium' side panels and full height 'jack-knife doors' The Bedford TK to the left of DEE 496(Grimsbys F8) is however HCB Angus

Added by Rick Loudon on 26 December 2022.

Thanks, I knew this one was not an HCB Angus job but was not very sure whose bodywork it was, as quite a few smaller body builders (and even brigade workshops) built appliances around the TK factory cab rather than the chassis cowl - which seemed to me to make a lot of sense. Even Carmichael eventually did this on their later series.

When we were selling D series, a few brigades settled on fixed cabs, especially in New Zealand, but most liked the tilt cab feature. Different bodybuilders made various attempts to integrate it with their crew cab configurations, my favorite being the later HCB Angus design. Their first effort, on the 1966 Gloucestershire units, had an entirely separate box body including the crew compartment, and looked awful!

Ford collaborated with Reliant to build a full tilting crew cab, which was a very novel concept, but it was only taken up by Merryweather on their Marksman tender, although I personally thought it was a very good idea.

Added by Rob Johnson on 26 December 2022.

A very interesting and very clear photo , thanks for posting. Could you post on here when your book is published.

Added by CraigW on 27 December 2022.

I will do that

Added by Rick Loudon on 28 December 2022.

Cheers Rick, I would be interested in your book too.

Added by Grant Melville on 29 December 2022.

The later Ford D series HCB Angus cab design I mentioned is very well depicted in picture 43986 on this site. Not quite as elegant as the Reliant fully tilting crew cab, but a really nice job in its own right.

Added by Rob Johnson on 06 February 2023.

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