Fire Engines Photos

114 of these were built starting in 1950. They were quite popular with mainly large city brigades, but they were rather expensive and were limited in their appeal because of being available only with diesel engines. Because most county and county borough brigades still greatly preferred petrol engines in the fifties, the Dennis F7 and then F12 pump escapes with their very powerful eight cylinder Rolls Royce petrol engines sold in much larger numbers, and even London - which was starting to switch to diesels - bought these to serve alongside their Merryweathers until 1957, when Dennis built their first diesels for London. These were the famous F101 series with the enormous 12 litre Rolls Royce diesel boat engine.

Added by Rob Johnson on 25 October 2025.

Lancashire had a small batch which they sold on to London.

Added by on 27 October 2025.

LFB purchased 62 MW Regents between 1951 & 1955. The last petrol F12s were bought in 1954. The decision to change to diesel was already made, one of the benefits stated was to end refuelling at fires. The purchase of 38 F101s began in 1955. LFB bought nothing second hand from Manchester but two Regents from 1950 (LTJ 855 & 857)were sold S/H to Croydon C.B. and subsequently absorbed by LFB in 1965. A lot of petrol machines were adopted (perhaps reluctantly) by London but none bought.

Added by on 28 October 2025.

picture 44258 has a photo of one of quite a few which were originally supplied to Middlesex, which was another metropolitan brigade like Lancashire. This one ended up with London too after the amalgamation, but it was of course nearing the end of its service life by then. Some of these had a pair of very strange sliding front cab doors, which looked exactly like the doors on contemporary AEC double decker buses. The idea of using this same bus chassis was meant to provide a low centre of gravity, but it does not seem the limited performance of these appliances would have made it a noticeable advantage.

Added by Rob Johnson on 29 October 2025.

Interesting rationale for buying diesels. The B series Rolls Royce engine was notoriously thirsty, and there is a posting on this site by a Darlington fireman who drove their F12 to London to collect a new steel escape and averaged seven mpg! For most brigades I imagine the issue of having to refuel at incidents was not a major concern, because very few incidents lasted long enough for it to be required. As far as the F101 introduction date, it was indeed 1955, although I was told by a London station officer it was 1957. I am guessing he was talking about when his station first got one.

Added by Rob Johnson on 29 October 2025.

Hello Rob. Apologies. Should read Lancashire, not Manchester, in my comment above. Although not particularly rapid, once you got them moving the excellent road holding allowed speed to be maintained. They were fitted with a 'Patent Merryweather Stabiliser' on the rear axle. Light steering, triple servo brakes...a pleasure to drive.

Added by Alan T. on 29 October 2025.

I think it is such a pity Merryweather stuck to its policy of building only on diesel Maudslay and AEC chassis for so long. As demonstrated by the huge numbers of petrol engine Bedfords, Commers, Dennises, Dodges, Fords and Karriers with so many other firms’ fire appliance bodies, they could have enjoyed much greater sales in the fifties and sixties than they actually had. They eventually built a small number on Ford D series diesel chassis, as well as a few oddball one offs, but by then the horse was well out of the stable.

Added by Rob Johnson on 30 October 2025.

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