silly question, but can anyone tell me what colour the fire engines were in Inverness, and in the Highlands and Islands fire brigade in general, in 1986 ?
I am guessing red cab, with either silver or red body, but I am not sure if they ever carried the white scheme, or if that was limited to Grampian units.
I am looking to use the Kestral fire station, with a couple of PD Marsh units in the bays.
many thanks in advance for any info, or suggestions / links for photos etc
cheers
alan
On Flickr there's a pic of a H&I Dodge fire engine bought in 1976, red cab and silver body
probably still the same in 1986.
many thanks for that, sounds like a reasonable scheme
alan
Being a resident of Inverness I was looking this one up out of curiosity and concur silver /red seems to be the thing (I can only find pics of 90's stuff -can't find any earlier anywhere). Borrowed or acquired from other regions it seems.
I lived in Aberdeen for 5 years and remember they were they only white appliances I ever remember seeing. I always wondered why they were white.
I can't find anything specific other than tinterweb trawls. On a side note I met one of my first bosses the other week, he collected old fire engines and I helped him restore his old Dennis, we used his Green Goddes to pump out the dry dock on the local canal. Actually I think I drove the Goddess (on private land) before I learned to drive a car.
Rich
Hi Rich,
many thanks for that, I'll stick with red / silver.
re the white ones, a few years ago we were driving up from Aberdeen to Inverness, and this white thing with blues and twos came roaring up behind us.
totally baffled as to what it was, but got out of it's way, of course, then as it went past realised it was McTrumpton.
would be interesting to find out some time why they went for the white instead of red. are they still white in Grampian, or have they reverted to red ? AFAIK its now one fire brigade for the whole of Scotland, isn't it ?
cheers
alan
Yes, only one fire and rescue service in Jockland, an acquaintance of mine
(pub regular) is a technical support and maintenance employee, his tales
of squandering of public money are often unbelievable.
Quote from: class37025 on May 19, 2015, 11:20:33 AM
I am looking to use the Kestral fire station, with a couple of PD Marsh units in the bays.
many thanks in advance for any info, or suggestions / links for photos etc
cheers
alan
Just one side issue. The Kestrel building is too short for most of the model fire appliances. You may need an extension for the appliance bays.
cheers for that, perhaps I'll need to change that to read ...
I am looking to use two Kestral fire stations, maybe with offices either side of the bays, and the bays double length.
alan
[smg id=25156 type=preview align=center caption="fire bedford 2"][smg id=25158 type=preview align=center caption="fire bedford 3"]
Two views of a preserved Highland 1983 Bedford I took at GVVT's open days ,larger tenders were red and silver , there are loads of images on yahoo of Dodges and Volvos in their colours
:greatpicturessign: :thankyousign:
A point about Kestrel kits which usually make quite nice buildings, the plastic
walls are pretty thin and the wall corners edges don't give much of a surface
to make a join so I use a strip of angled plastic to reinforce them. I also
use Araldite type adhesives as the small contact areas don't give much
rigidity if using Humbrol type cement.
Aberdeen appliances have not always been white ,and from what I have heard will revert to the Scottish Fire and Rescue scheme as replaced[smg id=25160 type=preview align=center caption="fire ford 4"]
A preserved Grampian Ford taken at a rally in Ayr
I think the reason for white or yellow is that under sodium street lights red doesn't show up and is difficult to see.
Grampian went with white because there was a study done saying that something white ripping along with flashing lights was more noticeable than something red ripping along. I'm not so sure personally -but whatever, I meant to say I was always more curious as to why Grampian got away with white when nobody else did. Seems they had their choice on colour, but I remember reading recently they've been told to stick with red as per normal now.
Rich
http://www.graemekirkwood.co.uk (http://www.graemekirkwood.co.uk)
This guys site will give you everything you need to know about what was on the run, where and when.
Manufacturers, Reg, type, location, etc, etc.
Look up 1975 Brigades, Region, then whatever station you want. some records for some towns go back further than others.
Mid 80's Scotland is usually Dodge G10/G13, Mountain Range/Carmichael bodywork. Later Rebadged Renault
http://www.fire-engine-photos.com/picture/number23.asp (http://www.fire-engine-photos.com/picture/number23.asp) Dodge Commando G13C 1985
http://www.fire-engine-photos.com/picture/number32.asp (http://www.fire-engine-photos.com/picture/number32.asp) Dodge G13C 1987
But Inverness had a thing in the 80's for Mercedes 1124/Fulton and Wylie, starting E or F reg
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8087/8441430147_bcff35815e_z.jpg (https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8087/8441430147_bcff35815e_z.jpg)
I worked on these and they were nae bad wee motors
As for the white, it was part visibility part cost.
The Day-Glo bright red almost orange that GFB used from the late 80's onwards was non standard to factory red from Scania/Renault,
http://www.fire-engine-photos.com/picture/number1326.asp (http://www.fire-engine-photos.com/picture/number1326.asp)
Reports had it that it cost over 20k per motor, 1998 price, that was when they first whites came through.
Now with the single service its all red again with the whites cycling out over the years to come. Pity, the night time visibility was great in white
The major waste of public money these days is that the SFRS is not exempt from VAT as the services in E&W are. Something the UK gov is not moving on right now for some reason. Not being political just stating a publicly known and widely reported fact.
Rgds
Mark
many thanks for that, and the links.
am I right in thinking the Inverness Merc is going past the station entrance ?
cheers
alan
Quote from: class37025 on June 08, 2015, 11:50:17 PM
many thanks for that, and the links.
am I right in thinking the Inverness Merc is going past the station entrance ?
cheers
alan
Yeah... railway sta that is, not fire sta. :smiley-laughing: