Scale model of Leyland fire engine, 1936

Model, scale 1:8, of a 900 g.p.m. Leyland Limousine type fire pump.

This is a model of a fire-engine, made to scale 1:8. For many years the standard type of fire-engine body in Britain was completely open. On reaching a fire the firemen could jump from the vehicle without encountering any obstacles, but were exposed to cold and wet weather and the risk of collision on the way. The enclosed body was first constructed for Edinburgh Fire Brigade in 1930 and, within 20 years, had become the usual design for new appliances.

This model is of a Leyland fire-engine made for the London Fire Brigade in 1936 to the designs of the Chief Officer at the time, Major C. C. B. Morris. It was made for the Science Museum by Leyland Motors Ltd. at the suggestion of their General Manager, Mr. Liardet. He visited the Museum on Easter Monday 1936 and decided that a model of their latest type of fire-engine would make an attractive exhibit. The model was built in the pattern shop of Leyland Motor's fire-engine works at Chorley in Lancashire.