This is a view of the Bedford Fire Engine known as the Green
Goddess.
When we took delivery of this appliance it had the
grand total of 1,900 miles on the clock.
We set about giving this old lady a much needed
face lift.A respray of the front of the appliance and painting of
the lockers and wheels soon had her looking much better.
NYV 940 attended quite a few rallies but as our
collection of appliances and workload grew, we felt that the Goddess
was not getting the attention she deserved. This was further compounded
when we lost our storage space and so reluctantly the decision was
taken to let her go. NYV 940 has gone to a good home and is now at
Summerlee Industrial Heritage Museum Coatbridge.
The Green Goddess's were intended as a go anywhere
appliance, based on a standard British army transport truck, designed
with arduous conditions in mind, this led to the vehicle above which had a
four wheel drive capability via a transfer box behind the gearbox
which split the Bedford petrol engine power to either the pump or
to either or both of the axles, the ability to carry 300 gallons
of water, fed to a 900 GPM pump, all the hose required ( usually
in excess of thirty two lengths of two and three-quarter inch
canvas hose ) with a Feather weight Portable pump in the locker immediately
behind the crew cabin, fitted on a cradle mechanism which could be
slid out down to ground level for ease of removal or replacement.
the only disadvantages to the vehicle was two fold, its relative
low maximum speed, forty MPH and the high centre of gravity,
this led to several of the vehicles overturning when used at speed
on normal roads.
Contact : Bob
Wright