1955 Bedford RLHZ Self Propelled Pump
(Green Goddess)

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.