As the nights draw in and thoughts turn to bonfire night, it goes hand in hand that our Fire Service comes to mind. Fire engines have always been a source of great interest on model railway layouts, as they can be used to depict an emotive scene on the layout; from saving a cat from a tree to a house on fire. There is something inevitably fascinating about a fire service vehicle and the seemingly endless variations in body plans relative to their deployment and use.
For the modeller, this is a great source of enthusiasm too and, thankfully, there is a great range of models available. Oxford Diecast produce a fine range of Scania and MAN for the modern scene as well as a brilliant selection featuring Dennis, Leyland, AEC, Thorneycroft and so many more.
OD76SAL003 - Scania Fire Engine Merseyside Fire & Rescue
OD76DN001 - Dennis RS London Fire Brigade (London's Burning)
Going all the way back to between, and during, the wars with the below:
OD76TLM005 - Leyland TLM Fire Engine Borough of Dover
OD76LC003 - Leyland Cub FK7 Leamington Fire Brigade
Alongside traditional British models, there is an increasing range of European truck brands being used by the UK’s services with MAN, Scania and Mercedes becoming prolific to the point of dominance over firms like Dennis who still continue to serve the market, but face stiff competition from other country’s truck firms.
OD76MFE001 - MAN Pump Ladder Fire Engine Avon Fire & Rescue
As well as these models from Oxford Diecast, there are some amazing units offered from Herpa with body plan conversions now commonplace on UK roads.
HA091077-002 - MAN TGS M Euro6 RW2 Fire Engine
HA095327 - MB Atego '13 Ziegler Z Cab Fire Engine
And for larger incidents and where high access is needed, take a look at these turntable ladder units.
HA094108 - Basic MB SK88 Fire Turntable Ladder Truck
HA095679 - MB Atego '13 French Fire Engine Mulhouse
From Wiking, there is this amazing unit...
WK062704 - MB Econic Metz DL32 Fire Brigade
WK062703 - DL32 (MB Econic) Fire Service Vehicle
With the modern commitments that the Fire Service takes on, there’s also a range of incident support units - like this one from Herpa.
WK061246 - Rosenbauer AT LF (MAN TGL Euro 6) Fire Brigade
Look at this scene here - a Scania fire Engine with an MAN TGL support tender en route.
And then attending a vehicle fire. The VW camper lit with a Train Tech TTSL40 flickering fire light effect and some dyed cotton wool to make the thick smoke. Take a look at how Mark did this with a camper van.
You could, of course, use a Seuthe smoke generator like NO22E in place of the cotton wool to really add some dynamism to the atmosphere of the scene.
I should point that no real VWs were harmed in the making of this scene!
Adding these details to the railway or to a diorama really makes the difference to what the eye falls against as a backdrop and adds complete credibility to the scene, whether that be part of a railway layout or not.
For those interested purely in fire appliances in general Walthers, Oxford Diecast, Herpa and Wiking offer a plethora of units, based on prototypes from the UK, USA and Europe. If you like American units for their own unique profile, then there are these:
WH949-11920 - International 7600 2 Axle Crew Cab Brush Fire Truck Red
WH949-13801 - Heavy Duty Fire Department Ladder Truck Red
WH949-11841 - International 4900 Crew Cab Fire Engine Red
A lot of manufacturers also produce kits of Fire Stations. You will also find figures of fire fighters in different scales - just mentally filter out the firemen for steam locos! If you want to go to automation, there are a couple of vehicles available in the Faller Car System range.
So, there you have it. Fire Service vehicles present an incredibly commonly sighted unit on our roads and therefore lend themselves readily to being modelled in some form and, dare I say, something we all find some fascination with. This is a way to have it miniature if the real thing is unavailable.
