Dad was at Willesden and West Hampstead most of the time but this brings back memories! Went on to be an instructor. Used to pick us up from school in an F106. Miss you dad x
You are an angel for filming this unexpected juxtaposition of classic trucks still operating in a more modern era of London, even though Routemasters were essentially doing the same thing for buses en masse. Those Dennises had more than a hint of the 1960s ergonomic cab design cues and they looked smart for it! Sydney City Council was still operating a fleet of yellow ergo cabbed Albion street washers in 1988 until they were replaced with Volvos. I spotted a repainted one with a subsequent buyer being used on a construction sight in the 1990s. A while after that I saw a Lad cabbed Leyland truck with vertical 0680 engine in a road works sight driven by an Italian looking bloke and it had "classic not plastic" written in it lol.
Vehicles built back in the 60s were well built and lasted the test of time, plenty had second or even third careers. It was a friend of mine liked AEC vehicles (he drove Routemasters on the 38s) that got me to go out and video them, I glad he did now!
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus Nice engine sound captures, including the Dennis near the start. I just love the two tone horn siren. It got the message across. That AEC boomeranging in that shot was a very flat handling conveyance!
@finnmarken nice to Know as an American you appreciate the AEC turntable ladder, very modern in the 1960s, American fire engines look very different to British and European pumps, a lot more chrome, although sometimes I notice a bell on the American front bumper, but have never heard it used. The TLs seen here would have had a bell and two tone fitted above the cab when new, for some reason LFB removed the bells, other fire brigades here left them insitu even if not used.
I've said it on another video I remember back in the 1960's going with my grandmother to Greenwich fire station and watching the AEC Merryweather turn table turning out it was a great sight
AEC and Dennis with Perkins V8 sounds! Great combination of British engineering. It’s quite sad British fire brigade was occupied by Mercedes. Greeting from Taiwan 🇹🇼
Mostly the london area was invaded, other places are Scania & Volvo mostly, down by me in Carmarthenshire, most of the stations have a Dennis still in them, the memories, Ay?
I remember being in the brigade in 1987 no health and safety and some shocking rtas....quite a few blokes got leukaemia because when we started the appliance we breathed in the diesel fumes...happy days
Takes me back to when I was driving ing to an RTA once and the Guvnor put on both sets of 2 tones at the same time, Dorset bedfords had a back up set. It was bloody deafening, but great at the same time.
In my opinion, the old British two-tone sirens were much more easy to pick out in terms of direction they were coming in heavy and noisy traffic than the American style ones used now. The deeper pitch is more penetrating in terms of sound.
Cheers matey! By the way, would you happen to know where I can get a sound file for the two tone that loops well where there's no background noise? thanks.
They had some good kit in that show but i believe a lot of it was second hand, just released from service so it was still modern looking kit. The shots of the real fire station was at Dockhead near Tower Bridge, a friend of mine lived right near by and remembers them filming on several occasions. A great show and much missed!
I had a video camera that took full size VHS tapes so i lost no quality as i kept the master. Cam-corders had to transfer from smal tape to big tape and so lost quality in the copying. VHS to DVD didn't loose anything nor did converting DVD to MP4, result!!!
I remember the AEC TL at H31 Croydon, use to see it regularly on the streets in the 1970's. Croydon. They then had a Shelvoke HP, and then a Dennis HP, which was transferred to Norbury before being withdrawn.
Ive heard that those Shelvokes were gas guzzlers that the government actually forced the brigades to go with more fuel efficient apparatuses. Maybe im wrong but just thought to mention.
There was an AEC TL with sliding doors at Redcar fire station, just like the the Kensington example, until it was replaced by a Dennis DF TL in the early 1980s. My father was the last Cleveland Fire Brigade man to drive the AEC and the first to drive the Dennis as he took the AEC down to Dennis to have the ladder moved across to the new Dennis. The Dennis was later to start in the fire safety postcards that Cleveland Fire Brigade produced. By the time this was film my father had joined LFB. He was filmed talking to Mrs Tatcher the day after King's Cross (he was on the first of 2 days on the day of the disaster and travelled through King's Cross on his way home before the fire was discivered).
That machine will have been OXG950 which had been new to -Middlesbrough Fire Brigade in 1962. As you correctly state above it's ladders were transferred on to the new Dennis - a Dennis F125 Delta JDC296W a machine which was exported to the far east sometime between 1996-8.
Certain stations had either a TL or a HP. As vehicles required maintainence a TL could be replaced with an HP. These TLs seen on my uploads were shifted around various stations....Soho, Wembley, Dowgate...Croydon ect
They were indeed 1960s appliances. The last 5 left running with the LFB. They were such reliable and hard working machines that they were kept running right up to about 1987/88 when they were withdrawn.
My dad was a fireman back in the 60s, through to the early 80s and the growl of that Dennis engine was a familiar sound in our town. No other vehicle had that sound so when you heard it in the distance you knew it was the fire engine going out or, returning to station, especially on a night time turnout when they rarely used two tones.
I filmed them mainly because a friend of mine was AEC mad and had seen the TLs at work when driving Routemasters on the 38s. I then went all over London with him filming, inside some of the stations and even inside Ruislip & Lambeth works! I have some shots of CBY 1 which was having an engine rebuild and mini overhaul in Lambeth but only stationary. It never ran again as the LFB pulled the plug on it before it was finished but they must have spent quite a bit of money on it, all wasted!
Soi Buakhao I remember a visit to Lambeth works, a TL was having the ladders removed after the appliance had been taken out of service having been destroyed in the riots. I well remember the TL at Dagenham, when it was replaced with a HP ( TLO 101 M ), a bit of the magic had gone.
I am impressed that London fire brigade can use one ladder truck over 20 years. In the capital of Taiwan, taipei city, the longest using life of ladder trucks is 18 years.
I think we used to like getting our money's worth here in the UK plus of course thinks were built to last before the 1970s, most London Routemaster buses ran for over 20 years, a few managed 45 plus! AEC built vehicles well, and with regualr maintenance at Ruislip & Lambeth Works it kept them on the road for a long life.
My cities fire departmen, here in America, has a ~2005 Pierce 105' ladder truck and a 1997 Pierce 85' tower ladder truck. My profile picture is of the tower ladder. A brand new 107' Pierce ladder truck was just delivered to replace the tower ladder.
That first Dennis - would I be correct in thinking that it once carried an escape, which was replaced with the metal ladder we see in the shot of it turning out?
I afraid i know very little about the LFB, it was a mate of mine who followed AEC vehicles in general, and fire engines in particular, who had me film all these.... I'm pleased i did now of course, a real snap shot of history, not just the appliances but the street scenes around them.....
Indeed. You see, back in these times, Britain was run by its *own* magnificent machinery. In this case, the Dennis engines. I'd kill to see these old engines up on the shout again.
@@supertrinigamerSadly Dennis stopped making fire engines in 2007. The company was broken up with the bus division becoming Alexander Dennis and the dustcart division becoming Dennis Eagle.
Yes, this is some of my earliest filming on video. My mate was into fire appliances and AEC vehicles of all types so it was he who got me to go around with him filming them at work. At the time i wasn't that keen but over time i realise what great footage i managed to capture.
smithylvs yeah, same for Long Beach California, we currently have quality built Seagraves, some of them got replaced by Crappy KME's and who knows what kind of quality the next round of Seagraves they order will be to replace our current fleet.
@@Anonym-kd5wf Hampshire still use Volvos , Gosport has a 21plt FL the Renault DAF LF shape cab Dennis only make buses and dustcarts now I think E there’s still a British body maker
Quality equipment that worked! There were only 5 left by then but unlike their modern replacements they didn't tip over going round sharp bends fast!!!
That first shot, the dennis and 2 tones, a truly british combination
Good, quality motors better than today's equipment in use.....
Dad was at Willesden and West Hampstead most of the time but this brings back memories! Went on to be an instructor. Used to pick us up from school in an F106. Miss you dad x
Best looking TLs ever made, especially the sliding door type, it's also good to know many survive in preservation.
You are an angel for filming this unexpected juxtaposition of classic trucks still operating in a more modern era of London, even though Routemasters were essentially doing the same thing for buses en masse.
Those Dennises had more than a hint of the 1960s ergonomic cab design cues and they looked smart for it!
Sydney City Council was still operating a fleet of yellow ergo cabbed Albion street washers in 1988 until they were replaced with Volvos. I spotted a repainted one with a subsequent buyer being used on a construction sight in the 1990s. A while after that I saw a Lad cabbed Leyland truck with vertical 0680 engine in a road works sight driven by an Italian looking bloke and it had "classic not plastic" written in it lol.
Vehicles built back in the 60s were well built and lasted the test of time, plenty had second or even third careers. It was a friend of mine liked AEC vehicles (he drove Routemasters on the 38s) that got me to go out and video them, I glad he did now!
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus Nice engine sound captures, including the Dennis near the start.
I just love the two tone horn siren. It got the message across.
That AEC boomeranging in that shot was a very flat handling conveyance!
Im sorry im am American but is there any apparatus more beautiful than the AEC MKV. It is an absolute work of art in engineering.
I think all vehicle builders back in the day took more time to make their vehicles fit into the cityscape they had to work in.
@finnmarken nice to Know as an American you appreciate the AEC turntable ladder, very modern in the 1960s, American fire engines look very different to British and European pumps, a lot more chrome, although sometimes I notice a bell on the American front bumper, but have never heard it used. The TLs seen here would have had a bell and two tone fitted above the cab when new, for some reason LFB removed the bells, other fire brigades here left them insitu even if not used.
You’re not alone. I’m an American too
That looked like a brand new Dennis out for a driver familiarisation trip... The lovely growl of that engine too
To think all this is history now. At the time the AECs were in their twilight years but the Dennis's have all gone now.
I've said it on another video I remember back in the 1960's going with my grandmother to Greenwich fire station and watching the AEC Merryweather turn table turning out it was a great sight
Yes, i have spent many hours outside fire stations to get these shots. They do look impressive when they storm off on a shout.
AEC and Dennis with Perkins V8 sounds! Great combination of British engineering. It’s quite sad British fire brigade was occupied by Mercedes. Greeting from Taiwan 🇹🇼
Good day to you....it's been a long time since any of our road vehicles have used British engineering sadly......
Mostly the london area was invaded, other places are Scania & Volvo mostly, down by me in Carmarthenshire, most of the stations have a Dennis still in them, the memories, Ay?
Miss the two tones
A different time indeed.
I remember being in the brigade in 1987 no health and safety and some shocking rtas....quite a few blokes got leukaemia because when we started the appliance we breathed in the diesel fumes...happy days
We worked in a different world back then. But some great vehicles on the road....
And had rubber, plastic and wool in blazes but you saved alot of lives respect for you
The best thing.... real sirens.👍🏻
Takes me back to when I was driving ing to an RTA once and the Guvnor put on both sets of 2 tones at the same time, Dorset bedfords had a back up set. It was bloody deafening, but great at the same time.
Sounds like you had some fun times!
I prefer the old two tone air horn sirens.
In my opinion, the old British two-tone sirens were much more easy to pick out in terms of direction they were coming in heavy and noisy traffic than the American style ones used now. The deeper pitch is more penetrating in terms of sound.
I think that all the two-tones (air-horns) have been replaced with electronic, "whoop-wails" now...
Vic ROBY two tones still used in Edinbrough
Cumbernauld, Glasgow, Scotland, still use the two-tones when leaving the station.
stu leitner Station F04 now N04
Merseyside still has the two-tones also!! There’s no better “Get out of the way” sound than the two’s
That Perkins growl on the SS is music to my ears...
10:17
beautiful two tones
Keep an eye out, i am getting another AEC LFB vid ready to upload. Will go live probably on Sunday, enjoy!
Cheers matey! By the way, would you happen to know where I can get a sound file for the two tone that loops well where there's no background noise? thanks.
I'm sorry, i have no idea.
Amazing that such antiquated looking vehicles were still in service in 1987.
I first saw the Croydon ladder truck in London's Burning, and really like it.
They had some good kit in that show but i believe a lot of it was second hand, just released from service so it was still modern looking kit. The shots of the real fire station was at Dockhead near Tower Bridge, a friend of mine lived right near by and remembers them filming on several occasions. A great show and much missed!
The first siren reminds me of fireman Sam
I love the old TL’s. I often saw Whitechapel’s out and about. 😊
Great machines that lasted well. But they were AEC products and they were built well!
Great sound 2 two tones together
A good, solid old world sound that's for sure......
Fantastic video good clarity considering the age👌. Two tones all the way =p
I had a video camera that took full size VHS tapes so i lost no quality as i kept the master. Cam-corders had to transfer from smal tape to big tape and so lost quality in the copying. VHS to DVD didn't loose anything nor did converting DVD to MP4, result!!!
I remember the AEC TL at H31 Croydon, use to see it regularly on the streets in the 1970's. Croydon. They then had a Shelvoke HP, and then a Dennis HP, which was transferred to Norbury before being withdrawn.
Ive heard that those Shelvokes were gas guzzlers that the government actually forced the brigades to go with more fuel efficient apparatuses. Maybe im wrong but just thought to mention.
There was an AEC TL with sliding doors at Redcar fire station, just like the the Kensington example, until it was replaced by a Dennis DF TL in the early 1980s. My father was the last Cleveland Fire Brigade man to drive the AEC and the first to drive the Dennis as he took the AEC down to Dennis to have the ladder moved across to the new Dennis. The Dennis was later to start in the fire safety postcards that Cleveland Fire Brigade produced.
By the time this was film my father had joined LFB. He was filmed talking to Mrs Tatcher the day after King's Cross (he was on the first of 2 days on the day of the disaster and travelled through King's Cross on his way home before the fire was discivered).
That machine will have been OXG950 which had been new to -Middlesbrough Fire Brigade in 1962. As you correctly state above it's ladders were transferred on to the new Dennis - a Dennis F125 Delta JDC296W a machine which was exported to the far east sometime between 1996-8.
Chris Teesside thanks.
Compared to these sirens the present day ones sound like toys.
How fast 36 years goes by for them old fire engines
Oh brilliant I never knew Kensington had a TL. Nice to see the other bays at Kensington in use. Also, love the Dennises (? and SS?).
Certain stations had either a TL or a HP. As vehicles required maintainence a TL could be replaced with an HP. These TLs seen on my uploads were shifted around various stations....Soho, Wembley, Dowgate...Croydon ect
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus thanks for the info.
Kensington were sent to Clifton Gardens W9 the night of the Blaze at the Worsley Hotel Inferno when the order was sent to make TLs 2
Miss those old LFB appliances.
Old days, that TL is getting on a bit, even for 1987.
Way better than alot of the new shite of today
1987 and London still had what looked like 1960s appliances on the road. 🤔
They were indeed 1960s appliances. The last 5 left running with the LFB. They were such reliable and hard working machines that they were kept running right up to about 1987/88 when they were withdrawn.
Gif that’s Croydon my grand mother lived in the flat just down the road from there she moved on 1988 to Hastings
Even back then congested city streets held them up, the appliances may have changed but that's one thing that hasn't... busy London streets.
My dad was a fireman back in the 60s, through to the early 80s and the growl of that Dennis engine was a familiar sound in our town. No other vehicle had that sound so when you heard it in the distance you knew it was the fire engine going out or, returning to station, especially on a night time turnout when they rarely used two tones.
happier times with quality kit!
I’ve driven 7.5t up to 44t artics round there in the last 5 years not fun esp in an artic curtain sider
A great video, full of interest.
I filmed them mainly because a friend of mine was AEC mad and had seen the TLs at work when driving Routemasters on the 38s. I then went all over London with him filming, inside some of the stations and even inside Ruislip & Lambeth works! I have some shots of CBY 1 which was having an engine rebuild and mini overhaul in Lambeth but only stationary. It never ran again as the LFB pulled the plug on it before it was finished but they must have spent quite a bit of money on it, all wasted!
Soi Buakhao I remember a visit to Lambeth works, a TL was having the ladders removed after the appliance had been taken out of service having been destroyed in the riots.
I well remember the TL at Dagenham, when it was replaced with a HP ( TLO 101 M ), a bit of the magic had gone.
these old British apparatuses fascinate me to no end, love the Dennis SS at 1:41
They certainly were survivors.....
Love it
Proper machines
Great vehicles to drive according to the firefights.
I am impressed that London fire brigade can use one ladder truck over 20 years. In the capital of Taiwan, taipei city, the longest using life of ladder trucks is 18 years.
I think we used to like getting our money's worth here in the UK plus of course thinks were built to last before the 1970s, most London Routemaster buses ran for over 20 years, a few managed 45 plus! AEC built vehicles well, and with regualr maintenance at Ruislip & Lambeth Works it kept them on the road for a long life.
Shame they replaced these the Dennis engines sounded rough but at least they lasted unlike these new scanias
Matt Bardell and Mercedes and all due to the eu will be the reason why it’s Mercedes and scania
Soi Buakhao in Merseyside the dennis girls managed 25+ dunno if they still use them
My cities fire departmen, here in America, has a ~2005 Pierce 105' ladder truck and a 1997 Pierce 85' tower ladder truck. My profile picture is of the tower ladder. A brand new 107' Pierce ladder truck was just delivered to replace the tower ladder.
Brilliant
That first Dennis - would I be correct in thinking that it once carried an escape, which was replaced with the metal ladder we see in the shot of it turning out?
I afraid i know very little about the LFB, it was a mate of mine who followed AEC vehicles in general, and fire engines in particular, who had me film all these.... I'm pleased i did now of course, a real snap shot of history, not just the appliances but the street scenes around them.....
David Evans I think you are correct
My mother mother lived near the Croydon fire station
They didn't always have an AEC here but had to have a TL or HP in order to reach up high buildings.
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus No hate, but you clearly said something that is completely off topic
Malcolm Marshall That's nice to hear
very nice ladder
Nobody:
London Firetrucks: DENNIS
Indeed. You see, back in these times, Britain was run by its *own* magnificent machinery. In this case, the Dennis engines. I'd kill to see these old engines up on the shout again.
Super Trini Gamer interesting. I didnt know this brand
@@Anonym-kd5wf Dennis fire trucks used to be found in pretty much every brigade in the country.
@@JoeStudd96 And Dennis fire appliances were seen in many countries including NZ and Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong.
@@supertrinigamerSadly Dennis stopped making fire engines in 2007. The company was broken up with the bus division becoming Alexander Dennis and the dustcart division becoming Dennis Eagle.
6:35, 8:20, 10:15 It’s quite a shame that the UK apparently phased out the two-tone air horn siren.
+13:51 Nice kerb clipping!
They didnt have the stabilisation legs did they, only the jacks?
I seem to recall watching the crews screw down legs in order to stabilise the appliance when the ladder was put up.
That is old. I was 7 in this era and where I lived it was up north we only had the newer Dennis.
Yes, this is some of my earliest filming on video. My mate was into fire appliances and AEC vehicles of all types so it was he who got me to go around with him filming them at work. At the time i wasn't that keen but over time i realise what great footage i managed to capture.
were they based on the RT bus running gear?
I don't think so. An AEC product more based on a lorry than a bus. The RT was from the 1940s/50s and these were 1960s built.
Wait... was this actually recorded in 1987?
Yes, these were still in service until around 1988 time. Solid, quality machines......
See good mate Hove a good day mate good one
Yikes an invacar!
I remember they used to be nicknamed something else.
@@mortgagewizard40 unsafe AF. Three wheeler? 🤣
🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Behdbdhde
Now at the cheap crap they use now.
smithylvs yeah, same for Long Beach California, we currently have quality built Seagraves, some of them got replaced by Crappy KME's and who knows what kind of quality the next round of Seagraves they order will be to replace our current fleet.
Mercedes-Benz trucks are the best. If Dennis trucks were so good, why arent they in the game anymore? 😉
@@Anonym-kd5wf Hampshire still use Volvos , Gosport has a 21plt FL the Renault DAF LF shape cab
Dennis only make buses and dustcarts now
I think E there’s still a British body maker
how do these exist in the 80s there ancient
Quality equipment that worked! There were only 5 left by then but unlike their modern replacements they didn't tip over going round sharp bends fast!!!
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus from when the days when steel was forged manually
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus They didn't tip over back then?!
@@florjanbrudar692 The (then) modern replacements were top heavy and had a tenancy to topple over if thrown round corners too fast!
If it isnt broken, why try to fix it.....