MOC: Horse Drawn Steam Fire Engine

[greg3]

Hi

This the latest in a series of old fashioned fire appliances I've been putting together ever since I got the Modular Fire Brigade (I had the idea of using it as a fire fighting museum for my town but I've now got too many exhibits to fit in!! So I'm going to have to see about building a new museum!!) This one is a steam powered pump which would have been used in the early 1900's in my Lego town. It's loosely based on the real life Merryweather "Valiant" design which was commissioned on behalf of the Royal Navy as a portable pump to be used on ships and yet easily transported ashore. (and named after HMS Valiant whose captain first suggested the idea)

The original model could be pulled by two men and was used as a general pump, for firefighting and to power other machines using the rear mounted flywheel. Unfortunately problems with Lego and scale made it look too big to mount on a hand cart so I've built it a horse cart (which also solved the problem of carrying the hoses etc)

Still a bit of a WIP so apologies for the hastily taken pics... thanks for looking... comments always welcome

Cheers

[FinalFeature]

Neat moc greg3.

Like that its designed for horse power.

Looking forward to the finished product.

LegoGalactus

Edited April 19, 2010 by LegoGalactus

[escortmad79]

Legendary!!! I've got one of those on the "to build" list along with 3 road locomotives

The pump usually sits on the rear behind the boiler with the firemen sat on boards where your pump is sat but a fantastic effort.

I went to look at a full size Shand Mason with a view to purchasing it for restoration, but the hallowed words "make me an offer" rang through & the owner knows it's value, an amount I had no way of getting at that time. Maybe in the future.

[greg3]

Thanks for the info - I don't know much (ie anything!!) about steam engines and based the model off a pic on this website...

http://www.british-steam-fire-engines.org/...ant_models.html

I think the unusual layout is because the pump was originally meant to be hand-drawn on a sort of wheelbarrow type trolley (I do intend to do a more "traditional" Steam Fire pump but I'm still looking for decent reference pics!!)

Cheers

Greg

[Rick]

Looks good so far. I like the idea of using the 'telescope' piece as a nozzle.

[Highster 11]

It`s great that, you have got an inspiration from a picture, and great use of parts, too. Nice!

[lightningtiger]

Excellent 'greg3' - a nice simple yet well detailed horse drawn steam powered pumper - looks to be designed for around the end of the 19th century.

I really like the gold telescope piece as the nozzle, very realistic !

Great design job there and I'm a conformist! !

[John31388]

Great job and awesome use of parts. I love the old feeling to it

[escortmad79]

Couple of reference pictures, the driver sat on the raised plinth at the front, the other firemen sat behind him either side of the bodywork with the signwriting on.

The top ones show a Shand Mason, the lower is a Merryweather

[Lord Arjay]

Looks like a good MOC so far greg3.

Very realistic well done!

[WesternOutlaw]

I love it! It's always neat to see these classic/vintage vehicles created in LEGO. I love the use of the brown wagon wheels adding to the old-time charm and elegance of the engine. You did a really nice job on the boiler and all the valves/mechanics which compliments the fine design of the vehicle. It's also neat to see the classic fireman torsos but with shiny new silver helmets. Those truly are outstanding torsos that could be used for so many things aside from fireman (but that's another topic).

I must admit that I had considered creating a spooky Wild West version of an old-time fire engine along this line, but I don't think that I could have come up with a design as nice as this one. Great job!

EDIT: oh, and it's clever to have tapped into the gold brick fountain for a good water source. Neat!

[mautara]

An excellent work and very apprpriate for the old fashioned fire brigade

[Ezechielle]

Very well done... and original

[hhcBrick]

Great little fire engine!

[NewRight]

I think the connection between the horse and cart could be a little cleaner and less 'eh, but I really love the cart design.

[ThoriumVX]

I’m building the same vintage fire engine but don’t know where to start other then buying the wheels. Any help with parts or a rough guide will be extremely helpful for me if possible.

[ParmBrick]

This is a little piece of art! I love how you manage to insert so many functions in a very small build. Also I appreciated the use of classic fireman minifigures!

[Roadmonkeytj]

@greg3

Are your other aparati on here somewhere ... I have a soft spot for old fire equipment

[greg3]

15 hours ago, Roadmonkeytj said:

@greg3

Are your other aparati on here somewhere ... I have a soft spot for old fire equipment

Wow this thread is a blast from the past!! As for the other models from back then, I thought they were here but it seems not (I can't find them anyway!) but they are on MOCpages.com - when it's working!! (my user name there is Greg Nation) There should be a couple of hose carts, a chemical fire cart, a fire bicycle and a hand pumped engine - which I've recently redesigned... here's the 2019 version so far.

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

[Roadmonkeytj]

4 hours ago, greg3 said:

 - which I've recently redesigned... here's the 2019 version so far.

oh this looks amazing! I will definately look you up on Mocpages.  I figured since you can appreciate vintage fire equipment I would share the horse drawn pump I build a while back in case you missed it.