DRIVING A FIRE PUMP FROM A DISTANCE.
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A Tilling-Stevens Fire-engine, the Unique Feature of Which is a Demountable Pump Which Can be Used Some Distance Away From the Engine Itself.
IT IS well over two years ago that the Tilling-Stevens fire-engine incorporating the unique feature of a demountable pump first made its appearance, and it is interesting to record that this type of vehicle is steadfastly gaining recognition from municipal authorities, as is evidenced by the illustrations which we reproduce on this page showing tlte recent delivery of a machine of this type to the Newcastle-oreTyne Fire Brigade.
The chassis is one of the company's well-known T.S. 4 type, and although it has a few deviations from the standard model, such as a shortened wheelbase and other Special features compatible with fire-engine requirements, it conforms to the standard production in its main essentials.
Although the principle of the petrolelectric--which is gaining great vogue in certain drections---is generally known, its adaptation for use on fire-engines is sufficiently new to call for a description.
A petrol engine of usual design is coupled to a dynamo, the current front Avhich drives a motor coupled to the rear road wheels through the medium of a propeller shaft and differential gearing. The system is embodied in the TillingStevens demountable fire pump. This pump is of the two-stage, high-duty, centrifugal type, and has a rated capacity of water delivery of 300 gallons per minute. It is driven by its own motor, and its main feature lies in its installation as a separate unit mounted on its own axle, which has large diameter artillery pattern wheels. Normally, when not in use, or when being conveyed to the scene of a fire, the pump is locked on warnp plates on the chassis frame, but, when required for pumping water from some distance away, it oan be detached in the space of a few seconds.
• The outstanding feature . of the demountable pump is that it can be readily run down to the water supply, which may be boated in a 'spot difficult of access by the fire-engine proper, or in marshy ground over which it would be impossible to run the machine "without the risk of its becoming embedded.
There is DO limit to the distance at which the pump can be operated front the fire-engine, it merely being a question of the provision of the necessary length of flexible rubber-armoured Cable to connect the chassis dynamo to the pump motor. This cable, when not in use, can be conveniently wound round a drum carried on the engine.
It should be noted that the axis of the pump and of its electric motor is vertical, the pump being placed below the motor, which reduees the suction lift and the delivery hose drop, and brings the centre of gravity low; whilst in this position, when the pump is work7 ing at full pressure, there is no load on the pump or motor bearings, and as there is no mechanical connection between the petrol engine and the pump, the speed of the pump, by the use of electrical regulation, can be controlled to suit varying volumes of water' pressure§ without any sacrifice of horse-power.
The change-over switch on the dash board adverts the current from the chassis motor to the pump Motor, and from this point the pump is entirely controlled from the rear of the chassis.
The fire-engine .delivered to Newcastle is also fitted with a first-aid pump, which is installed in the front of the chassis with its hose reel immediately behind the driver's seat. This pump is an arranged that water from the 40-gallon tank, which is carried on the vehicle, or from the town supply, can be utilized for small fires where only a moderate supply of water is needed. A 35-ft. extension ladder (made of Oregon pine) and twofolding Pompee ladders are also included in the equipment.
The fire-engine was thoroughly' tested both before and after delivery to the Northern authorities, and it acquitted itself in a very satisfactory manner. This machine makes the third TillingStevens petrol-electric in the service of the Newcastle brigade, previous deliveries having been a turntable ladderand a general utility wagon. Their satisfaction with this type of vehicle is best reflected by the purchase. of a petrolelectric for fire-fighting, which.must, all times, be ready to meet any emergency which may arise, for fire-brigade authorities can afford to run DO risk Of mechanical breakdown or pump failure.
The value of the appliance which we have described in fighting a fire at a country mansion must be enormous, for many a mansion has been entirely destroyed owing to the water supply being such a &stance from the house. This apparatus overcomes sucb difficulties.