AFS Bedford RL Petrol Carrier: September 2014

Tuesday 30 September 2014

Band On The Run...

Always nice to piece together a vehicle's history, especially one that has a varied career like '32'. After AFS / Home Office service it was sold off to Clywd Fire Brigade for use as a foam carrier, fitted with a tail lift. I have posted photos on here previously showing it in service but I discovered these earlier and given the quality, though I'd share them.... Both were taken, days apart, in August 1996 towards the end of its service - Clywd FB bought '32' in 1988.

Just for clarity, these aren't my photos and were taken by David Jones and can be viewed on his Flickr feed - the two shots are linked below.

https://flic.kr/p/daJagM

https://flic.kr/p/daJamX

Both GYL 32C and ex-AFS S type LYO 788 before it (bought 1988, sold 1993) apparently replaced a T registration Leyland Terrier in the foam carrying role as the Leyland was overweight when loaded up. Funny when a vehicle made in 1965 replaces a vehicle made in 1978, especially when this happened in 1988 when '32' was already 23 years old and the Leyland only 10!

You can see the Leyland Terrier in the background in this shot in 1995:

https://flic.kr/p/efHqhF

About the project...

GYL 32C has been purchased by Tony Henwood and Duncan Wright. Both owners of various ex-AFS vehicles including green goddesses and a control unit, the opportunity arose to purchase this rare survivor from the RAF Firefighting Museum at RAF Scampton. For them, whilst interesting, it was not part of the 'core' collection and was taking up space needed as their core collection expands. As one of only about six Bedford RL Petrol Carriers built (and one of only eleven in total - the other five were Commer Q4s), it's a rare beast and worth saving. Watch the progress!