Hall of Flame
Museum of Firefighting
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Navigate To: Hall of Flame Photo Gallery Page 1
Use these pages to browse through photographs of some of the holdings of the Hall of Flame. Only a fraction of the holdings are illustrated here, but the photos on display will give you a good idea of what the Hall of Flame is all about.
You can get information and see a picture of every wheeled piece in the collection by going to the Hand & Horse Drawn Page or to the Motorized Page.
This is the largest of the museum's holdings of three Newsham fire engines. It was built in 1725 and used in northern England for its entire career. It is the world's second modern fire engine, the first being the engines designed by Jan van der Heyden in Amsterdam in the 1670s. Richard Newsham introduced this design in 1718. Since reliable hose was not available until after 1810, this engine is equipped with a copper spout mounted atop the two cylinder single acting piston pump. operated by up to sixteen people on the pump handles and two or three people pumping the treadles mounted on the engine's centerline, the pump could discharge about 60 gallons per minute at a pumping rate of fifty strokes per minute. This output relied upon a bucket brigades to pour that much water into the rear mounted hopper. The engine has a suction connection. It could be connected to a length of suction hose consisting of canvas wrapped around a wire helical pattern, covered with tar and protected by a sewn leather outer cover. There are no illustrations extant of one of these engines equipped with such a hose, but the existence of the suction fitting, the threads of which were laboriously cut by hand, argues for the existence of such hose. This engine was pulled by men, but could also be loaded onto a wagon and pulled by horses to a fire. Its narrow size made it maneuverable in the streets of the day as well as relatively easy to load onto a wagon. Newshams were built throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries. We believe the paint to be original. Europeans did not decorate their apparatus to any great degree.
The photo immediately below is another smaller Newsham engine dating from about 1750. It, too spent its working life in England. It's small size does not allow the use of treadles to supplement the pump handles.
Above is our third Newsham, one of the smallest sizes made. It was used at an English estate and dates from the late 18th century. It can be carried from its chassis by means of the two poles attached to the tub. Pumping capacity is about 30 gallons per minute at 50 strokes per minute.
Above: This is another English fire engine dating from the early 19th century. It was built in London by a firm called Simpson. When we restored the piece several years ago the legend "Simpson Belgrave Rd. London" appeared below several layers of paint. It is a much simpler version of the Newsham, with a lever operated two cylinder piston pump, a copper air chamber, and a single discharge at the front of the tub. The valves for its pump are easy to reach. This was an important feature, since the leather valves needed to be replaced with some frequency. It was a real chore to change the leathers on a Newsham. This little hand drawn engine spent its working life in England. It could have been used as a parish fire engine, since all churches in London were required to maintain a fire engine. It could also have been used at an estate or factory as part of a private fire brigade. Or it could have been used by the fire brigade of an English fire insurance company. It was not until the 1860s that English municipalities took over the responsibilities of firefighting. Below is a shot of the tailpiece of the rig.
Above is a French fire engine dating from the middle of the 19th century. Its design is essentially the same as the fire engines built by jan van der Heyden in the 1670s for the fire department of Amsterdam. Van der Heyden designs dominated European apparatus throughout the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries. The engine is centered around a rugged copper tub. Inside the tub is a two cylinder single acting piston pump made of brass. There is a brass air chamber to ensure a steady flow of water from the pump. The pump is powered by a pair of end mounted levers, the length of which can be adjusted. Water is dumped into the tub from buckets. There is no suction connection, nor is their a connection for a metal spout. A hose is necessary for the engine to work. Van der Heyden manufactured leather discharge hose that he claimed was reliable, though he did not describe its construction. One of his engine's great advantages was its ability to use hose, since this allowed firemen to enter a burning structure and apply water to the seat of the fire. Engines with spouts were usually limited to playing water on the roofs of adjacent buildings to prevent the entire neighborhood from going up. It was seldom possible to pump water through a spout inside a burning structure with any effectiveness.
Like the van der Heyden models, this engine can be carried from its chassis and brought very close to a fire -- even inside the building. The entire assembly can be pulled by two men. Its pair of large diameter wheels makes it quite maneuverable and difficult to bog down in mud or sand. Engines of this type could also be connected to a horse drawn limber upon which the firemen could sit. Engines of this type were used in France until well into the twentieth century.
Below is a view of the rig's two cylinder pump and air chamber.
Above: This is the museum's other French hand drawn fire engine. It dates from about 1850.