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What is this

11 years 9 months ago #84120 by
Replied by on topic Re: What is this
I have seen the big 6x6 Nubian's such as the one in Swishy's pics from the late 1950's. One of the HCVC members had one a while back. Which we did see some of its abilitys when we visited it during a run. (Even got a drive of it from memory!) Got a picture with the Nubian next to my old Trusty some where! I even had a manual for one!

But the pic that Mairjimmy had was a very early one! Very early 1950's with the split windscreen etc. That was what I didn't realise came out here! Certainly a rare find. I have seen Trusty's and Tridant's of that period but not a small early nubian! What a great find! Shame it isn't in better condition. :'(

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11 years 9 months ago #84121 by mammoth
Replied by mammoth on topic Re: What is this
They came out as air field fire tenders, not load carriers, and one in pretty original state was up for grabs a few weeks back on ebay. Probably still not sold at $4k. They most likely came to Aus after being demobbed from the RAF in the UK. The 4 wheelers had trouble staying right way up, the problem seemed to be resolved by the time the 6x6 was introduced.

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11 years 9 months ago #84122 by Beaver
Replied by Beaver on topic Re: What is this
There is one down Wagga Wagga way, was on eBay about 6 months ago. Ex Navy.

I saw pics of another one out here recently, can't locate it right now.

Beaver@ Museum of Fire

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10 years 9 months ago #84123 by Mairjimmy
Replied by Mairjimmy on topic Re: What is this



Are these trucks both the same [at the Burren Junction clearing sale]as the one seen on the road some time back.which were said to be Nubians


Colin

Time to get up andd get going.......todays bad decisions aren't going to make themselves!!!

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10 years 9 months ago #84124 by fageol100
Replied by fageol100 on topic Re: What is this
Mairjimmy, the Nubian model was a 4 x 4 as far as I know. Of the two at the clearing sale, the smaller one with the 4 cylinder side valve motor would probably be either a Nippy HF/ER4 or Sturdy ZE/ER4. The bigger one on 10 stud wheels is probably a Trusty VF/NR6 model.

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10 years 9 months ago #84125 by mammoth
Replied by mammoth on topic Re: What is this
Just before wwll the British govt put out tenders for Q class 3 ton 4x4 trucks. Bedford's version was the QL, Crossley the FWD and Thornycroft what later became known as the Nubian. (The AEC Matador was a 10 ton so not in the same category). After the war it was modified significantly for civilian use as fire units.
At the sale the one with crane is the Trusty, the one without cab most likely to be a Nippy.

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10 years 9 months ago #84126 by Morris
Replied by Morris on topic Re: What is this
Thornycroft Nubians were available as cab/chassis and maybe as tray trucks (table tops if you are from NSW) They had the Rolls Royce B81 petrol engine and were six wheel drive on 1200x20 tyres. Probably most of the Nubians that came to Australia were fitted with Airport Crash Tender (Fire Engine) bodies by (I think) Vickers Ruwalt in Melbourne for airports and Airforce bases. These had Foam Cannons and only enough foam and water for a few minutes pumping flat out. Some airports had a factory cabbed Nubian with a water tank that followed the Foam Cannon to the crashed aircraft, to supply the cannon with water.

The model after the Nubian was the "Super Nubian" and at least two of them with factory cabbed prime movers were operating in Western Australia until the 1990's. I believe they were diesels with Perkins? or Cummins? motors. (I got the story secondhand from a friend who has since passed away in a truck accident)

I have one each of the Foam Cannon and water tanker for sale cheap if you are interested.

Morris.

I have my shoulder to the wheel,
my nose to the grindstone,
I've put my best foot forward,
I've put my back into it,
I'm gritting my teeth,

Now I find I can't do any work in this position!

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10 years 9 months ago #84127 by Morris
Replied by Morris on topic Re: What is this
Just saw Fageol100's post,
Nubians were ALL six wheel drive. They were a model name of Thornycroft. The Nippy HF? ER4 was a model called Thornycroft Nippy. It was a two tonner. They had a conventional bonnetted version and one where the engine was in front of the front axle. The front axle is under the bellhousing. ER4 was their 4 cylinder petrol motor. The Sturdy was a slightly larger truck. About a three or five tonner. I have seen one with a six cylinder petrol but the may have had an ER4 version.

Mammoth is wrong when he says the 3 tonner became a Nubian. They were different models.

There is no such thing as a "big" Nubian or "small" Nubian. I doubt there was an "early" Nubian. Nubian was a model name. Other Thornycrofts had other model names. I have two Nubians and one Nippy.

Morris.

I have my shoulder to the wheel,
my nose to the grindstone,
I've put my best foot forward,
I've put my back into it,
I'm gritting my teeth,

Now I find I can't do any work in this position!

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10 years 9 months ago #84128 by Beaver
Replied by Beaver on topic Re: What is this

Thornycroft Nubians were available as cab/chassis and maybe as tray trucks (table tops if you are from NSW) They had the Rolls Royce B81 petrol engine and were six wheel drive on 1200x20 tyres. Probably most of the Nubians that came to Australia were fitted with Airport Crash Tender (Fire Engine) bodies by (I think) Vickers Ruwalt in Melbourne for airports and Airforce bases. These had Foam Cannons and only enough foam and water for a few minutes pumping flat out. Some airports had a factory cabbed Nubian with a water tank that followed the Foam Cannon to the crashed aircraft, to supply the cannon with water.

The model after the Nubian was the "Super Nubian" and at least two of them with factory cabbed prime movers were operating in Western Australia until the 1990's. I believe they were diesels with Perkins? or Cummins? motors. (I got the story secondhand from a friend who has since passed away in a truck accident)

I have one each of the Foam Cannon and water tanker for sale cheap if you are interested.

Morris.


There were 4x4 and even 6x4 versions of the Nubian. Most of the 4x4s had Thorny or B61 engines.

About 120 of the 6x6s came to Australia. Most were fitted out by Wormalds, with bodywork subcontracted to CAC. They were used by Aviation, Air Force, Navy and batch to Dept of Supply for smaller agencies and overseas aid programs. All had B81. The Army had about 20 which they built in their own workshops.

The "big' model was the "Nubian Major" from mid 60s, with Cummins. Aviation had about a dozen of these, they were fully built in UK by Carmichael.

Beaver@ Museum of Fire

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10 years 9 months ago - 10 years 9 months ago #84129 by grumpy
Replied by grumpy on topic Re: What is this
Brings back memories like they are going out of fashion.

I did my apprenticeship with Department of Civil Aviation (SA/NT Region) back in the last century. During the last 6 months of my apprenticeship and the first year of my time as a "tradesman" I was based at the fire station at Adelaide Airport. They had 2 Thornycroft Nubian Large Fire Tenders (LFT Mk3), one Thornycroft Nubian Large Water Tender (LWT), one Willys Light Rescue Tender (LRT) and one IH General Purpose Tender (GPT).

The Thornycrofts were fitted with B81 straight 8 Rolls Royce engines coupled to a 5 speed manual transmission (Later replaced with Allison Autos). All were 6 wheel drive. The B81 was good for 225 horsepower. A fully laden tender with 3600 gallons of water and 200 gallons of foam compound could accelerate from 0-50 mph in one minute.

The Mk1 LFT's were fitted with an enormous dry powder extinguisher set up which was situated behind the crew cab. The Mk3 LFT's had a 4 cylinder Coventry Climax engine coupled to a Godiva water pump fitted in that area.

The foam compound was mixed with water in a Thompson vane pump that was PTO driven. The pump had the discharge capacity of 18,000 litres per minute through either the foam monitor or through handlines.

The Large Water Tender carried 20,000 litres of water and 500 litres of foam compound which could be pumped to the LFT's.

The Willys LRT was fitted with a good sized dry powder extinguisher and a generator, which supplied power for the cutting gear and the Francis Searchlights.

The IH GPT had stretchers fitted in the back and would tow a trailer with 4 drums of foam compound on it. (That foam compound was heavy stuff too, about 1-1/2 times heavier than water).

Australian Aviation had come into the jet age well and truly by the late 60's ("The TAA Whispering T Jet, whispers through space at 614 miles per hour"). The fire tenders did not have the capacity to handle incidents with the larger aircraft so they introduced the Ultra Large Fire Tenders (ULFT) and Ultra Large Water Tenders (ULWT).

The ULFT's were Super Nubians, Cummins powered with Allison Autos and the ULWT's were Atkinson cabbed with a de-rated 335 Cummins couple to a 6 speed Allison. Wormalds in Melbourne did the fit-out on these fire tenders. the ones destined for the major airports in SA/NT were driven by road from Melbourne to Adelaide, undergo acceptance tests in Adelaide, then driven to Port Augusta and put on the Ghan. Offload at Alice Springs and driven to Dawin. There used to be 1 mechanic and one fireman transporting these. It wasn't much fun driving one up the Stuart Highway in those days either.

The ULFT's and ULWT's had a bad habit of falling over too. Handling was not one of their strong points.

It wasn't till the mid to late 70's that these were replaced with the modern fast Oshkosh units you see today.

The pics have been pirated from an airport fire service web site.


THORNYCROFT NUBIAN MK1 LARGE FIRE TENDER (Essendon Airport)


Left to Right ... LANDROVER LRT, THONYCROFT NUBIAN MK1 LFT AND THORNCROFT NUBIAN LWT. (Essendon Airport)
Last edit: 10 years 9 months ago by grumpy.

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