A True Labour of Love - the 1938 Leyland Crane

The Leyland Crane with a Ford D400 at Five Dock Workshops, c.1970s [Museum of Fire Collection]

This month marks ten years since the restoration of the Museum’s 1938 Leyland Crane. The Crane was purchased by the Museum of Fire in June 2010 and took just over six years to restore, with the Museum receiving a highly commended award at the National Trust Heritage Award.

During the mid-1930s, recovering damaged or broken-down vehicles was a major logistical issue for fire brigades all around the world. The English company Herbert and Morris designed a unique lifting mechanism that when mounted on a truck chassis could be used not only as a crane, but as a tow truck. Recognising the efficiency of this new crane design, three multi-use emergency vehicles were commissioned. The first was used as a recovery vehicle in Liverpool, England, while the second was used by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade in London, and the Museum’s crane being the third. Only three vehicles of this kind are known to have been built around the world, with the Museum’s the only one that has remained intact.

The Board of Fire Commissioners in NSW saw the ongoing need for a tow truck and in June 1937 approved the Chief Officer’s request to purchase a purpose built crane. This would replace a 1913 Dennis pumper which was fitted with towing capability in 1931. In October 1937, the New South Wales Fire Brigade (NSWFB; now known as Fire and Rescue NSW, FRNSW) placed an order with Leyland Motors for a TSC8 Beaver chassis and Morris 8-ton crane at a cost of £2,125 (approximately $245,000 today) with the crane being assembled and mounted in Sydney. The chassis was built at Leyland’s Chorley UK fire engine works and was completed by August 1938. Stability testing was conducted in October to November 1938 and then in July 1939 it was sent to Chullora Railway workshops for load testing. It was then in October 1939 that it was handed over for service as a “Breakdown Wagon”.

The Crane was never given an official fleet number but would often be referred to simply as “The Crane” or No 1 Crane, however, there was never a No 2. The Crane was normally attached to the Workshops or Transport sections but was usually stored in the spare bays of inner suburban fire stations including; Headquarters (now City of Sydney), Circular Quay, Newtown, Glebe, and Pyrmont. In September 1968 it was taken to the Brigades’ workshop for repairs and ended up receiving a complete mechanical rebuild and wasn’t back in service until April 1969. It was also recorded that The Crane had only travelled 15,028 miles (approximately 24,185 kilometres) by this time.

The Leyland Crane at the Fire Services Museum, Victoria before transport to the Museum of Fire

Unfortunately, in early 1973 the decision was made to dispose of The Crane when it suffered serious damage when a valve dropped and destroyed a piston. It was put up for sale in April 1973 and was sold to private hands and eventually gifted to the Fire Services Museum Victoria in Melbourne. In June 2010 it was purchased by the Museum of Fire and was in need of serious restoration work. To begin the project, the vehicle was disassembled, cleaned and treated. Repairs were undertaken to the engine and radiator by the Museum’s volunteers who also began bodywork restorations. Where possible existing material was cleaned, treated and re-used to preserve the original quality of the vehicle and the ensure that the costs were kept to a minimum. The Crane was a large and complex vehicle, however under the guidance of heritage officers at the Museum, the entire project was carried out by volunteers with the only instance of outsourced work was the ornate lettering on the side of the vehicle. Interestingly, during the restoration process, it was discovered that the cabin structure was not symmetrical. As this was an original design flaw, it was maintained by the Museum’s volunteers in their restoration endeavours. To ensure that the vehicle was restored to its original glory, extensive research was undertaken into the history of the vehicle with a number of volunteers making it their personal mission to research the uses, external appearance and the interiors of the vehicle to ensure they did justice of the heritage of the vehicle.

The restored 1938 Leyland Crane, 2016

The Museum’s 1938 Leyland Crane stands not only as a monument as the last remaining vehicle of its kind but also reflects the irreplaceable contributions of the Museum’s volunteers in ensuring the heritage of NSW’s firefighting history can be passed onto future generations.  

~Story by Museum of Fire Heritage Team