The Shand Mason fire engine has been one of the most popular designs for model engineers over the past forty-odd years. It is not difficult to see why. The 1:6 scale design by Edgar T Westbury is a classic, and came into being after he tested the waters for interest in horse-drawn fire engines at the end of 1966.

“The response to this far exceeded my expectations,” reported Westbury.

After research he decided on a double vertical engine introduced by Shand Mason in 1889, an example of which was in the Science Museum that had been built for Southgate District Council in 1894.

“The reason for selecting it is not only that it is available for inspection, but its construction is fairly straightforward and suitable for the capacity of the equipment generally available to model engineers.”

A 3.5” lathe can handle all the machining. The boiler is also relatively simple to build, being vertical rather than the more complex locomotive type of boiler.

The design was an immediate success in its own right and as an inspiration for others. Recently Guenther Kallies also revisited the Shand Mason design.

This fine example was shown by Ian Glasspool at the 2016 Bristol show.