The AEC Mercury Turntable Ladder dates from the 1950s and 1960s.
Nearly 200 were built from its launch in 1957 to the end of production
in the late 1960s, with over half being supplied with Merryweather 100ft
ladders.
Here we see the fire appliance as used by St Helens CB Fire Service
in Lancashire. The colour scheme is an interesting departure from the
usual bright red fire vehicles, predominantly silver and white with red
masking applied as a band round the cab and the ladder mechanism.
Registered KDJ 404, the vehicle features the St Helens CB Fire Service
lettering along the side of the folded down ladder while the
Merryweather badge is reproduced on the cab bonnet with the name
repeated on the rear above the number plate. A final touch sees the
highly colourful crest printed on the cab doors in gold, blue, black and
red, rounding off an appealing model for any collection of fire
vehicles.