Classic Fire Engines in Photos

Hand pumpers, horse-drawn steamers and the motor apparatus that replaced them, from an English hand engine of 1780 to the cab-forward and lime-yellow rigs of the 1970s. Every photo shows a real surviving engine, kept in a museum, parked on display or still brought out for parades and shows, and each one earns its place by marking a turn in how fire engines were built: steam taking over from muscle, motors from horses, aerial ladders reaching higher and cabs moving forward for a better view of the road. Most are American, joined by British and German landmarks and a few American engines that ended up working far from home. The gallery runs in order of build year and stops before modern apparatus of the 1990s.