F903 USX - Renault Commando
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F903 USX was one of 5 Water Tender Ladder / Emergency Tenders supplied to Lothian & Borders Fire Brigade early in 1989. This vehicle was built by Renault (formerly Dodge) in their Dunstable factory and is based upon their Commando 2 G13 Chassis. The bodywork was built by Excalibur CBK. This was the third batch of the Wrl/ET configuration which combined the traditional ‘water tender’ fire fighting capability with the ‘emergency tender’ capability with rescue and cutting equipment to cope with Road Traffic Collisions.
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This vehicle was allocated to Livingston Fire Station where it remained for 3 years before being moved to Whitburn. In 1998 the vehicle went to the Scottish borders firstly being based in Newcastleton and then 3 years later moving to the nearby Hawick station. From then on the vehicle entered the reserve fleet and was eventually removed from service in 2005.
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The Dodge ‘K’ series and ‘G’ series were extremely popular with UK Brigades throughout the 70’s and 80’s, however 1989 was to be the last year the G series were produced. The factory eventually closed in 1993.The vehicle is fitted with the distinctive sounding Perkins V8.540 engine. Since 2006 the vehicle has been taken into preservation by a group member and continues to be preserved/restored.