Merryweather & Sons, long established as hydraulic engineers, are reknowned for their famous fire engines. The firm was founded in Long Acre, London in 1760. The firm moved to new premises in Greenwich, on the outskirts of London in 1876, and then to Ebbw Vale, South Wales in 1980.
Throughout this time, Merryweather & Sons produced fire fighting equipment from the original manual fire engines and later, the famous horse drawn steam fire pumps to modern fire engines today. The company is credited with many improvements in fire prevention as well as inspiring and encouraging municipalities and fire authorities for the protection of life and property. Both Merryweather and their main London rival, Shand Mason, whom they were to acquire later, were spurred on to make these improvements in the strength of the steam fire pumps as well as reduction in their overall weight. For example an 1850's Shand Mason steam pumper weighed over 4 tonnes and required 3 horses to pull it. It was during this time that Merryweather's horse drawn fire engines were developed. They have a unique notoriety, which conjures images of 19th Century towns and cities wuth their narrowe streets and bustling crowds and traders and a steam engine hurtling along to put out the fire!
Merryweather's first steam pump - "The Deluge" of 1861 had a single cylinder double acting pump capable of projecting a jet of water 47 metres from a 4cms nozzle. This was followed by the "Torrent" and the "Sutherland" which weighed between 1,5 and 3 tonnes, and was capable of projecting a 60 metres jet of water. The "Greenwich" is a development of the Sutherland. In fact the Greenwich continued to be produced and used throughout Great Britain, Europe, North & South America well into the 1890's this being particularly so as self-propelled vehicles were restricted by the Red Flag Act to 2mph in town and 4mph outside town which is definitely not conductive to rapid fire contol!
The "Greenwich" was made in several versions - each complying with special conditions asked for by particular fire brigade. This model has its driver's seat arranged as a box for tools with an additional seat behind for 4 men. It was capable of raising steam in 7,5 minutes and projecting a single steam to distance of 100 metres, or two streams to 60 metres simultaneously. The foot boards are hinged for removing the suction pipes. The boiler fitting on this model comply with the specificstion requirements of the Fire Brigade at the Hague.

The (Y46-1) 1880 Horse Drawn Merryweather Steam Fire Engine was introduced in 1991 and was packaged in a Special Limited Edition box.

The total production of this Special Limited Edition was 31,608.

Livery: ((Tampo)
'TEHIDY HOUSE' in gold on drivers seat support frame within gold coachlines.
'MERRYWEATHER 1908 ENGINEERS LONDON' in black on gold oval, within two raised gold coachlines on horse reel container panel.
Gold coachlines on top of seat, foot rests and outer rims of wheels.
The Merryweather used the rear set of horses along with the black plastic reins from the (YS39) Passenger Coach.

Variations/Rarities: The horse draw-bar can be found in two shades of red. Early models had a pale red draw-bar which is quite hard to find. Later models had a dark red draw-bar.

Interesting Facts: It was modelled on a real Merryweather that was undergoing restoration that was once owned by Tehidy House in Cornwall so the Lesney model carries small 'TEHIDY HOUSE' tampo printed to the driver seat base.

Code 2: Bearing the coat-of-arms of Stamford, an important and historical, yet typical English market town, this issue was released with the full permission of Matchbox Collectibles, Mattel Inc. (Black horses, 1/12 limited edition)

Scale: 1:43

1880 Horse Drawn Merryweather Steam Fire Engine; Greenwich

It came packed in a special box marked with YS-46

Code 2 - Bearing Stamford coat-of-arms with black horses (YSBH-02)