The Quadracycle.

Another quad, with hose reel trailer attached. It is not clear if the front or middle man is steering.

Nationality unknown but possibly Belgian, judging by the caps.

Here is an English fire-quadracycle. According to the Strand article, the four firemen are pumping water by pedal-power, the rear wheels having been lifted slightly off the ground. Water is being pumped out of a round thing, with the suction hose held by the man on the left. The delivery hose, with a nozzle held by another fireman, is on the right; no actual water seems to be emerging at present. This is clearly a demonstration as the round thing would not hold a useful amount of water.

Presumably rhere was no water tank on the quadracycle as its weight would have been prohibitive. The firemen presumably hoped that there would be a handy pond near every fire. This is very likely the reason this idea did not catch on, though a lot of countries tried it, no doubt in an attempt to save money.

Source: The Strand Magazine Vol XVII-4 1899 (exact date currently unknown)

Another quad with a central carrier box full of hose.

Player's cigarette card.

It looks as if there are six men on this quad, making it the largest in this Gallery of The Museum so far. It has a central carrier box.

There are also four firemen on bicycles. The boss is presumably the man at far left, who looks as though he might be wearing a sword.

Exact location unknown.

Three-man quadracycle with rear hose reel.

According to a Scientific American, this fire-fighting quadracyclle was exhibited 'in a recent bicycle exhibition at Paris.'

The black box at the rear is a rotary pump that can be clutched in after the rear wheels have been lifted off the ground. I quote 'The four men afterward get into their saddles and pedal in situ with a mean velocity that causes the pump to discharge about 4,500 gallons an hour in the form of a stream 100 feet in length in a horizontal direction and about 75 feet upwardly.' Sounds like hard work to me.

Source: Scientific American for 25 April 1896, p264

Note rear wheels lifted off the ground.

The word 'Schoedelin' does not appear in the article text. If it was a bicycle manufacturer it is unknown to Google.

Source: Scientific American for 25 April 1896, p264

Whether this hefty vehicle counts as a quadracycle is questionable, but it was certainly propelled by pedal-power. It was put forward by Hermann Ganswindt, a prolific inventor. Mechanical details are currently lacking but it appears the six firemen worked some sort of treadle boards to propel the vehicle. There seems to be no provision for it to be drawn by a horse.

The man in the top hat is almost certainly Berlin Fire Director Giersberg, who authorised the experiment.

The vehicle was used for testing by the Berlin Fire Department in 1894. However there was an obvious problem; the crew were exhausted by moving the vehicle and were of limited use once they arrived at the scene of a fire.

Hermann Ganswindt lost all his money in the aftermath of World War I and died in poverty, as do most inventors, in Berlin on 25 October 1934. Ganswindt Crater on the far side of the Moon is named after him.

Source: Nordstadt Fire Department Museum.