This is what happens when one enjoys both trains, and old fire engines.
The Fire Engine is my 1936 Ford American-LaFrance Fire Engine (Pumper). The Train is the SP 2472 in Redwood City, July 4th, 1995.
I have owned the fire engine since 1989. It was acquired from the Woodside, Calif. FireFighters Association. In it's last years it was used as a muster rig and a public relation events tool.
I was serving as a Volunteer
Firefighter with The Woodside Fire Protection District when I
discovered this fire engine. As a Fire Fighter with San Mateo County,
(C.D.F.) Fire
Department, Company 218, it continued to be used in public relation
events. I am no longer involved as a Fire Fighter, (injury ended my
career)
but I still own and use this fire engine in car shows, burn foundation
events, and any other fun things to do with an antique fire engine.
Above is the first Fire Engine that I owned. It was a 1953 Seagrave fire engine (Pumper). This unit came from the Daly City Fire Department. I only have time & space for one fire engine. The 1936 Ford is the one that I now own, and will keep until I am too old to drive. That is the SP 4449 in the background. Photo taken in San Francisco 1983. What a better way to wash an old train than with an old fire engine. The SP 4449 was on the way to the Worlds Fair.
This 1953 Seagrave Fire Engine was made
with the same basic appearance from 1951 to 1970, (only one made in
1970). This series of Seagrave Fire Engine was called the "70th
Anniversary Model". This fire engine was the first fire engine
purchased by the Daly City Fire Department, as a paid full time Fire
Department. This engine was originally powered by a V 12 motor, with a
1000 G.P.M. pump. About 1970 Daly City repowered it with a Ford 534 V 8
motor, and the brakes were converted to an air brake system. This
upgrade improved the ability of this fire engine to climb the hills of
Daly City, and
to stop ... when coming down these same hills.
I have been told, that with these
improvements,
this fire engine was considered one of the fastest
hill climbing fire engines in The San Francisco Bay Area. As someone
who has driven more modern in-serivce county fire engines, I think
this old Seagrave could still beat some in-serivce fire engines
today.
These improvements made this fire
engine
a better fire engine, but for a collector, difficult to restore to
original. One of many reasons I made the difficult decision to
let it go.
Fire fighter's burn relay to San Francisco 1998. A
very enjoyable code 3 run on the El Camino Real for the
Alisa Ann Ruch California Burn Foundation, (of which I' am a former
director (1987 to 1990, Bay Area Chapter).
The 2002 Burn relay raised a record $150,000...... How far
can it go?
FOR THE TECH. TYPES: The motor is a Ford
59A Flathead V8. It is now rated at about 110 Hp,
old Hp about 100 Hp. Cylinders rebored 040 oversized. Crankshaft
.010 undersized. regrind camshaft to stock. Adjustable lifters added.
Install stainless steel valves, and guides, in order to burn the
unleaded
fuel.
It has a two barrel Stromberg 97 carburetor.
The water tank has been sand blasted and resealed.
The pumps have been rebuilt with new bearings, and seals installed. The
vehicle has been rewired. The rear end and the two speed
unit rebuilt.
And to finish it off it was repainted a darker
wine like red. Many fire engines were painted this darker red before
World War II. The paint was matched from a restored 1920's American
La-France. I found paint on the frame that confirmed that at one time
this fire engine was once a darker red.
New Gold Leaf was also done. It is real Gold
Leaf, not decals. It was done the old fashion way.
At this point I call it 90% restored.
This Fire engine has two Pumps for fighting fires.
One pump is a power take off pump rated at 200 GPM. This pump can
operate and the fire engine driven at the same time which is good for
moving
grass fires. The second pump is used with a transfer case. The
fire engine must remain stationary with this pump running, and it is
rated at 500 GPM, for use on building fires. Both pumps are rotary gear
pumps. Both pumps are made by American-LaFrance Co.
The built up in the back of this fire engine is all built by American-LaFrance Co. What is interesting is all the running boards, and rear fenders are still correct commercial Ford Truck units. Often in fire engine built ups, this stuff did not remain. There is also a tank in back that carries about 200 gallons of water.
The rear end is a two speed Timken.
This fire engine was very popular for cash
strapped depression era towns and cities. It was considered a good
alternative to the much more costly custom units.
The AMERICAN-LAFRANCE production number for
this
unit is F1114. Only 20 AMERICAN-LAFRANCE fire engines were made in
1936. That I know of there is only one other running 1936 FORD,
AMERICAN-LAFRANCE
fire engine left in the U S.
This is what "Woodside 36" looks like
today.
It is the best of two worlds. It is a classic 1936 American-LaFrance fire engine, and a classic 1936 Ford Truck.
No fire engine collection should be complete
without an old antique
hose cart. The hose cart saw service at the Santa-Fe Railroad,
Round House, Richmond California. I acquired this hose cart the summer
of 2003.
The hose cart is about 100 years old.