Great, great rundown 68jk on the ALF's. I could only add that the '56 model was the first front line rig (other than the rescues) equipped with an air horn.
One more ALF I remember: my uncle Charley was the chauffeur on L37 ' s 1929 LAF hand cranked 65 foot wooden aerial. Open 2 man cab; brass Sireno that moaned rather than screeched; bell mounted between the ladders on the trailer. Absolutely no warning lights but the men painted a red strip across the top and bottom of the headlamps as blackout lights during WWII and kept them after the war. The tiller was a small seat with an upright steering wheel and no windshield. There actually was a crank handle below the radiator on the front of the rig in case the electric starter failed. L37 got it new and ran with it for 25 years until replaced by a 1955 FWD, which they felt was a step back from the old LAF. (You should have seen the spares that would replace the ALF in the early 50's.)
Uncle Charley said he went to chauffeur school because he couldn't fit his fat ass into the tiller seat. He wore his wool Navy watch cap from his WWII service driving the rig in the winter.
All of which proves I must be a few years older than you to remember this.