VINTAGE FDNY RIG PHOTOS.

Engine 259 seems to be having M.U.D. = Multy Unit Drill with a "Multiversal". Brothers remember such devices need to be tied down for safety. I have seen especially portable Multiversals lift off the ground once water is started, especially and low stream angles.
Captain Bob Rainey FDNY Engine 26 retired.
 
here is a good question.....in what year did they replace the scaling ladder with the extension ladder on the Mack CF's. I don't know the answer
early to mid 80s...
right around the same time the women had the physical requirements lowered.
the scaling ladder evolution...
you would have to straddle the window sill and raising the scaling ladder to the window above required upper body strength
just found it coincidental
 
I believe that's a late '20s early 30s Four-Wheel Drive (that was the name of the manufacturer) tractor. L14 had one like it when my dad was appointed there in 1934. Note the store behind it; looks like it's named Bedford Television. That dates the photo to probably the early 1950s as specialized TV stores did not open up until post World War II. Probably an aerial ladder trailer from the 1920s top. Much of that longevity for the rigs was because the FDNY was limited in purchasing replacements during the War and it took years to catch up.
 
The lime green Macks from 1981 didn't have a scaling ladder but had a strange A Frame. It wasn't very popular and was replaced with an extension ladder shortly afterward.
 
The white roof experiment was short-lived. No concrete proof that it significantly cooled the rig. The same can be said for the lime-green rigs reducing accidents at night
There is a growing and significant trend for new apparatus to be purchased solid red with no dual colors (eg white over red cabs). Personally I would like to see FDNY go retro with all red rigs and the current striping scheme. Maybe someone who is good with photoshop can whip us up a few renditions
 
I took a few of Scott Berliner's excellent photos and manipulated them to give an idea of what a retro all red paint scheme would look like.
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