VINTAGE FDNY RIG PHOTOS.

I remember the old Squad "Bread Wagons", the problem was when they arrived alone at fires they could do little until an Engine Co. arrived. Squad members made some great rescues without the protection of hoselines and also some great rescue with hoselines in place. In the late 1960s the Squads were given Pumpers, much later Rescue pumpers. I filled in a few times in Squad 3 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn as a fireman, in the early 1970's. Captain Bob Rainey FDNY Engine 26 retired.
 
1954 WARD LA FRANCE FDNY CIVIL DEFENSE PUMPER Issued fully equipped by the US Government & the 2 1/2 " Hose Load had a lighter more maneuverable Jacketing on it than the standard FDNY Cotton Jacketed 2 1/2 of the era ...the lighter 2 1/2 on the CD Rigs had a Red Stripe running along it as a marking...( the '54 WLF's had no Booster Line or Tank & no Muffler)
CD Pumpers issued by the US Government were Quartered in various FHs thru out NYC in case of a major disturbance during the Cold War period. ... they could be manned by Auxiliary FFs.....when the last round of 2nd Sections were organized in 1968 some Units were given a CD Pumper as their original Rig....thru the '60s & '70s they were used as ENG CO. Spares thru out the FDNY .... as they wore out they were never replaced.
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I remember see these rig responding and operating at fire when I was a Young Buff in Flatbush Brooklyn. I believe that these rigs were equipped with a "Buckeye Exhaust Whistle" that made a unique sound that could not be confused with an "Air Raid Siren."
Captain Bob Rainey FDNY Engine 26 retired
 
Love those "Bathtub" American LaFrance rigs. My volunteer Fire Dept. in Chester N.Y. still has a Bathtub A.L.F. and it still runs. It is used for F.D Funerals and occasionally for Parades. Captain Bob Rainey FDNY Engine 26 retired.
 
ENG*237 had a 1948 "BATHTUB" into the early '60s however it was often OOS & sitting in the back of the apparatus floor (when the kitchen was on the 3rd floor ) for long periods awaiting repair & or parts ......the Company used a CD Pumper as a Spare during those periods.
 
Anybody have any idea where the original siren was located on the 1947 ALF? E48 in my neighborhood ran with one (I think originally assigned to E1). The siren was an old moaner, silver in color, mounted on the step below the chauffeurs door. It actually pointed across the front of the rig to prevent the chauffeur from stumbling on it. It obviously did not come from the factory that way and this photo I believe proves that. How did it come from the factory with a siren?
And by the way, the members never sat in the bucket seats facing rearward. Hanging off the back step was the way that firefighters responded in those days.
 
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