bulldogboy

A couple of recent visitors to New Hampshire: 1. Mack tractor from Braun's Express, Hopedale, MA. Braun's is an all Mack fleet and runs the east coast from New England to Georgia. Not long ago Braun's and its affiliated company, NTS, Normandin Transportation System were featured in "Bulldog" magazine. 2. Pine State Trading Company from Gardiner, ME supplies convenience stores throughout New England. Most of their trucks that I have seen are Internationals and Chevrolet vans. This is the first Mack that I have seen. bulldogboy

This is a USAF 750A structural pumper; they were built in the mid-fifties. Built by Ward LaFrance they were way ahead of their time with a four door, fully enclosed cab and a body with full compartments. Even the ladders and hard suction hoses were carried in boxes on either side on the top of the compartments. Like this particular truck some bases removed the ladder and hose boxes in order to access them faster. When I was in the Air National Guard we had a 750A and the regular air force had one 750A and one 530B which was built on a military chassis. Most 530Bs were built by Firemaster Corporation but ours was built by Ward LaFrance. That was the entire structural compliment for the base, everything else was crash rescue plus a tanker. I liked operating the 750A; it was unique. bulldogboy

A few years ago I drove to the top of Pilot Mountain near Mt. Airy, NC. There is a state park up there named Pilot Mountain State Park (for obvious reasons). It's the most unusual looking mountain that I have ever seen. Mt. Airy is the hometown of Andy Griffith and the setting for the fictional town of Mayberry, NC on "The Andy Griffith Show". On the show Sheriff Andy often refers to the neighboring town of Mt. Pilot. I took a guided tour of Mt. Airy in a 1962 Ford Galaxie set up to look like the cruiser used on the show; the tour guide was dressed like Deputy Barney Fife and did a great imitation of him , too. I also bought myself a "Mayberry Fire Department" t-shirt. bulldogboy

Not to nitpick but the Yuengling Brewery is in Pottsville, PA, not Pottstown. I don't want anyone going to Pottstown and spending all day looking for Yuengling, unless you want to pick up 400 cases at the nearest WAWA. bulldogboy

Loadstar: Thanks, I was away for a while and missed a lot of good stuff, especially fire apparatus. I'm quickly catching up on all I missed. I always liked that unusual Mack TDA from Gloucester, MA. It is a 1966 "B" that pulled a Pirsch ladder. In 1985, Gloucester replaced the Pirsch trailer with an LTI 106' ladder and trailer. Most times departments would keep the ladder and replace the tractor with a new one. Gloucester ended up with an unusual looking "B" model semi-cab tractor hauling around a newer, fully compartmentalized trailer. It was replaced in 2009 with a Pierce rear mount ladder. I'm glad to see that it is still around at the shows. bulldogboy

I believe that a "life gun" was a rescue rope that was fired by rifle looking projector with a firing cartridge. The purpose was to fire a coiled rope across a river or wherever it was needed. When I started my fire career one of our ladder trucks carried one but like a lot of the old equipment we had it was just there and I never saw it used in training or in an emergency. bulldogboy

Waiting for spring, part 2. bulldogboy

A couple of photos that I took at the Fire Museum of Maryland in 2008. I was lucky that I was there on a day that they were having an outside show and demonstration. The first is a Mack "AB" paddy wagon and the second is FMM's Mack "AC" pumper drafting from a drop tank. Like fxfymn says, the Fire Museum of Maryland is well worth visiting. bulldogboy

The "L" model Mack is a 1942 model, one of two Macks sold to the U.S. Navy and sent to the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard in Hingham, MA. After the war this particular Mack was sold to the Paxton, MA Fire Department where it was Engine 3. It later found its way to the Rhode Island SPAAMFAA group who did a complete restoration. The twin Mack was sold to the Boston,MA Fire Department where it was assigned to Engine 54 at the Long Island Hospital fire brigade. I don't know what happened to it after Boston. bulldogboy

Acton, MA's ladder is a 2009 Pierce Arrow XT tower. In addition to the ladder they had an engine out of service for repair and last week their 2001 HME/Ferrara engine was involved in a collision with an automobile at an intersection. For now they are borrowing an E-One engine from the Concord, MA Fire Department.. Hopefully, their bad luck has ended for a while. bulldogboy

There is a photo of Memphis Fire Department LW-1 on page 37 of John Malecky's book, "Mack Tilt Cab Fire Apparatus". It carried 4,000 gallons of AFFF foam and the white markings on top of the trailer indicated that it also carried 400 feet of 4" hose on the top of the tank. bulldogboy

jackb61sx: Andover wanted to build a new station next to the South School but there was some community opposition to that plan so as of now the 126 year old Ballardvale station is still at the corner of Clark Road and Andover Street. A citizen has submitted a warrant for the 2016 town meeting to spend 3 million dollars to renovate the current station but the department feels that this station is too outdated and would like to build a new one. I'm not sure if the school site is still in the running. bulldogboy

gmerrill: I remember that engine running out of the Ballardvale station in Andover; looked a lot better back then. The old Ballardvale station is still in service although AFD has been trying to replace it for the last several years. bulldogboy

Braun's Express is headquartered in Hopedale, MA along with its other company, Normandin Transportation Systems. They run Mack straight and tractor trailers from New England to Georgia and west to Minnesota. They are also a logistics company for the carpeting and flooring industry. bulldogboy

Mack CL-700, E7-427 dump truck. bulldogboy

Ford, please stop teasing us United States Ford "Ranger" owners with these videos of trucks we want but can't have. Since Ford stopped US production of Rangers I try to see how many Rangers are still on the road. My unscientific research shows a lot of them, many still in commercial operations. bulldogboy

C'mon, look at the bright side: you'll be the sharpest looking pickup at the dump/transfer station on Saturday morning. Make all those BMW, MB owners jealous. bulldogboy

I never thought about an aerial ladder; most of the "B" model straight ladders that I have seen had semi or open cabs. I should have thought about the ladder as I once operated a "C" model straight ladder. bulldogboy

"B-85", compartment under driver's door, chrome radiator shell, starter button, switches for emergency lights, and red interior, leads me to believe that this was once a fire truck. However, it has a long wheelbase and I have never seen a Mack fire truck with two sticks. Am I close? bulldogboy

A couple of red Ford pickups on the car show circuit. A 1934 and a 1950 "F-1". bulldogboy

I've got a Ranger, too. Seeing as I won't be able to get a new Ranger here, I guess I'll settle for a Ford bicycle to replace my 40 year old Schwinn. Won't be able to carry as many groceries though. bulldogboy

If the "Dukes of Hazzard" gets remade do we get residuals for our starring roles? That would look good on my resume, retired firefighter becomes international movie star. Hey, it worked for Steve Busemi, former FDNY, Engine 55. bulldogboy

Most, if not all, "R", "MB", and "MC" fire trucks had bodies built by Grumman (Howe), Hamerly, or others. Most fire apparatus built in the '70s had bodies that rusted away in no time. There probably aren't many existing "R", "MB", "MC", or "CF" models with the original body still on them (not one that saw any fire activity, anyway). Same goes for Ward LaFrance, ALF, Seagrave, etc. bulldogboy

Joe, you bought another "CF"? Do you have three "CF"s now? Pictures of them all would be great. bulldogboy

Maybe Ford will bring back the "Cargo" to the U.S; these don't look like competition for IHC, FL M2, or the Ford F-650/750. While they're at it, bring the Ranger back also. bulldogboy