bulldogboy

I have a photo of the Mack when Alexandria had it for sale. Later, I saw it in Harvey Eckart's book, "Mack Model B Fire Trucks". Glad to see that it was saved. You drove it to rural Alexandria? Must have hurt to

leave it behind. Alexandria liked having the Mack in their department.

bulldogboy

Looks like the 1932 Mack ladder truck that was restored by the Stony Brook, NY Fire Department.

bulldogboy

This is my 1958 Ward Lafrance, It was in service for 32 years 1958 -1990 , thats because it has a 671 DETROIT IN IT AND IT PISSES PEOPLE LIKE 1958 F.W.D. OFF SO THATS WHY I AM YELLING SO YOU CAN HEAR ME !

MADDOG93:

Is that the Ward LaFrance that was in service in Alexandria, NH for several years? I know that they had a Ward LaFrance like that and a 1957 Mack "B"; both came from Port Chester, NY. I saw the Mack

when it was in service in Alexandria.

bulldogboy

Sorry bout the sideways pic

I thought that it was on mutual aid to Worcester and was climbing one of the hills.

bulldogboy

Is Charlton still interested in buying it?

bulldogboy

"How old can an active fire truck be?" Depends on where you live. In the mid-Atlantic region a fire truck has to be replaced either when it gets dirty or a neighboring fire department

buys a new truck (have to outdo the Jones, of course). Here in northern New England, departments run trucks that are 20, 30, or 40 years old because they have no other options.

Buying used trucks is big business. Rural fire departments have to buy what they can afford regardless of what the N.F.P.A. "recommends".

bulldogboy

To me, the quickest way to tell the difference is by looking at the windshield; "A"s have a one piece windshield, "L"s have a two piece windshield. There is also the size difference, "A"s are smaller than "L"s.

bulldogboy

Little tidbit of information; the famed naval architect William Francis Gibbs, who designed "Firefighter" in the 1930s, also designed the "Superpumper" system for FDNY in the 1960s.

bulldogboy

McDermontt?

Saw a McDermott milk tanker out of Enosburg Falls, VT in MA this week with a Peterbilt tractor. They were a long time IH user.

bulldogboy

Always take pics!!! New Macks will one day be the old Macks. Utica Mack always seem to have good stuff in the lot when I stop by.

I agree. When I think of all the old Macks that used to be around NH when I was a kid; "L"s, "E"s, "B"s, fire trucks, school buses, etc. I wish that I had pictures of them all.

Just memories, no photos.

bulldogboy

looked at that truck about 3 years ago when we were in Sarasota. its a mock up. they put the cannon on it. i think the cannon was originally on an old Sterling. was never on the B

Bummer, thought that I was on to something.

bulldogboy

Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus once used this Mack for its human cannonball show. The truck is on display at the Ringling Brothers Museum in

Sarasota, FL. You could say that Ringling Brothers got the most bang for its buck with this "B". There is also a miniature display of a Ringling Brothers circus

complete with Mack "AC" and "CJ" trucks. Well worth visiting if you are in the Sarasota area.

bulldogboy

kscarbel:

Thanks for the info; I missed that thread.

bulldogboy

While mindlessly surfing the web, I came across a site that stated that the Sao Paulo, Brazil Fire Department had recently purchased 70 fire engines built

on Ford Cargo chassis. I didn't know that Ford still built the Cargo so I went back to the web and found pictures of 2012-2013 Cargos. To me they look pretty

impressive; very similar to the Hyundai Trago. Between the Cargo and the Ranger, Ford is building some nice trucks overseas. Maybe, someday, as part of

Ford's one world program these vehicles will be available in the U.S.

bulldogboy

Since this thread doesn't specify Vermont construction trucks, I thought that I would post this fire engine. When Westmore, VT organized its fire department

in 2001, this Mack "CF611F" was its second engine. It is a 1979 model, 1000/750/30.

bulldogboy

Nice T-800 fire tanker over in Irasburg.

bulldogboy

you can tel the FDNY tower ladders from others by the way the cabline in the jump seat area goes strait down and is not angled.

Is that because they removed the enclosed jump seat doors?

It is good Rob but goes down to easy. I kinda like my Long Trail Black berry Wheat made hear in Vermont.

My vote is for Long Trail IPA!

bulldogboy

DocF225:

Welcome. My experience with Mack trucks also involves fire apparatus: "L", "B", and "C" models. I also drove a "MS" model box truck.

There is a lot of good information here for us non-mechanic Mack fans.

bulldogboy

Great link. Thanks.

Back when I was riding with the Boston lads in the late sixties I always called the surviving L models "fender flappers" because most of them had the front fenders barely hanging on. Boston is not known for how well they care for their apparatus to say the least.

I've heard of '56 "fat fender Fords" but never "fender flapper Macks". Nice!

bulldogboy

Check out the website: http://www.bostonfirehistory.org. There are many pictures of former Boston F.D. apparatus listed by year, manufacturer, etc.

bulldogboy

Wow learn something new everyday. Pretty cool that Troy's truck came from NYC. Our town FD was just approved on town meeting day. Would be a nice piece to start with.

Yes, I heard that the F.D. passed by a few votes. Do they have any fire trucks picked out yet?

bulldogboy

If you have ever driven through downtown Boston you'll know why fenders took a beating. Add a little snow and the old cowpaths become even narrower. Some of the old Boston

Macks had two deck guns mounted over the hose bed, one fore and one aft. Boston F.D. had a lot of "L" models and several unique bodied "B" models. Those were the last

Mack fire trucks in Boston. There were never any "C" or "CF" models. Must be a story there but I never heard why Macks were banned in Boston.

bulldogboy

Troy's old Aerialscope is a former FDNY truck; don't know what companies it served. Maybe Bubba can fix it up and Coventry can put it into service as its

first ladder truck.

bulldogboy

I'm waiting for red spray paint to go on sale at home depot. lol

Thanks guys!

Check with the boys down in Whitehall, LA posted under "One for Vinny". They could probably hook you up with some red paint.

Seriously, I'm an old timer from the seventies but I think that the lime-yellow looks good. I've seen red, green, yellow, blue, and other

colored Macks. Macks always look good no matter what the color.

bulldogboy