Links to the Apparatus Manufacturer Logos and the Delivery Lists have been added back to the forums.
The Penn Borough 700 is either ex Irwin or North Irwin Borough. It may have been refurbed with air brakesor a diesel motor. Great pics, hope you have more from Western Pa. 1955 American LaFrance Reg. No. L 5220 1250 / 300 Parker City, PA. 1947 American LaFrance 1000 / 250 Penn Boro, PA. John Schmidt Photos
The
Keyser, WVVigilant Reel and Hose Company No. 1Engine 31947 American LaFrance 750500/300This girl is currently Engine 33-12 and is one of our reserve engines. I put KFD's original name and her original number just for fun.
Beautiful pictures! Thank you for posting them! There's many interesting stories about this rig, especially from Bob Dorsey, who joined on Nov. 8, 1941. Around 90 percent of the stories he tells are completely true, however I'm not exactly sure how truck this is. The story takes place on 25 December 1954. I forget the name of the town in Pennsylvania, but a house caught on fire and the fire department was "caught with their pants down" as they had washed their hose and it was all hanging to dry. Most fire companies between there and Keyser at the time either didn't exist or didn't have the manpower and/or equipment to run mutual aid. So Viligant was alerted, with 11 on the '47. According to Dorsey, they made it there in less than a half hour (the trip usually takes an hour and a half, I think...it's just across the border in PA), and according to him they managed to more or less save the house. Now of course, only him and Bill Carpenter are the only two members that were in the fire company then and I've never gathered the courage to ask Mr. Carpenter how true it is, as Dorsey's a hero of mine and I typically believe almost everything he says.Just thought I'd share that about our 1947 ALF, as I think it's an interesting story, and doing a little calculations I estimated that Engine 33-12 was travelling at an average speed of approximately 90-100 mph or more. Also, Bruco, you stated The '47 (our nickname for her) as being a 705-PFC. I know that 705 means 700 Series, 500gpm pump. and P means "Pumper" and C means "Closed Cab" and "F" indicated the type of engine. What kind of engine did that indicate? And last question, I saw on this forum or somewhere else (I think the latter) that curbside pump panels on 700 series ALF's was a "west coast thing" and were rare on the East Coast. I've always been under the impression that all 700 Series American LaFrance engines and quints had curbside pump panels, which is true?
