1936 Amercan La France 400 found

[PCFD ENG58 1,085]

The 1936 Amercan Lafrance #7732 that ran as engine 62 from 1936 till 1957 has been found in Houston TX. I met with Ed in Port Chester on Thursday thanks to ex2391. Ed is the fire chief/safetymanager for Shell oil who has started a full restoration of this 400 series pumper that at one time pumped to the top of the Empire State Building in a test by Amercan Lafrance to show the the F.D.N.Y.how powerfull this rig was , they didn't buy it ! After we sold it to Boy Scout camp in Dover Plains it went into service after being sold again to the Dover Plains Fire dept. In 1957 we sold the la Lrance and in 1958 we sold the 1937 Seagrave ex engine 60 to Wassaic which they still have. If you look out there some of this trucks are still around. I have been looking for all the motorized rigs from Port Chester for over 37 years now and also recently found the 1928 NS-4 Ahrens Fox that ran till 1948 as engine 64. Three rigs I don't have to look to far as they are in my barn upstate and one Fox that is still on the Cape. If any one from Dover Plains FD. that can get photos or info will help with the documentation can PM me please.

[fsw1970 0]

Hell Angelo, I was told that Washington's Fox was cut up for a scrap metal drive! Just goes to show, you never know. Who's Fox is up on the Cape?

I know that Mellors 54 Fox and Put's 53 ALF floated around the muster circuit for a number of years, and then seemed to have disappeared. Know what happened to those, or any of HH's tillers? Last I heard the old T2 was still sitting at the Sutphen plant with a whole bunch of old trade-in's. Have you ever run across any of 58 or 59's old rigs?

[PCFD ENG58 1,085]

Hell Angelo, I was told that Washington's Fox was cut up for a scrap metal drive! Just goes to show, you never know. Who's Fox is up on the Cape?

I know that Mellors 54 Fox and Put's 53 ALF floated around the muster circuit for a number of years, and then seemed to have disappeared. Know what happened to those, or any of HH's tillers? Last I heard the old T2 was still sitting at the Sutphen plant with a whole bunch of old trade-in's. Have you ever run across any of 58 or 59's old rigs?

Good to here from you again, Lets see the 28 fox NS-4 ex eng64 was sold a to doctor in Scarsdale in 1948 who sold it to Aulburn Maine to be put back in service ,the 1955 Fox FC ex eng61 is on the cape wating to go to my place, the 1952 Amercan Lafrance ex eng63 was last in Armonk a few years ago almost made it back to puts but no place to keep it, ladder 30 1948 American lafrance 100ft tiller went to L.I. where they scraped the trailer and used the tractor to pull a race truck around , the 1954 American lafrance 100ft tiller was sold to AJ Quirk who sold the trailer to Hastings on Hudson to hook up to there newer lafrance tractor until the present 100ft tiller arrived 1985? then the Hastings/Port Chester ladder went to White Plains as spare until they got rid of it. The 1954 tractor cab was cut off to make the trailer for the Rye fire boat by AJ. All the old engine 58's and eng 59's where worn so bad that they did not survive except the 1969 Oren ex eng 59 that was seen by a Greenwich firefighter on vacation on route 80 somewhere in the mid west smoking on the side of the road in route to a trailer park in California.

[Guest ehass]

I've been an Ahrens-Fox historian since 1966, grew up in NJ and went to the annual fire engine musters at Valhalla, NY, and Milford, CT, all through the 1970s and early 1980s, and have owned a 1953 Ahrens-Fox pumper (ex-New Milford, NJ) since 1979.

Here is what I have on the 1926 (not 1928) Port Chester Ahrens-Fox you bought. I always sort of knew it was around somewhere, glad to hear it has been rescued. I would love to have in-service and current photos of it. You can email them to me at ehass@yahoo.com

Registered Number 1659 – Model N-S-4 – Port Chester, NY 1926

Model N-S-4 piston pumper and hose car with booster tank. Motor #2198.

March 12, 1926: Shipped to Washington Engine & Hose Co. No. 4, Port Chester, NY. “Engine 64.”

May 10, 1926: Fire & Water Engineering magazine, page 476-Port Chester, N.Y., recently received a 1,000-gallon Ahrens-Fox.

August 22, 1928: Fire Engineering magazine, page 737-Article about Port Chester, NY, "At the Washington Park fire station, there is a 1,000-gallon Ahrens-Fox pumper and one White hose wagon. The Putnam Steamer company boasts a 750-gallon Amoskeag steamer, one hose wagon, and a new 1,000-gallon American-LaFrance pumper recently purchased by the officials in that community. Brookville and the Mellor Hose Company each have an American-LaFrance pumper with auxiliary attachments, 500-gallons capacity.

1949: Traded-in on new Maxim pumper to William Odell, Scarsdale, NY.

August, 1950: Fire Engineering magazine, page 712-For sale, Ahrens-Fox triple combination piston pumper, Model N-S-4, Reg. No. 1659. Guaranteed capacity 1,000 GPM at 120 lbs. 6 cylinder engine, 187-inch wheelbase, and power brakes. 80-gallon booster tank, rear reel with 100 ft. of 1-inch booster hose. Equipment includes 24-ft. extension and 12-ft. roof ladder, 2 axes, crowbar, 2 extinguishers, pike pole, siren, bell, spotlight and tools. Apparatus in perfect running condition. New steering, carburetor, magneto, and battery. Entirely rebuilt and tested in 1949. Photographs and specifications available on request. William H. Odell, Campus Place, Scarsdale, N.Y.

July 20, 1974: A.J. Quirk of Rye, NY (1949 HT #481 and 1955 FC #9169), who once worked for Odell, told me that Odell sold #1659 to Pittsfield, Maine, and that it is still in service there.

***************

Did you know the rusty remains of the Mellor #3 1929 Ahrens-Fox rotary is still around? It went to a junkyard after the 1955 Ahrens-Fox replaced it (the one AJ Quirk now owns in Orleans Mass). Andy Henderson of Weedsport, NY rescued it out of the junkyard in 1970 and put its motor in his 1927 Ahrens-Fox aerial ex-Kansas City, MO. He sold the rest to Fred Pommer in Oxford, CT, who took some other parts from it for his 1931 Ahrens-Fox ex-Arlington Fire District, Pouughkeepsie, NY. Pommer passed away I think about a dozen years ago, and I have lost track of what became of the Mellor/Port Chester 1929 Ahrens-Fox since then.

*******************

Is your 1926 Ahrens-Fox in operable condition? There is a big Ahrens-Fox show in Maryland May 20-22, over 2 dozen Ahrens-Foxes coming so far, perhaps yours could be brought down, too? If you email me I can email details and registration forms to you.

Ed Hass

Elk Grove, CA

ehass@yahoo.com

heaver-letter.doc

[fire 1 asst chief 49]

The 1936 Amercan Lafrance #7732 that ran as engine 62 from 1936 till 1957 has been found in Houston TX. I met with Ed in Port Chester on Thursday thanks to ex2391. Ed is the fire chief/safetymanager for Shell oil who has started a full restoration of this 400 series pumper that at one time pumped to the top of the Empire State Building in a test by Amercan Lafrance to show the the F.D.N.Y.how powerfull this rig was , they didn't buy it ! After we sold it to Boy Scout camp in Dover Plains it went into service after being sold again to the Dover Plains Fire dept. In 1957 we sold the la Lrance and in 1958 we sold the 1937 Seagrave ex engine 60 to Wassaic which they still have. If you look out there some of this trucks are still around. I have been looking for all the motorized rigs from Port Chester for over 37 years now and also recently found the 1928 NS-4 Ahrens Fox that ran till 1948 as engine 64. Three rigs I don't have to look to far as they are in my barn upstate and one Fox that is still on the Cape. If any one from Dover Plains FD. that can get photos or info will help with the documentation can PM me please.

In his reply Ed. Hass refers to a William H. Odell of Scarsdale, NY. Bill Odell was a career Captain for the Greenville Fire District as well as a fire apparatus dealer. He sold the Fairview Fire District the 1953 Oren pumper and most likely sold the Elmsford FD their 1957 Oren. He did Elmsford their 1965 Oren/Chevrolet pumper.