Fire Engines Photos

Ward La France, late 40s or early 50s. A truck that old looks quite strange with a light bar!

Added by Mike Feldman on 13 December 2010.

Mike, I fully agree with your comment, this is such a beautifully maintained rig, the light bar is an abomination, , sorry for being so honest, ,

Added by Pav on 13 December 2010.

All I can think of is that if this truck were leading a parade, they might want a light source that would be familiar and get the attention of the crowd. An old rotating beacon or wig-wag Mars light or Roto Ray (such as this truck might have sported in its heyday) might not grab people as much.

I guess the siren was on the left side -- we can't see it in the photo. I certainly hope that haven't replaced the mechanical one with an electronic gizmo in that light bar!

Complaints aside, it is indeed a lovely old rig.

Added by Mike Feldman on 13 December 2010.

Should'nt there be a beacon on the bonnet by the windscreen?

Added by Andrew Middleton on 13 December 2010.

Well, they put them in various places on the open-cab trucks.

A rotating beacon might be on a short post attached to the top center of the windshield, though the windshield frame looks a bit thin on this one. It could also be on a tall post behind the cab.

Ditto a Roto Ray (see picture 6990). The Rotterdam Ahrens-Fox rigs originally had Roto-Rays, but they were swapped for other things later on. Maybe they were too strange-looking for European eyes?

A wig-wag Mars light might be over the windshield (see picture 5249) or on the nose above the radiator grille. I couldn't find an example of that on this site. I think 5249 might be the only Mars light on the site here.

I recall seeing nose-mounted Mars lights on Philadelphia, New York, and DC rigs; thy were quite popular in the in the 30s-40s-50s.

For European readers, the Mars light "wags" from left to right to left continuously. Later ones move the sealed-beam lamp inside its casing in a figure-8 pattern. Many current rigs still have these, in white or red. Have a look at picture 11082, which has Mars lights in both colors. That's a parade rig now, but the active suburban rigs in the DC area often have amazing collections of warning lights. In my experience living and driving there, DC-area drivers seem to be extraordinarily inattentive to their surroundings.

Interestingly, many US railroad locos also had white figure-8 Mars lights in addition to the steady headlights. This was before we starting requiring European-style ditch lights (pair of low-mounted headlights). Current locos often flash the ditch lights in alternation, when approaching a station or road crossing. Anything to get drivers' attention.

Added by Mike Feldman on 13 December 2010.

Mike, I believe there is quite a sizable siren on the left side, you can see the casing just atop the radiator emblem, ,

Added by Pav on 14 December 2010.

Yep, I think you're right. It looks like a combination of a siren with a flashing red light on the front.

The Philadelphia rigs I knew as a kid in the 50s had a "siren-lite", which contained a red sealed-beam lamp that would spin, generally mounted on the left front fender. I don't think the siren on this WLF is the spinning-light kind.

And on the roof or above the windshield, typically a Mars or Roto Ray. For some decades now the Philly rigs have used a red light bar and a normal LOUD Federal Q siren, which is REALLY popular these days.

Added by Mike Feldman on 14 December 2010.

Please add your comments about this picture using the form below.

Comments

Your Name

Your email address - this will be shown on the page and will allow the system to notify you of further comments added to this picture.