Ford Country - Road Trip Report #1

 Truckfax has made very few road trips recently, so a brief loop through northern mainland Nova Scotia on September10 was the first in many months. The destination was Pictou County - noted for lots of trucks - and as it turned out, several vintage Fords. 

Ford L- series trucks, known as Louisvilles were produced from 1970 to 1998 and a surprising number are still around.

This unusual looking Louisville has an L9000 hood, but I suspect the rest of the truck is another model. The eggcrate grille last appeared in 1988, and I would be amazed to see a 1988 model with as little rust on the cab as this one.

 

The 9000s were more frequently tandems too, so this is likely a "composite".

The unusual white cab and blue frame may tell a story. The truck was spotted at the Kenworth dealer in Westville, NS.

Not far away in Stellarton, NS, MacCulloch's Truck Services has a few wreckers, but this "Draggin Wagon" probably doesn't see much action despite a heavy duty wrecker body.

 At the fishermen's dock in Caribou, NS, on the Northumberland Strait, this boom truck does useful work hauling gear on and off boats with its Pitman hydraulic boom.

An L7000 model,  with horizontal bars in the grille, it must be newer than 1988.

A little further along the way the Abercrombie Volunteer Fire Department has a splendid apparatus roster of four units, all maintained in spotless condition. They show no favourites for chassis providers with an International (Engine 1), Kenworth (Tanker 1), Freightliner (Rescue 1) and this 1996 Ford F-800 (Pumper 1).

The rig was built by Superior Emergency Vehicles of Red Deer, AB, (the Canadian arm of Emergency-One from 1991 to 2006). It pumps at 840 (Imperial) gpm, has a 1000 gallon tank and carries 30 gallons of foam.

Ford stopped producing the Louisville model in 1997 and sold the manufacturing facility to Daimler / Freightliner, who renamed it Sterling. They continued to produce essentially the same truck. Ford then concentrated on lighter duty "Class 7" trucks, using as many pickup truck components as they could. I suspect it would be no fun squeezing into an F-series cab while wearing full bunker gear!

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International fire apparatus chassis - Part 1

It has been a long time since International built small tilt cabs. They were favoured by many fire departments because they were compact in size, but like most North American truck manufacturers International abandoned the small tilt cab market.
Few International tilt cabs are left in front line service, but four of their CO models live on at the Nova Scotia Firefighter School at Powder Mill Lake in the Halifax suburb of Waverley.

These two were the gifts of the Town of Truro, a Thibault 1050/100 ft aerial, dating from 1987  and a Superior 1050/1000 pumper/tanker from 1986.They still wear the trademark Truro white paint scheme..

Bridgewater donated this Thibault 85 ft aerial. Note the custom grille. It was originally delivered in 1981.

 An unbranded pumper numbered 840-SS-83 was donated by the town of Middleton.

For more on the school see: http://www.nsfs.ns.ca/.

Some more Internationals to follow in Part 2............

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Road Trip #2 - Report #2 E-One for Stewiacke, NS

By now the Stewiacke and District Volunteer FD has probably taken delivery of this 2015 E-One Cyclone II pumper tanker.

The spectacular looking rig was wedged in between other trucks preventing a clear shot, and I did not take time to read the particulars on its Underwriter's plate.

On July 6 the engine appeared to be on its delivery trip from the builder or the dealer. Its number is E-1711 and it joins a roster of other interesting gear in the village of Stewiacke.
http://fire.wikia.com/wiki/Stewiacke_and_District_Volunteer_Fire_Department

Among the many pieces of apparatus Stewiacke has operated over the years I have photos of at least two.

The 1984 Ford C Series/ Superior was an 840/1200 pumper/tanker, and

on the evening of May 26, 1993, it and the members were exercising with their classic ladder truck:

The big mid-mount Bickle Seagrave service aerial appears to be one of about 1952 vintage.

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Volvo out to pasture

For a time, Volvo brought in tilt cabs for sale in Canada, and they were popular for a few years. They were in direct competition with Mack's Renault COE and Ford's Cargo. Many were used for fire apparatus and there were several around the Halifax area. However when enclosed, connected crew cabs with doors became mandatory, these commercial type tilt cabs became obsolete.

This 1995 Volvo with pumper body built by Superior Emergency Vehicles of Red Deer, AB (serial number SE 1435) has been retired to a parking area off the Hammonds Plains Road in suburban Halifax.  By the look of the sticker mark on its side it served the Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Services, after amalgamation, but probably belonged to one of the suburban departments before that.

Superior was a subsidiary of Emergency-One when this unit was built, and the company badge was the same shape as E-One's. It also had an E-One design pumper body. I am not sure if E-One in the US ever built a crew cab for a Volvo, so that part may be unique to Superior.

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Superior Signage

A self-storage operation has found an eye catching sign board.  Parked alongside Highway 103 near the Northfield Road in Lunenburg County this retired pumper now serves only as a backdrop to an ad.

It is a sad decline for a very stylish piece of fire apparatus.

New in 1981 from Superior,  it was built with the racy looking Pemfab cab, a 1500 gpm pump and 600 gal booster tank.  This style of cab, from Pemberton Fabricators in New Jersey, found its way onto several Pierrevilles, built for the Halifax FD in the late 1970s but was discontinued by the mid 1980s when Pemfab replaced it with a more upright looking plain cab.  Superior used very few of these, and it is possible they came from a stock originally intended for Pierreville. This pumper was built by Superior's short-lived plant in Kingston, ON, called Superior Fire Trucks, with serial number 16. The company's headquarters and main plant, Superior Emergency Vehicles, was located in Red Deer, AB and later became a subsidiary of Emergency-One, before shutting down in 2006.

Although it appears to be plugged into the Coke machine, it was still in the fire services in December 2003.

After a number of years on the front line for Wolfville, the unit was sold to Blockhouse and District F.D. in Lunenburg County.  They retired it in 2011, and it has popped up a few miles down the road, in its present location.

It was parked outside while the fire hall was being renovated.

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Enfield VFD roll out

Enfield, located just outside the boundaries of the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) and 10km from the Stanfield International Airport on Highway 102. Enfield and area are bedroom communities for the HRM and have numerous small industries. The VFD is dispatched through the HRM's dispatch centre.
Today's roll out wasn't for me (they didn't know I was coming) but it was a great opportunity to see their entire fleet.

1. Enfield No.2 is a 1999 International/Superior 1250/500 with 50 ft aerial.

2. Enfield No.3 is a 1997 International/Superior 1050/1000 pumper tanker.

3. Enfield Rescue has a 2006 International with Lantz body.

4. Newest unit is this 2012 Dodge Ram 5500 brush unit. With Lantz body, 240 gpm pump and 400 gal tank.

The department's first truck a 1969 Ford/Thibault is in retired status.

Full specs on the apparatus may be found on the department's web site:

http://www.enfieldfire.ca/

More Valley Fire Apparatus

A visit to the Kentville Volunteer Fire Department revealed the answer to the riddle in the last posting, but a photo will have to wait for another time. The 1935 Chevrolet/Bickle, purchased new by the KVFD has been restored for parade duty, and is still in working order. It is housed in its own tiny bay, adjacent to the department's museum The latter included many interesting artifacts, including a couple of hose reel had carts and many photos and other memorabilia.
1. Ready to roll for a parade is the restored Chevrolet Bickle pumper.
In the apparatus bays the current operating units are at the ready-and an impressive lot they are:

2. Pumper No.7 is a 1050 gpm, 1990 Pierce Lance, built under license by Superior. (Superior was taken over by E-One in 1992, renamed E-One Canada in 2003 and closed in 2006. The "Superior" script over the rad was lost when E-One took over, as were the licensing agreements with Pierce and Smeal.)

3. Rescue No.4 is 2006 E-One.

4.Pumper No.3 is a 2000 Superior, 1500 gpm.

5. This International chassis tanker is in front line service.

6. A classic R model Mack dating from 1977, is the back-up tanker.

7. Ladder No.1 is this impressive E-One.

8. Newest unit in the fleet is this 2010 Pierce Velocity, 1750 gpm pumper. It has an enclosed operator's station amidships.

Kentville, Nova Scotia - worth a visit.

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Firetrucks in the Valley

It was a sunny day in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley on Wednesday, and the Wolfville VFD had four apparatus out on the apron.
1. The array of Wolfville's apparatus on the apron.

2. Pumper No. 1 is a 1500 gpm Superior (Canadian made E-One)

3. Pumper No.3 is also a 1500 gpm Superior.

4. Rescue No. 4 is a 1250 gpm E-One. The pump panel is mounted at the back.

5. Tower No.7 is and 85 foot ladder/tower on a Pierce Dash chassis.
Wolville also operates a 1050 gpm, 2500 gallon tanker, which was not in evidence. For more on the department see: http://www.wolfvillefire.ca/

Nearby Kentville had most of its gear indoors, but there was one pumper out on the apron:

6. This is Pumper No.3, a 1500 gpm Superior, dating from 2000.

If you can't guess what is lurking behind the door, Kentville also has a website: http://www.kentvillefire.ca/ which should give you a clue.

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A tip of the tilt

A tip of the tilt cab to my neighbourhood fire station. That would be Station #2 at the corner of University Avenue and Robie Street. Old timers still call the station Morris Street, since University Avenue is an extension of Morris Street.

Station#2 is the busiest in the Halifax Regional Municipality with three universities, three hospitals, a million bars and restaurants and my house to look after.

The boulevard ends just short of the station to allow space for the trucks to turn and back into their stalls. This morning a little TLC was called for under the hood of 97-108E. This particular engine is a Superior, the onetime Canadian brand from Red Deer AB, taken over by Emergency-One in 1991, but since closed. All Canadian made E-Ones were called Superior for a time, then US built E-Ones destined for Canada were branded Superior. When E-One closed Superior in 2006, the name was discontinued.

On close inspection I am not sure what good that wheelchock is doing on the uphill side of the left rear tire. It doesn't seem to be an optical illusion.