Garden State Oldies

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[jmp883]

Even though I'm no longer a member of the department (20 years was enough for me) I'm still quite the apparatus buff. Let me post some of Wanaque's past and present rigs.

First up are the rigs from Co. #1, 541 & 542.



541 is a 1983 Oren-Duplex 1500 GPM Pumper.

[jmp883]

When I joined the department in 1986 542 was a 1967 Oren-Great Eastern (it had both nameplates on it) 1000 GPM Quad. In 1990 it was refurbed in the Roanoke, VA by Grumman. It came back as a semi-quad because the only ladder it couldn't carry anymore was the 6-section 50-footer. This is the post-refurb picture:

[jmp883]

In 2001 the 2 1967 Oren's were replaced by 2 2001 Smeal 1750 GPM pumpers. This is the new 542:

[jmp883]

The other company in Wanaque is Company #2. They run 543, 544, and 545. They also have our parade piece, a 1953 (or 1954 depending on who you talk to) Ahrens-Fox pumper. First up is 543, a 1981 Oren 1250 GPM pumper with a 50' Telesqurt. This truck will be replaced by a new Smeal 100' mid-mount tower. I just saw construction photos taken during the summer and the cab is painted and mounted on the frame so it shouldn't be too much longer before it's here.

[jmp883]

544 is a 1967 Oren-Great Eastern that was also refurbed in 1990. Here is a post-refurb shot:

[jmp883]

544 was replaced by one of the 2 2001 Smeal's. The only difference between the 2 Smeal's is the cab roofs and seating capacity. My company got the low-roof model that seats 10 men due to the clearance issues in Co. #1's firehouse. Co. 2 got this high-roof 8-man cab:

[jmp883]

545 is our rescue truck. For the first 7 years I was on the department we ran a converted contractor's truck. This is our 1981 Chevrolet-Amthor's Emergency Truck. Not the most confidence-inspiring vehicle to drive!

[jmp883]

In 1993 we took delivery of our first purpose-built rescue truck. PL-Custom/Rescue 1 built our new rescue on a Ford ?? chassis. Again, not a very confidence-inspiring rig to drive, though it drove a heck of a lot better than that old Chevy!

[jmp883]

And finally our parade piece. This is a 1953 Ahrens-Fox 750 GPM pumper. Company #2 took delivery of this truck in early 1954 and Company #1 took delivery of a similar looking 1954 Oren pumper. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of that rig. BTW, these are all my photos, scanned from 35mm negatives, which explains the somewhat grainy quality.

[jmp883]

Digging through my hard drive this morning I found this photo of Company #1's 1954 Oren 750 GPM pumper. Thanks to Firepics member Andrew2340 for this picture and the information on its current status. It's sitting at a transportation museum down in the Carolinas. While I was still a member of the Company I brought this to their attention, as we were looking for our own parade piece. We never did contact the museum to see if they'd be interested in selling her. Unfortunately a lack of money, and more importantly, a lack of storage for any parade piece, prevented us from bringing her home. Here she is in her current condition:

[Richard_L_Dean_07405]

[quote name='jmp883' post='255443' date='Oct 20 2008, 09:29 ']Digging through my hard drive this morning I found this photo of Company #1's 1954 Oren 750 GPM pumper. Thanks to Firepics member Andrew2340 for this picture and the information on its current status. It's sitting at a transportation museum down in the Carolinas. While I was still a member of the Company I brought this to their attention, as we were looking for our own parade piece. We never did contact the museum to see if they'd be interested in selling her. Unfortunately a lack of money, and more importantly, a lack of storage for any parade piece, prevented us from bringing her home. Here she is in her current condition:[/quote]



Too bad Joe. That is sad because you Wanaque guys took such good care of that baby. Most likely it responded to the largest fire loss of North America in the year of 1957 that Butler hosted.

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