Ladder 26's 1960 American La France

[1261Truckie]

Just wondering if anyone has a photo they could post of F.D.N.Y. Ladder 26's 1960 American La France tiller rig with the "custom" built roof the members fabricated and installed on their own.
Thank you in advance.

 

[grumpy grizzly]

Just wondering if anyone has a photo they could post of F.D.N.Y. Ladder 26's 1960 American La France tiller rig with the "custom" built roof the members fabricated and installed on their own.
Thank you in advance.

Try FAJ's ALF 900 series book, page 11. #447, later assigned to #124.

 

[1261Truckie]

Try FAJ's ALF 900 series book, page 11. #447, later assigned to #124.

Thanks for your reply Grump but that's the "standard:" plywood roof. I was looking for a photo of the roof 26 fabricated and installed themselves before the FDNY installed the plywood roof on the rig.

 

[entropychaser]

Why not just call the firehouse and ask them if they've got a picture of the rig on the wall in the kitchen?

 

[68jk09]

Just wondering if anyone has a photo they could post of F.D.N.Y. Ladder 26's 1960 American La France tiller rig with the "custom" built roof the members fabricated and installed on their own.
Thank you in advance.

Up until the civil unrest that really kicked off in NYC in the early '60s no FDNY LAD's had covered riding positions.....some earlier FDNY ENG's did have enclosed cabs for the Chauf. & Officer depending on the year & manufacturer....some ENG's did have enclosed cab's upfront into the '40s & some still didn't depending on the manufacturer ....then in 1958 ENG's were purchased with covered metal cab roofs....however FDNY LAD's were basically always uncovered all around....part of the theory was that it was necessary for the LAD Chauf. to be able to spot the objective when pulling in front of a bldg.& being able to position the Turntable in the most advantageous position.......the NYC civil unrest became a serious problem as objects were often thrown at Rigs in many areas of NYC .....LAD*26 being in one of these areas.....CPT. John O'Regan RIP of LAD*26 (the Author of LADDERS 3 the FDNY Tenement Firefighting guide & the originator of the FDNY Running program
& the originator of getting Members checked out on their own for Heart & Vascular problems ) had a Chauf. FF Jack Fausner RIP 2023 at 91 yrs of age ...a Korean War Veteran who designed a plywood roof covering on their 1960 ALF which covered the Chauf. & Officer as well as the two rear facing jump seats....the facet that he incorporated was a hinged portion of the front few feet of the roof covering (the portion over the Chauf & Officer ) which on pulling into a Fire block could be flipped back allowing the Chauf. to better spot the objective & line up the Turntable.....shortly after The Job decided to retrofit Rigs with plywood covering....this was being done in earnest mid '60s starting with the Busy Units then expanding to slower Units who relocated often to busy areas then when the interchange started all Units got plywood installed by the Shops covering the front area ...Tiller Seats & ENG Backstep's & all newly purchased Rigs were received covered by the manufacturer like today.....early on when The Job picked up on LAD*26's original Roof Covering they omitted the hinged flap & just had a solid roof so to adapt to a Chauf. not being able to look overhead when pulling up to bldg the method that is still used today was adopted being .....when coming into a block & spotting a victim at a window or other planned objective to raise the Aerial to ....mentally follow an imaginary line down the bldg to a visible object like a stoop or garbage cans or a particular vehicle & line the turntable up with that when in front of the bldg. to set up for the Aerial .......i don't have a picture of the original 26 covering but it was very visible when looking at the Rig as the portion of the plywood roof that basically covered the motor / Jump Seat area was flat but the portion forward of the hinge sloped down a little to the top of the windshield.