Ladder (Phone Booth)

In all the years that I had rode as an Auxiliary, I only rode with a truck company once. That was the first and last time. The Captain of Eng. 319 was sent to Ladder 128 for a few months on a special detail. He called me to come over and hang out one night tour and meet the guys. I must say the guys were great and they asked me to stay and have dinner with them , to which I accepted. After dinner a run came in for the truck and I had the chance to see what it was like to ride with a truck co.. Well I got my gear out of my car and the Captain to me to jump in the phone booth on the side of the rig. Once I got on and the chauffer pulled out the door there was no turning back for me. There was no seat in the booth and there were no seat belts either. I think if the truck got into the box, I would have called a cab to bring me back to the firehouse, but we never got into the box and returned to quarters without getting another run, THANK GOD,
I actually was seeing death while the truck was making turns while responding, and it was all inside a PHONE BOOTH. I will stick to riding with my engine co...........Happy Holidays to you ALL
 
According to the Fire Bell Club's "News Notes", here are the companies that were assigned 1970 Seagrave Rearmounts:
8, 11, 17, 17-2, 19, 26-2, 27-2, 54, 84, 102, 103, 103-2, 112, 116, 136, 142, 155, 165, 173, 712, 731.
The list in not in order of actual assignment and I don't know which ones had the phone booth and which did not.
 
This was a 1969 ALF 100 ft RM. It was delivered as a "Demo" that the job bought. It had a Federal Q2B, and was dark red - "American LaFrance Red". It was in an accident and repainted by the shops the "normal" FDNY red. It was at TCU 732, 167, 52, 166 & a Spare. It was going to 82 Truck but never served there. It had FDNY Shop # AL6904.

It never had a Phone booth But you can make out the roof "flaps" that covered the back part of the jump seat area. When the truck was repaired these were taken off.

CLICK BELOW TO SEE THE '69 ALF AS WELL AS OTHER SEAGRAVE RMs With&Without PHONE BOOTHS.

Read more: http://fdnyrant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=history&action=display&thread=9282&page=1#ixzz19ZeCn0Og
 
Some clarification re AL6904, the one and only FDNY rearmount which was originally an ALF demonstrator:

It did start at TCU 732, but then went on to Ladder 176, NOT Ladder 167. 176 got it on 11/24/72 and had it until replaced by a 1974 Seagrave. It had already been repainted in the normal FDNY Red when 176 got it, having been repainted in March 1972 following an accident in December 1971 while still at TCU 732.  Ladder 167 NEVER had it. After 176, it went on to Ladder 52, then marked for Ladder 82, but never in service there, and finally to Ladder 166. It was then a spare for a short time and finally DX in September 1979. It carried ALF serial number 12-1-1678. There are two excellent photos of it as both TCU 732 and Ladder 176 in "AMERICAN LA FRANCE 900 SERIES APPARATUS OF THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT", by John A.Calderone.
 
Those rigs were on borrowed time from day one,  with the condition of the streets and amount of running they did.  I remember pallet loads of springs at the shops.  We had a tiller prior to the r/m, and cracks in the superstructure welds were not uncommon.
 
HCO....i had already PM ed the original poster...i know he inadvertantly mixed up the #s...which he will probably correct when he sees it......i had pasted his info in order to get the link to the other pictures on here.........Also G-Man ..i believe part of the reason it was only around 10 years was the fact that it was one of a kind which involved different parts stocking....& also it had a manual transmission which had more or less been phased out of the fleet by then ....i know by the mid '70s there were many FFs who were not that familiar w/manual trans.....that may also have been a factor in getting rid of it....once i was detailed for a few hours one tour to drive  it at  732 when several members were injured.....it was a cool rig to drive & the sound of the exhaust brake was very impresssive. 
 
The Maroon ALF RM that originally was TCU 732 was stored in the Qtrs of 286/135 during the non adaptive response hours...when it was active.. 1430 to 0030 they responded out of the Qtrs of ENG*277 on Knickerbocker Ave where LAD*112 wound up after the Madison St FH was closed.....TCU 732 & 731 (which was stored in ENG*288 & operated out of 209/102 during the A.R. hours) bracketed LAD*108 but really did not slow anybody down since there was plenty of work to go around at that time....the TCU s just added to LADDER Co. availability.......but getting back to the ALF RM....after operating as TCU*732 when that was disbanded the Rig became the original apparatus of LAD*176 when they were formed in the TIN HOUSE......all the TCU LAD s were unique rigs....712 & 731 were both the old 144' Mack Magirus RM with new 100' Grove Aerials. 

 
Regarding springs and suspension parts: On any given day there are  rigs at the Shops for suspension work with some getting sent out to private spring shops to get done. Heavy Rescues have been frequent visitors for such work. NYC streets continue to be the acid/litmus test for any type of vehicle, not just fire apparatus. How many remember the Grumman/Flexible buses back in the late 70's? They worked great in many other places but were crap vs. NYC streets. Merrick Blvd. in Jamaica was nicknamed the "Ho-Chi-Ming Trail" by the bus drivers who worked on it.
 
L-132 had a 1972 Seagrave rearmount and the bolts attaching the cradle which held the bedded aerial to the frame frequently sheared off when the rig hit a pot hole. NYC added new meaning to the term "Mean Streets"
 
1261Truckie said:
L-132 had a 1972 Seagrave rearmount and the bolts attaching the cradle which held the bedded aerial to the frame frequently sheared off when the rig hit a pot hole. NYC added new meaning to the term "Mean Streets"
Click to expand...

Was Frankie "Finesse" or "Dent Head" driving    ::)
 
Jack,

JB (Senior) (Group 4), JD (Group 10), JF (Group 16) and JF (Group 22)  were the regular chauffeurs when we got the R/M. Frankie Finesse hadn't gone to Chauffeur Training yet (neither had The Snake) and Denthead drove on amateur night (i.e 23 - 3).

Jim
 
147,

I stopped riding there in 1975, so I don't know for sure, but would guess late 70's/ early 80's

Jim
 
1261Truckie said:
Jack,

JB (Senior) (Group 4), JD (Group 10), JF (Group 16) and JF (Group 22)  were the regular chauffeurs when we got the R/M. Frankie Finesse hadn't gone to Chauffeur Training yet (neither had The Snake) and Denthead drove on amateur night (i.e 23 - 3).

Jim
Click to expand...

I remember all the seated LCC just thought that Frank or The Dent was driving.  LOL
H&L 147   John A. was driving in the 80's not sure when though maybe 1261 knows
 
Working down at Wall St in 1971 I remember Ladder 15 having a 2-door Seagrave rearmount with the worst sounding siren ever. Was that 2nd hand from Ladder 27-2?
 
Question about TCU 732; On the bumper it says Rockaway Ave and Bergen St, was there a firehouse at this intersection or just some street signs they put on the rig?
 
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