Danno

Yeahhh. Well you better get better before GoodGuys! I bought up a ton of excellent ScaleFinishes paints. No postage (!). And, some guy was there selling old built-ups and disassembled ancient kits. I snagged an original 1966 Chevy Impala Convertible for $7.50, and several original '70s MPC Camaros for $7.50 each.

Nice job.

Where were you today, Jonathan??? People were looking for you! They put up extra tables and made plenty of room because they expected you to show up with all your builds!! G drove in from Vegas just to see your stuff!!! (And to give the back of your head a little Leeroy-Jethro-Gibbs love tap.)

Kewl!

That's not even nuts. It's STUPID!

Beautiful tribute, Charlie. {I have no idea how I missed this when it was originally posted, but I'm glad it was resurrected!}

Any help?

Thanks, Jeff. She's a keeper.

Whoa. That's nice.

Nice job! Welcome aboard. Don't hesitate to post more.

Thanks, guys! Joe, I think the open cab thing was just one of those tradition things ... a carry-over from the early days of motorized apparatus when most trucks were topless. In fact, closed cabs were luxuries. We ran this 1969 American LaFrance ("Engine 4") in the moderate climate of the Front Range of Colorado. We had cold winters, but quite mild springs and falls. Our service area was basically small geographically, so the open cab just didn't seem to be a big thing. Our older pumper, a 1965 Ford Ward LaFrance ("Engine 5") was a closed cab C600. Prior to that we had a closed cab 1953 Chevy Darley ("Engine 3"). Prior to that was an open cab 1934 Ford BB V-8 Chemical/Hose Truck. Before that was a 1921 White, also open cab. In 1977, this "Engine 4" was totaled when the airbrakes bled off (leak) and the truck rolled down a steep hill for a city block and crashed into a 200-year old tree with about an 8' diameter trunk. Since the open cab "Engine 4" was our first-in primary pumper, American LaFrance sold us a floor-model demonstrator, a 1250 gpm closed cab Century pumper. By the way, the replacement was also designated "Engine 4." As a result, we referred to them as "Old Engine 4" and "New Engine 4." Interesting point: We salvaged the big, old fashioned Federal Q mechanical siren from "Old Engine 4" and mounted it on the front bumper of "New Engine 4" as a nostalgic remembrance. There have been no more open cab apparatus in that department since the death of "Old Engine 4." As to tailboarding ... back before it was outlawed, I tailboarded our Engine 5 several miles to a fire in Colorado Springs (we ran as mutual aid) at a large candle factory fire in the dead of winter in the middle of a very cold night. I do not miss that. It took days to thaw out my face.

Very nice, John!

Neat!! Good luck! You're off to a great start.

Very nice!! Love those Skyscraper Chevys!!

That's pretty nice for a Pyro ... they're usually not so ... accurate! Good build!

Sweet!

Nice.

Spectacular!

Nice!

Excellent!!

Spectacular. Don't know how I missed it the first time around. I'm glad Jim McCall brought it back up so those of us who did (miss it previously) could catch it now.

Neat subject.

Looks great, Mark. Hope to see this one Saturday!