FASNY Musuem of Firefighting

[Jim B]

Over the Fourth of July weekend, I spent some tome with my wife's family in the Catskill Mountains south of Albany, NY. One of the things I managed to get to was the Fireman's Association of the State of New York (FASNY) Museum of Firefighting in Hudson, NY. While I was expecting a small but nice museum I have to admit that I was plesently suprised by the size of the musuem & the variety of artifacts & apparatus on display. It was a little overwhelming (in a good way).

The museum covers firefighting from the Roman Empire through today. Artifacts include gear & tools from colonial New Amsterdam & New York to modern equipment. There were hand-drawn pumpers & carts, elaborate horse-drawn pumpers & steamers of the Voctorian & Edwardian eras, and a large collection of 20th century apparatus. The oldest apparatus is a 1731 Newsham Pumper. The museum even had several pumpers for kids of all ages to "gear-up & climb aboard". These vehicles included a 1972 Ford C800, a 1968 Ford F850, a 1952 Dodge brush truck, and a 1924 Afhens (I think). All in all it was very cool. Here are some pictures that I did manage to take.

Apparatus Room

1902 Hayes

1916 American-LaFrance

1950 Autocar

1965 American-LaFrance 900 Series

(yes, that's an American-LaFrance 700 Series behind the 900 Series)

It was a very nice trip, and I definately want to go back with the kids as i think they will enjoy all of the "hands-on" activities. Here is the museum's Website: http://www.fasnyfiremuseum.com/

[Danno]

Super nice!

Thanks, Jim

[Jim B]

Glad you like them. It was a really fun museum.

[Tesla]

Jim thanks for posting these pics...this equipment is in remarkable condition.

[Jim B]

You're welcome. Yes, the equipment really is in very good condition, considering the age of some of it. I believe most of the apparatus are actually driveable except for the Autocar; its engine siezed in 2001. I (obviously) didn't post any pictures of the hand pumpers or steamers, but they were really in remarkable condition as well. Some of them were absolutly stunning!

[Danno]

Hey, Jim,

Do they have any models of fire apparatus on display?

Thanks

[Jim B]

I didn't see any. Just actual apparatus & artifacts.

[Danno]

Gotcha. Thanks.

Sometimes those specialty museums attract all kinds of donations. I worked for several years (7+) at the National Hall of Flame Museum and we had a large quantity (I counted 400+) of apparatus models that various donors had contributed. They ranged from simplistic AMT American LaFrance builds to very sophisticated and impressive scratchbuilt models ~ and every possible permutation in between. Only one diorama was on public display, and it was not among the best stuff we had. I campaigned long and hard to set up displays of some of the better items, but the curator always dismissed the idea, insisting we were 'not a toy store.'

[Agent G]

The museum is very nice! I love the history on display.

"Not a toy store"

Now that is a close minded, ignorant comment if I ever heard one. Dumazz.........................

G

[Jim B]

Glad you liked the photos, Wayne.

While i agree that museums are not toy stores. well built scale models (in other words, not mine) do add a lot of variety to a museum display. Let's face it, museums have been displaying models since museums were created. They're a lot less expensive, and they take up a lot less room; and when placed in a diorama setting the viewer still gets the idea of scale & how the vehilce was used.

[Petetrucker07]

I agree jim, 100%. Too many museums to mention use models in some way shape or form.