Callaway of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who used it for parades for several years and then sold it to Vincent K. Greensboro firemen used this four ton machine from 1904 until the 1920’s in everyday service and thereafter used it on big fires through the 1930’s as a reserve engine. At the fire the pump was connected to a water supply and the big steam engine would soon be pumping fifteen barrels of water every minute on the fire. The fire box of the big boiler was prepared with a fire ready to light and the boiler would raise operating steam in three minutes from cold water. The horses and men would run to the fire engine and with a few quick snaps of the suspended harness, the horses were hitched and the engine would swing out of the station on its way to the fire within 25 seconds of the sounding of the bell. A fire alarm received by telegraph from a corner fire box would automatically sound a bell, turn on the lights and release the horses from their stalls. These highly trained animals would go to their places ahead of the engine by themselves on the sounding of an alarm. It was drawn by two horses, stabled in the fire house with the engine. It would supply easily three large fire hoses of 2 1/2 inch size with nozzles of 1 1/8 inch opening. “This engine is a double steam cylinder, double water pump machine, known as a Second Size Steam Fire Engine, which would pump 750 gallons per minute at a pump pressure of 120 pounds per square inch. It is, therefore, an important machine in regard to the manufacturer’s own history. This engine was of the LaFrance pattern and was the 496th such engine built by the LaFrance Company, but was the first engine built under the new company name and might well have been numbered American LaFrance No. This company thereafter became known as the American LaFrance Fire Engine Company with a factory in Elmira. It is a horse drawn steam pumping engine built shortly after the merger of the American Fire Engine Company of Cincinnati OH and the LaFrance Fire Engine Company of Elmira NY.
“Built for the Greensboro, North Carolina Fire Department in 1904. This text and these images were copied from the auction listing.
Here’s a history of American LaFrance steam engine #496, built in 1904 for Greensboro, NC, and later owned by private collectors in North Carolina and Florida, and finally residing at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Ohio. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Share on Pinterest
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