America's Fire Engine: The American-LaFrance 700 Series, 1947-1959

As World War II drew to a close, America's premier fire apparatus builder--the American-LaFrance Foamite Corp. of Elmira, N.Y.--bet the company's future on its radical new cab-ahead-of-engine 700 Series fire engines. In a spectacular gamble to capture the superheated postwar market, all of the company's existing products were discontinued and its customers were essentially told to "take it or leave it." This bold gamble paid off and 700 Series rigs soon filled firehouses across the nation, sweeping aside all competitors and ultimately defining the breakthrough 700 as "America's Fire Engine."

This is the first comprehensive history of the game-changing 700. Individual chapters detail not only each of the eight major vehicle types but also the origins, design controversies, manufacturing, and marketing of the 700 and short-lived transitional 800 Series. The book includes a meticulously researched registry of every 700/800 series apparatus delivered, supported by many interpretive tables detailing production, specifications and major fire department fleets.

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America's Fire Engine: The American-LaFrance 700 Series, 1947-1959

As World War II drew to a close, America's premier fire apparatus builder--the American-LaFrance Foamite Corp. of Elmira, N.Y.--bet the company's future on its radical new cab-ahead-of-engine 700 Series fire engines. In a spectacular gamble to capture the superheated postwar market, all of the company's existing products were discontinued and its customers were essentially told to "take it or leave it." This bold gamble paid off and 700 Series rigs soon filled firehouses across the nation, sweeping aside all competitors and ultimately defining the breakthrough 700 as "America's Fire Engine."

This is the first comprehensive history of the game-changing 700. Individual chapters detail not only each of the eight major vehicle types but also the origins, design controversies, manufacturing, and marketing of the 700 and short-lived transitional 800 Series. The book includes a meticulously researched registry of every 700/800 series apparatus delivered, supported by many interpretive tables detailing production, specifications and major fire department fleets.

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America's Fire Engine: The American-LaFrance 700 Series, 1947-1959

America's Fire Engine: The American-LaFrance 700 Series, 1947-1959

by Walter M.P. McCall, Alan M. Craig
America's Fire Engine: The American-LaFrance 700 Series, 1947-1959
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America's Fire Engine: The American-LaFrance 700 Series, 1947-1959

America's Fire Engine: The American-LaFrance 700 Series, 1947-1959

by Walter M.P. McCall, Alan M. Craig

Overview

As World War II drew to a close, America's premier fire apparatus builder--the American-LaFrance Foamite Corp. of Elmira, N.Y.--bet the company's future on its radical new cab-ahead-of-engine 700 Series fire engines. In a spectacular gamble to capture the superheated postwar market, all of the company's existing products were discontinued and its customers were essentially told to "take it or leave it." This bold gamble paid off and 700 Series rigs soon filled firehouses across the nation, sweeping aside all competitors and ultimately defining the breakthrough 700 as "America's Fire Engine."

This is the first comprehensive history of the game-changing 700. Individual chapters detail not only each of the eight major vehicle types but also the origins, design controversies, manufacturing, and marketing of the 700 and short-lived transitional 800 Series. The book includes a meticulously researched registry of every 700/800 series apparatus delivered, supported by many interpretive tables detailing production, specifications and major fire department fleets.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781476689203
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date: 11/28/2022
Pages: 390
Product dimensions: 8.30(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

An internationally known fire apparatus historian, Walter M.P. McCall has written 22 automotive history books--12 of them on fire apparatus. His two encyclopedias on the subject are considered the “bible” of the field. He has also written numerous articles and features for national and regional fire apparatus and emergency vehicle hobby publications. He lives in Windsor, Ontario. Growing up a short distance from the Toronto Fire Department’s Yorkville Avenue station made Alan M. Craig an early fan of the American-LaFrance 700 Series and launched a half century of fire apparatus photography and his 35-year career in emergency services. As a fire service historian, he has spent four decades documenting not only American-LaFrance but also the Toronto Fire Department’s motorized fire apparatus, and the Department’s Fire Alarm Telegraph system. He lives in Palm Springs, California.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vi

Delivery Lists, Production Tables and 700 and 800 Series Deliveries viii

Preface 1

Chapter 1 Prologue 5

Chapter 2 Genesis: Bringing the 700 Series to Market 9

Chapter 3 Pumpers 21

Chapter 4 Son of 700: The Ill-Fated 800 Series 51

Chapter 5 Industrial Foamite Airfoam Pumpers 59

Chapter 6 Airport Crash-Fire-Rescue Pumpers 72

Chapter 7 High Ambitions: The American-LaFrance Steel Aerial Ladder 88

Chapter 8 Straight-Frame Aerial Ladders 101

Chapter 9 Tractor-Drawn Aerial Ladders 123

Chapter 10 Quads and City Service Ladder Trucks 152

Between pages 170 and 171 are 16 color plates containing 34 photographs

Chapter 11 Squads and Other Specials 171

Chapter 12 Engines and Pumps 188

Chapter 13 Elmira's Canadian Cousins 198

Chapter 14 Major Fleets: The Best Customers 212

Chapter 15 Home of the 700: The Elmira Factory 220

Chapter 16 Promoting the Product: 700 Series Advertising and Sales Brochures 227

Chapter 17 700 Series Model Designations 238

Chapter 18 The Details: The 700 Series Spotter's Guide 243

Chapter 19 America's Fire Engine: How the 700 Series Affected Our Culture 254

Chapter 20 Epilogue 260

Chapter 21 By the Numbers: Synopsis of Production 266

Chapter 22 Registry of Deliveries 274

Bibliography 361

Index 363

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