RR fire brigades/depts.?

Who has info on these at various RRshops, specifically looking for info on the equipment used at the EMD La Grange plant?

The Boston & Maine had a fire brigade at its Billerica Shop complex including a fire engine. The last engine was bought new about 1946-47 and is pictured with the brigade in a B & M Employee Magazine when the engine was delivered. I don't know how long the brigade lasted, because by the time I started with the B & M in 1968, in Boston, most suburban towns had full-time departments and could fight serious industrial fires. However, the engine was still around in the early 1970s and someone, not a junkman, bought it during one of the bankruptcy Trustees' house cleanings.

Thanks, I have pics/info on a few, it seems in modern times (since WWII) many shops relied on municipal fds or a small force of employees using hand tools and hose reels. This was the case at the B&O Cumberland shops after 1908, and the WM shops at Ridgeley and Hagerstown. Contrast that with PRR's fd in Altoona, with multiple stations/apparatus and tied in with the city fd.

wm1200 wrote:Thanks, I have pics/info on a few, it seems in modern times (since WWII) many shops relied on municipal fds or a small force of employees using hand tools and hose reels. This was the case at the B&O Cumberland shops after 1908, and the WM shops at Ridgeley and Hagerstown. Contrast that with PRR's fd in Altoona, with multiple stations/apparatus and tied in with the city fd.

Southern Railway, up into the NS merger and beyond, had fire brigrades made of up shop employees and "fire stations" scattered thru out the property. We once experienced a boiler explosion out at the parts cleaning shed that destroyed the building and set it on fire. I was 40 feet away when it happened and, miraculously, escaped with only a scratch on my elbow! It was a deafening roar with planks, splinters, and fire erupting skyward, then falling all around me! The whistle on the shop building (built in 1916) began to scream while men poured out of the main shop, pulling fire hoses after them. I was stunned momentarily, and my ears rang because of the horrendous noise. I don't remember any local fire departments responding to this, and the fire was dealt with internally. They did, however, report the incident to the Fire Marshall who came and filled out a report. Other than than, our fire brigade responded to a couple minor fires caused by welding sparks and several trackside fires caused by passing trains. The fire brigades were abolished in the mid-90's.

GF

Thanks, Gadfly. If you were at the Spencer NC Southern shops, did you know that the shops built a few fire engines for surrounding communities? This was done during the late 1940's-mid50's, in 1995 an acquaintance found and photographed one of the surviving trucks, still being used by the Faith,NC VFD.
I have also documented and obtained photos of a fire engine built by the Cumberland,MD B&O shops for a WVA VFD, and another truck built by the Cumberland&Pennsylvania shop in MT. Savage,MD.

wm1200 wrote:Thanks, Gadfly. If you were at the Spencer NC Southern shops, did you know that the shops built a few fire engines for surrounding communities? This was done during the late 1940's-mid50's, in 1995 an acquaintance found and photographed one of the surviving trucks, still being used by the Faith,NC VFD.
I have also documented and obtained photos of a fire engine built by the Cumberland,MD B&O shops for a WVA VFD, and another truck built by the Cumberland&Pennsylvania shop in MT. Savage,MD.

The shop I referred to was the Roadway Shops at 312 Liddell St, Charlotte, NC. It is the main repair shop for track machinery. I didn't know about Spencer.

GF

I found this photo on line and it shows that Conrail had a fire department at there HOLLIDAYSBURG, PA shop the photo was taken - 07 /17 /1986

Here is a custom-built in-plant firetruck once used in a General Motors Allison Div plant. I'd heard rumors one or more similar units were deployed in the EMD La Grange plant, but I cannot confirm.

Incidentally under the firefighting equipment it is an International-Harvester/Farmall "Super A" farm tractor.

...FB