Mack Fire Truck Buff In Virginia

[fxfymn]

Greetings; Although I joined the forum in 2008 I guess I never did the introduction so here goes: I'm a retired firefighter who had 32 years on the job with Fairfax County, VA. I belong to ATHS, SPAAMFA, and ODHFS. I developed my interest in trucks from my Dad and from living on a street in Massachusetts where a quarry was located. I got to watch all sorts of dump trucks drive by each day where I would learn to identify the different makes and models.

When I was very young my Grandfather sold gravel off of his farm. We would stand at the top of the pit road and the drivers would stop to let me ride down into the pit with them and than back up where I would wait for the next truck to come along. As I recall they were all Autocars.

My Dad was a call firefighter in Ashland, MA and he took me to the fire house quite frequently where they had a 1945 Mack L85. I took my first ride in that Mack at age 4 and I've never gotten over the infection I developed that day. One of my treasures is an old photo of my Dad climbing up into that Mack.

My Dad owned a garage in the mid fifties where his best friend brought his B model to work on it. He had a series of B models and finally an H model that he used to haul freight as an O/O from Boston to Buffalo, NY. I was always climbing around those trucks and I fondly remember riding in the sleeper of the H when he would bring a trailer out from Boston in preperation for his haul to Buffalo.

My next Mack experience came in high school when my sister dated a guy who drove for Wellesley Trucking in Wellesley, MA. They had a couple of B-81s, a B-67, and a couple of L's as I recall. The rigs were black with red trim and well decked out with chrome and pin striping. The company owner insisted that the drivers keep the rigs very clean and I would occasionally go to the shop to help him clean his truck on Saturdays. I always wondered what happened to those rigs as they were absolutely spectacular.

Unfortunately Mack fire trucks were not big in the DC area, and we only had two in service while I was on the job; a 1968 C model and a 1972 CF AerialScope, one of the first made with tandem axles.

After lusting after several different Macks I finally bought a 1952 Type 75A which started its' life in the City of Richmond, VA. I found the rig through this site. (Thanks CFEST for the tip!) Like most fire trucks it's in real good shape and has low mileage. It has been garage stored for all of its life and has been re-painted since its retirement. I will be re-doing the brakes and going through the drive train in the next few weeks. Beyond that it needs to have most of the bright work re-chromed, which I'll be getting to over the next year.

Great site! Keep up the great work.

[Underdog]

Great stories and welcome to the forums! Everyone here has something to share, some good, some bad, but we are all basically harmless.

Gregg