I will soon begin a long journey accross the

[justintime2]

Back in 1986 the FD bought two identical Pierce fire engines. They were picked up in Florida and driven back home clear accross the country. Well they have stretched beyond their life expectency and will be replaced by two brand new indentical custom Pierce's. We called the first set the "twins" and so shall these be too. It's interesting looking at all the old photo albums of when the department first started, the old apparatus, families, BBQ's, fires, and the trip accross the country getting the new engines.

Well, I was one of three people, besides the Chief, selected to fly from WA state to Florida and pick these bad boys up. We will spend a day doing aparatus orientation and pump training with the factory and then drive them home accross the good old US of A. We leave on 3-20-2005 and have planned for 7-10 days. I will post up some pics when I return for those that are interested in the "other" toy we all loved when a child. Some of us never grew up!

Not quite the same as ours but a general idea!

 

[Relsek]

That's cool, traveling is fun.

 

[TruWrecks]

Might go faster if you could actually drag the truck behind your Busa! But I think you'll need a much wider rear tire, and a few thousand extra HP to do that!

Have fun. Drive safe.

 

[shenoyp]

Have fun... Be safe

 

[BigBSBusa]

Too bad you can't have the Busa towed behind for when you aren't driving!

 

[MrGxr]

Have a time... if you come thru New Mexico, let me know. My Brother is a Fireman here and it would be a hoot to meet up and say hey... let me know.

 

[A'Busa'd]

Where in FL are you going to?

 

[Relsek]

Where in FL are you going to?

They are probably going up by Ocala, I think there is a place there where they build those trucks. You can see it from I-75.

Kevin

 

[DAB]

Not quite the same as ours but a general idea!

I want one.

 

[justintime2]

Where in FL are you going to?

Not quite certain yet but will get the game plan on Monday and let you know!

 

[Revlis]

Damn that's wild. You would think they would just Flatbed these bad boys. I mean I know they are big and heavy but still seems like alot of wear and tear.

Now do you get to run the lights and Sirens while your out there? Might help with the progress...

Have a good trip man.

 

[bacharles]

I agree with Rev (don't I always?

). That does seem like long trip. Probably spent somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 to 700 thousand dollars for these rigs and won't pony up another few grand to have them flatbedded in?

I guess that's what the call one of the "perks" of the job huh?

Have a safe trip dude.

 

[justintime2]

Driving the rigs back is actually part of the break in and certification of the rigs. They have to go through extensive testing before we can put them in service. The drive back both breaks it in and gives us a chance to find out if anything is wrong mechanically. They are actually being driven to Oregon where they will stay for a month while outfitted with all the electronics, comm gear light packages, etc. If something were to be found after that then it's certification for service would be delayed again why it was then fixed mechanically. This way if there is anything wrong they can get it fixed before then. A complicated process indeed. All the GPM flow rates, pressures, and plubming must work flawlessly.

 

[Revlis]

Yeah I gotcha makes alot of sense and tose engines do HAVE TO WORK... have a good trip.



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