History of Old Engine 37

                                         #86510

 Owners: Brett Peabody, Doug Wilson

Firefighters in the  Klein Volunteer Fire Department  Station 37  Spring, Texas

Ownership Summary:

Sidney Ohio; 1937-1975 

Shelby County Preservation Society; 1975-1985

Kevin Daley; Ohio 1985-1993

Dave Forsher; Texas 1993-1995

Chuck Buschardt; Lone Star Fire Museum, Houston Texas 1995-2002

Konicki, Peabody, Wilson; Spring, Texas 9/Feb/02-Forever

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The town of Sidney , the county seat of Shelby County, Ohio, is located on the Miami-Erie canal in Central Ohio .  Back in 1936, the town had not yet fully recovered from the Great Depression.  Nevertheless, the city fathers of Sidney decided that year to order one of the sleekest, most powerful, most expensive, and most technologically advanced fire apparatus produced in the pre-war years: a Seagrave "J-Model" custom triple combination pumper.  In mid-1937, amid some local fanfare, the Sidney Fire Department took delivery of this custom pumper from the nearby Seagrave plant in Columbus , Ohio .  This "J-Model" pumper, serial #86510, had a heart-shaped "Sweetheart Grill", an advanced two-stage version of Seagrave's pioneering centrifugal pump, and a modern-style throttle-operated pressure governing system.  The rig was placed into service as " Sidney   Engine 3" and housed in the downtown Sidney fire station located in what is now called the Monumental Building , right across the street from the Shelby County Courthouse.  The rig faithfully served the Sidney Fire Department for almost 40 years.   

When finally retired from the fire department in the early 1970’s, the rig was purchased by the Shelby County Firefighters Association.  A minor restoration was completed in this time frame by Chief Eugene Hoelscher, Robert Guey, Orville Schweitzer, and Harry Neller.    Then, a local firefighter and instructor at the local college by the name of Kevin Dailey discovered the old rig and approached the group about purchasing it.  After a little negotiating, Dailey traded the County Historical Society a used deck gun for the title to the pumper.  Dailey cleaned the old rig up and got it in good running condition.  To fit the pumper in his home garage, he had to remove the hose reels before backing in.  Dailey brought the rig out for holiday parades and local musters regularly until the 1990’s.

Then, in 1993, a professional rodeo cowboy and antique truck collector from Texas by the name of Dave Forsher was looking for a 1937 Seagrave "Sweetheart" pumper to match the 1937 "Sweetheart" ladder truck that he and others in the Houston Area Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Fire Apparatus (SPAAMFA) had restored a few years earlier.  Forsher was having difficulty finding a "Sweetheart" pumper because not many of that particular model were known to still exist, and only a few of the surviving examples were in restorable condition.  Forsher somehow found out about the rig that Kevin Dailey had rescued from behind the municipal building in Sidney .  One day, Forsher unexpectedly called Dailey on the telephone and offered him, sight-unseen, the remarkable sum of $8,000.00 for the rig.  Dailey was surprised and taken aback by the offer, but he reluctantly agreed over the telephone to sell the rusty old rig to Forsher for what he believed to be an incredible price.  The next day, a tractor-trailer pulled up to Dailey's house, the driver handed over $8,000.00, and Old Sidney Engine 3 was whisked away to Texas .  Forsher later regretted selling the pumper and always kept a photo of the rig on the wall of his dining room. 

When the rig got to Houston , Forsher placed it in a warehouse at the end of a runway near  Hobby Airport in south Houston where he and a number of other members of the Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motorized Fire Apparatus (SPAAMFA) maintained their antique apparatus.  For several years, local SPAAMFA members worked on "Old Sidney Engine 3" and used it for local fire events.  Somewhere along the way, somebody had repainted the rig and covered up the “Sidney Fire Department” name on the hood, as well as all of the elaborate gold leaf graphics that had originally decorated the truck.  Most local SPAAMFA members referred to the rig as the “Orange Truck” because the hue of the paint was noticeably more yellow and orange than the color of all the other rigs at local musters.  The orange color, Duco 48 H “Bright Red”, was actually the original color for this rig, and it was a very popular color choice in the northeast in the 1930’s and 1940’s.  But, this lighter color was never used very much in the South, and Old Sidney Engine 3 always stood out at Texas musters. 

Chuck Bushardt, a nationally-recognized antique fire truck expert and restoration guru, eventually adopted the rig and began to care for it in the SPAAMFA warehouse facility in Houston .  He completely rebuilt the engine and transmission, rewired the truck, and replaced most of the missing equipment and appliances.  Even though the rig was complete and mechanically sound, it was, by the year 2000, fairly tired-looking because of the years that it spent outdoors in Ohio .  At times, Buschardt considered stripping the rig of all of its chrome and accessories and using the parts to help restore the dozens of other rigs at the Houston SPAAMFA warehouse.  But, Buschardt could never bring himself to give up on the truck and he left it intact and well-cared-for until February of 2002, when he decided to sell it to make space in the warehouse.

In 2002, three volunteer firefighters from the North Houston area were looking for a hobby truck to purchase and restore.  One of the firefighters was a football coach at the local high school, the second was a geologist for a large oil exploration company in the Woodlands, and the third was an assistant district attorney.  All three volunteered together at the same fire station in north Harris County , Klein Fire Department Station 37 .  None of the three firefighters had ever restored an antique fire truck.  However, all three shared a common dream to have a commemorative rig in their fire station for parades and public relations events.  They combined their resources and came to Chuck Buschardt for advice on purchasing a restorable rig.  Buschardt talked to the trio (interviewed them, actually) and then took them to the warehouse where Old Sidney Engine 3 was stored.  Buschardt had placed a “for sale” sign on the windshield of the old engine only a few days prior.  The three firefighter's “Orange Truck”, which was manufactured in ’37, was destined by fate or some other cosmic force to go to KVFD Station 37 to become a PR rig.  They settled on a purchase price of $8,000.00.  The rig was pulled out of the SPAAMFA warehouse for the first time in many years, and the new owners drove Old Sidney Engine 3 about 45 miles to its new home in north Harris County.       

For several months, Old Engine 37 was a common sight on the streets around KVFD Station 37 .  The firefighters drove the truck to all local fire department events, holiday celebrations, birthday parties, and parades.  The rig never failed to start reliably, and, even though it could only make about 40 MPH on the open road, it accelerated through its four gears powerfully.  The old pumper was loads of fun, but it showed signs of considerable deterioration so, in the Summer of 2002, the three owners began a complete, body-off restoration of the rig.  A nice medium red was chosen as the new color.  The owners set out to return the rig, as much as possible, to its original factory specifications.  The truck was slowly torn down, and all the parts that could not be refreshed were replaced.  All of the nuts and bolts were replaced with new stainless steel fasteners.  The restoration continues today.   The owners hope to finish the rig in the Summer of 2004. 

The Seagrave "Sweetheart Grill" models began production in 1935.  This custom pumper, serial #86510, can pump up to 1250 gallons per minute.  The pumping equipment on this rig is very similar in design and performance to the modern class A pumpers now being used by today's fire departments.  

The J series 12 cylinder gasoline engine displaces 906 cubic inches and was introduced in 1932.  There are two spark plugs per cylinder because there are two redundant ignition systems that can be operated separately or in tandem.  This engine can produce about 250 horsepower, making the "J-Model" pumper more than twice as powerful as other commercial vehicles of its era.  Due to the unpredictable quality of gasoline back in the 1930's, the engine was designed to provide easy access to the valves located behind aluminum ports just below the spark plugs.  The crank and internal parts are all readily accessible through an aluminum cover located on the top of the engine.  The oil pan holds 5 gallons of oil.  Gas mileage averages about 2-3 miles per gallon.  Heavy duty and over-engineered, this engine is capable of turning the huge bronze double two-stage pump at maximum capacity all day and all night long.  However, the heat generated by the giant exhaust manifolds on the top of the engine is capable of melting the paint and warping the chrome strips that decorate the sides of the engine compartment hood. 

In the Summer of 2004, the former "Old Engine 3" of the Sidney, Ohio Fire Department will rumble back to life and take to the streets looking very much as she did in 1937 when she first entered the fire service.  Her hood will bear the name "Engine Company 37" to commemorate the year that she was built and to also acknowledge the fire station where she now resides.  She is a heroic tribute to the engineers and craftsmen who built her and to the firefighters who protect our communities.

(NO TAXPAYER FUNDS will be spent to return this rig to its original, pristine, and like-new condition.  But, taxpayers are more than welcome to come to our station and enjoy this marvelous machine.) 

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