Going Back In Time – Roanoke, Virginia
By Mike Sanders mnsand@visuallink.com
Those of us who are fire apparatus enthusiasts and know the state of Virginia most likely think about the “Battleship Gray” colored fire trucks that Roanoke once had in service. In this column I am going to ask for help and feedback from our readers in helping to fill in blanks. Some of the slides and photographs I have in my collection from Roanoke have some question marks in terms of information, so any input is greatly appreciated.
Personally, I love the apparatus from the 1950’s, 1960’s, and 1970’s. Roanoke operated a variety of unique equipment during this time frame and I will be able to highlight some of those trucks in this column. Unlike previous columns, I will provide some more detailed information on the truck, such as the serial number. I am hoping that this will provide additional information so that more history can be learned regarding the Roanoke apparatus.
Most of these photographs were taken during 1973 and 1974, so for many of these trucks, their service life to the Roanoke fire department was probably coming to an end. It is nice to see that old Rescue 1 from Roanoke has been restored and is a magnificent example of the uniqueness of the apparatus in Roanoke.
Let’s get started…
1946 Seagrave marked as Engine 18. A beautiful example of the Battleship Gray. I have been told the color gray was a result of the wartime efforts. Equipped with a 750 gallon per minute pump and carried serial number C7070. I believe this engine also ran as Engine 7 and Engine 6.
1948 Seagrave marked as Engine 19. This Seagrave had a slightly larger pump at 1000 gallons per minute and had serial number D-0750. I am curious about how much water these Seagrave engines held.
1949 Ward LaFrance (WLF). This one has an interesting history. The information I have was that the ’49 WLF was originally assigned to Engine 7 and equipped with a 750 gallon per minute pump. It carried serial number S024551. Here is the interesting part of this trucks history – in 1976, it was converted into a ladder truck (a city service ladder truck?) because of land annexation and the need for an additional ladder truck for Roanoke. If this is the case, it would be nice to see what the conversion looked like.
1950 Corbitt/Oren running as Engine 11. Oren’s have a soft spot for Virginia fire truck lovers because Oren built their trucks in Roanoke and had a good reputation. Many Oren’s could be found (and still can be) at Virginia fire departments, and it was nice to see the Oren home town using Oren. Engine 11 had a 1000 gallon per minute pump and carried serial number 1000A-1157. It also ran as Engine 5 and Engine 17.
1950 Corbitt/Oren marked as Engine 15. Another example of a beautiful Oren fire truck. Equipped with a 1000 gallon per minute pump and carried Oren serial number 1000A-1155. I am unsure if this was originally Engine 1.
1950 Maxim 65’ ladder truck. Roanoke owned two of these ladder trucks, and I believe both were originally painted in battleship gray. Obviously, this photograph was taken later on in its career at Roanoke and had been repainted to lime/white. The Maxim ladder trucks carried serial numbers 1728 and 1729 and I believe were originally assigned to Ladder’s 2 and 6. One of the Maxim’s was eventually sold to the Pennington Gap VFD in southwest Virginia.
1950 Dodge tanker. I do not know who built the body of this tanker truck or if it was acquired from another Roanoke agency (i.e. department of public works). It held 1,500 gallons of water and was eventually sold to a local concrete company.
1952 Corbitt/Oren Rescue Truck. In my opinion, this is one of the most unique Oren fire trucks built. This truck served in a variety of capacities while in service at Roanoke – Communication truck, manpower unit, Rescue Squad, light truck, etc. The back cab area had a semicircular desk for operations. Today, Squad 1 is owned by Karl Ehlshlager of the Old Dominion Historical Fire Society (ODHFS) and can be seen at many ODHFS activities across the state. Karl keeps the Oren squad housed at the historic downtown station in Roanoke – quite a fitting house for this unique truck. The first photograph of Squad 1 was taken in 1974. The second photograph was taken at the 2004 Apple Blossom firefighters parade in Winchester when Karl brought his truck.
The second photograph was taken at the 2004 Apple Blossom firefighters parade in Winchester when Karl brought his truck.
1963 International V-196A/Oren. Originally Engine 9 and Engine 18 as reserve. In this photograph, it is marked as Engine 902 and running as a reserve. It was equipped with a 750 gallon per minute pump and held 500 gallons of water. It carried Oren serial number 1778.
1968 Seagrave 100’ tiller marked as Truck 1. It must have been quite a sight watching this Seagrave ladder respond from the historic downtown station. Truck 1 carried serial number R-4392.
1969 International CO-8190/Oren. Roanoke owned a 1969 model and a 1970 model. I believe this photograph of the 1969 model was originally assigned to Engine 7. The 1970 International/Oren served as Engine 1 and Squad 1. The 1969 Oren carried Oren serial number 2706 and had a 750 gallon per minute pump. The 1970 Oren had a 1000 gallon per minute pump and serial number 2843. They had small water tanks, 150 gallons.
1972 International Loadstar 1600/Oren tanker. I had the opportunity to photograph Tanker 10 back in 2007 while in service at the Roanoke airport. I am not sure what the status is of this tanker, but got the impression that it would not be on the Roanoke roster for much longer. Tanker 10 is equipped with a 750 gallon per minute pump. There is confusion about the water tank size. I have been told 1500 gallons and 2000 gallons. This Oren truck carries serial number 3163.
I hoped you enjoyed a step back in time at Roanoke. I have been fortunate to know Robert Kimball and William Schilling and acquire these photographs taken a number of years ago. Although both men are gone, they had an enthusiasm in sharing the apparatus history of Virginia fire departments.
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Mike,
Great article! As you know, I am impartial to Roanoke since it is my home department…
Here is some info I have on this apparatus…some might be helpful. Although I think we might have the same apparatus roster from Roanoke.
1946 Seagrave – originally E7. The “18″ would have meant it was a reserve piece. Now we identify reserves as R-90#. Sold to Lynn Thomas in Roanoke, VA. unsure of the status now.
1948 Seagrave – One of 23 pieces of apparatus bought that year.
1949 Ward LaFrance – I don’t have any record or photos of this as a ladder truck. However, some other apparatus of the era were retrofitted with a 45′ or 50′ ladder on the top via ladder rack and might have been considered ladder trucks at the time. I have a photo of this one outside of #7 in its day. I believe that one of our members found this truck sitting next to a barn at a farm near Roanoke. I have yet to get out to see it. At the end of its life in Roanoke it was E16…a reserve.
1950 – Corbitt/Oren – When labeled as E17 it would have been a reserve.
1950 Maxim’s – The one at station 7 would have been Ladder 4. Ladder 4 (shop # 047) became R-901. Ladder 2? (shop 049) became R-902. I also have shots of Ladder 4 in front of station 9. They might have moved it there when they made Ladder 9. I also have pictures of one of these operating downtown at a fire…when it was gray.
1950 Dodge Tanker – This was sold to Concrete Ready mix in Roanoke. Tankers were not used much in Roanoke. At one point, this one sat in the middle of Historic Station 1. They had apparatus parked 4 wide inside (it is a two bay, two door station).
That is some of the information I was able to find. We will need to catch up sometime and you can check out some photos of these trucks in action if you don’t have them already!
Great work!
A couple of updates I have received that I wanted to share.
Rhett – thank you for your information. I believe the 1949 WLF engine was retrofitted with a ladder rack to carry some of the larger ladders as you mentioned. I came across a photo with the rack and ladders.
My thanks to Nollie W. Neill, Jr. who advised that a 1950 Corbitt/Oren is privately owned in Greensboro, NC.
From firetruckblog.com – Dennis Porter says “I believe the remnants of a 1926 Seagrave Surbanite from Roanoke are in Denton Maryland. Parts off engine were used to restore Denton’s 1924 Seagrave. It was acquired from a farmer in the area off a pasture who said it was from Roanoke and had been driven onto a playground and left for children until becoming a hazard and then towed there. I believe it was around 1985.”
My thanks for all of the additional information. Mike Sanders
please if you would send me pictures of the mentioned fire apparatus in this article.Growing up in Roanoke VA i remember seeing these old fire apparatus responding yo fire calls.This means a whole lot to me.My e-mail is robertvaden@gmail.com.Also my cellphone # is 540-312-9299.My address is 1609 Lancing Dr.Salem Va 24153 APT.283.
Im sorry my address is 1609 Lancing Dr.Apt.293 Salem Va 24153.Please would someone contact me about the pictures of the archive firefighting apparatus you posted.Im very interested in those photos and love to have a picture of each.THANK YOU.
Robert,
Contacting you via email.
Most of the Seagrave engines held 125 gallons, the old tanker 2 was build by Clinton Mills from what I heard, he’s still living in Garden City, it came from another Dept, it was called the sludge wagon. That may have been because it was a pile of —-. No one like to drive it.
By the way the 36-38 Seagraves had V12 engines and 24 spark plugs with duel Mags.
When I went to work in 1972 one Maxim ladder was in service at 7 Station, the other was reserve ladder until Roanoke annex. county to Salem limits, then it was painted and put in service as ladder 4 at 9 station on 24th street. The Ward-Lafrance was there as the ladder, they just put ladder racks on top of it. This was the first due in ladder at the Spanish Trace fire in 1976.