Pompier, Pump & Playpipe Society of Indiana

08/09/2024

Did American LaFrance buy their dash gauges from Crosley, the other way around or did they both buy them from a third party?

11/12/2019

An offhand question and a quick internet search at the dinner after last month's PPPSI meeting led us to discover that we had lost a former PPPSI member and good friend. Gary H. Hyde was a PPPSI member many years ago and many of you may remember him and his 1958 B-Model Mack Engine. Gary came from a fire-fighting family in New York, his father being a lifelong firefighter got him interested. Gary won a seat on the old Indiana Lottery TV Game show and won a substantial amount of money on it. With this windfall he paid off things like his house, car, etc. With some of his winnings he purchased his Mack pumper. Purchased from the original department in Palenville, NY he had it shipped to him in Noblesville and enjoyed caring for it. During his ownership he rebuilt the tired Chrysler Hemi engine and campaigned the muster circuit about the same time I did with my 1957 GMC/Central. Many's the Saturday morning would find us in convoy to a muster in Ohio or Southern Indiana. He sold his truck in order to purchase and restore a 1960 Brockway semi-tractor like the one he first drove as an over-the-road trucker. When finished this rig was stunning. His Mack still resides close-by, he sold it to someone in Southern Indiana or the Louisville area as I recall.
Sadly Gary developed cancer and according to his obituary he passed away at Life's Journey of Avon, which I believe is a Hospice. He lost his long time battle on January 27, 2019 having been preceded in death by his wife of many years, Mary Ann Hyde on November 30, 2018.
Visiting Gary at his home was always a delight, I spent one Christmas Eve with the two of them many years ago. He always had some great trucking stories to tell. Gary, you will be missed.

08/09/2019

I bought the attached slide not too terribly long ago on eBay because it had a 700 LaFrance in it. I just scanned it today and when I zoomed in on the 700, lo and behold the side of the truck says "Franklin, Ohio". This is not only the first 700 Quad delivered but I owned this very rig a few years ago, Sadly it's long gone but this image remains. From the looks of the two guys on the running board I'd have to say this is an in-service picture. It appeared to be at a car show or a muster.

04/05/2019

*** MEETING REMINDER ***

Our April Meeting will be TOMORROW, Saturday, April 6th, at the Salty Dog Museum. The address for the museum is: 4995 Cincinnati Brookville Road, Hamilton, OH 45013. Doors will open at 11:00 AM, and the meeting will follow around noon. Lunch will be provided. Directions were published in the April Playpipe.

03/02/2019

The next PPPSI meeting is scheduled for March 10th at the Wayne Township Fire Department Training Center. The SPAAMFAA winter convention is this weekend.

02/09/2019

Terri and John have their race trucks at the Indianapolis World of Wheels this weekend. Go out and see their fantastic display promoting our hobby to the "uninformed."

07/11/2018

The attached picture was posted on the IndyStar website with a group of photos from the 40s and it got me to wondering if any of these three Shop-Built rigs were still around.

07/01/2018

PPPSI has a new presence on the net. In addition to this page there's a site that's completely separate from Facebook for those of you who don't "do" Facebook. It's address is "WWW.PPPSI.CLUB" I suggest that you check both places when you surf the web and want to keep up to date on happenings within the club and the hobby itself.

P.P.P.S.I. is a club dedicated to preserving and collecting antique fire apparatus and memorabilia. We are the Indiana chapter of S.P.A.A.M.F.A.A. (Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus in America) a nationwide organization. Ownership of an antique piece of fi...

05/09/2018

It's a small world (but I still wouldn't want to paint it). The small northern Indiana town of North Webster is my happy place, my refuge when times get tough. I like to immerse myself in things from and of North Webster. I'm also a formet firefighter (although once a firefighter, always a firefighter) so combining these two interests leads me to this. Many years ago the town of North Webster was served by the 4-door cab International/Howe fire engine. When they placed it out of service I wanted to buy it, of course, but had no money with which to do so. Therefore it seemed to disappear. Several years later when I was making a road trip up to Webster I spotted it out in front of an auction facility about 5 miles or so south of town. The next time I went up there it was gone. I feared that perhaps some farmer had gotten ahold of it and cut the fire body off to make a farm truck as many farmers like to do because the chassis have so few miles on them. Fast forward to a dinner following a PPPSI meeting at Gray's Cafeteria in Mooresville where Scott Rollins makes a simple side remark. "We just bought a fire engine with North Webster on the door." I said "WHAT??!!" They had just bought the exact engine that I had feared was lost and while suffering from the usual neglect (running rough, brakes and exhaust needed from sitting) it is still together and in surprisingly good condition. First pic is as I saw it at the auction facility and the second is as she sits now at Scott's house.

07/02/2017

*** REMEMBER - Because of the 4th of July holiday, our Monthly Business Meeting for the month of July will be NEXT Sunday, July 9th. More details to follow.

05/06/2017

*** MAY MEETING REMINDER *** Our Monthly Business Meeting for May will take place on SATURDAY, MAY 13th. We will be meeting at 12:30 PM, at the Clarion Hotel: 505 Marriott Drive, Clarksville, IN 47129. We will take a tour of the hotel's accommodations for our 2019 SPAAMFAA National; tour the Ohio Riverfront where we plan on staging apparatus for the event; and end up at the Vintage Fire Museum. A map and further details will follow in the May Playpipe.

03/03/2017

*** Our monthly meeting will be TOMORROW, Saturday, March 4th, at 12:30 PM. We will be meeting at our usual Wayne Twp. location. ***