This forum is for collectors of emergency vehicle models to discuss any aspect of the industry. Feel free to post comments on current releases, future models, items for sale/trade, or items wanted.
Dave Organ has done a fantastic job with this site. His relentless pursuit to catalog and photograph all of these models is amazing. Dave is an encyclopedia of apparatus knowledge. For Firepics he has done some excellent spotters guides.
You have two of the rigs from Tacoma that I have not seen photos of with the snorkle on them. I have seen them after they changed them over to straight sticks. T-3 (with the stick on it) ran as a reserve rig for a few years until they replaced the then current T-3 Mack mid-mount with a new Darley rearmount. The Mack was then used as the reserve rig and the ALF was disposed of.
Steve, I don't blame you one bit, the GDOC/CS is something to get excited about. It would be an excellent issue, but "Others" would probably do the Ranger cab version, and send it to Liquidators, when it didn't sell. You have to remember, the Brother-in-Law is still running their Marketing and R&D Section. LOL
North Dakota only had one Aero Chief in the state...and that was for just a while. The town of Devils Lake, ND, purchased it used from Westmont, Illinois and had it in service at Devils Lake for just a few years before selling it off (once again) to a town (unknown) in South Dakota.
The specs...1250 GPM/No Tank/90' Boom/Diesel-Stick. Serial # not recorded.
The only other Aero Chief I've worked with was in the town of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota (just outside the Twin Cities) that I'm sure is now long gone...
My American LaFrance 900 Series Book has quite a few photographs of the Aero Chief that went to Juneau, Alaska, being put through its paces at the factory in Elmira...I also included copies of some early Aero Chief advertising literature in the book as well.
And, just for the record, the Aero Chief was supposed to be called the 'Strato-Chief', and I've got a copy of the 11/20/61 letter sent nationwide by ALF announcing this. When the name change actually took place prior to the first delivery is unknown.