Rain again during the night and cool this morning with a lot of clouds. We left about noon for the Hall of Flame Fire Museum. A very interesting place. There are 5 galleries with various types of apparatus.
The unit in the photo is of a Jeffers Philadelphia style Pumper. American , 1844. The Philadelphia firm of Joel Bates built this engine in 1844 for the Rhode Island town of Pawtucket. Four years later Pawtucket fireman William Jeffers rebuilt it. Its design dates from about 1800 with the engines of a Philadelphia blacksmith named Pat Lyon. With two sets of pump handles manned by fifty firemen it can pump over 250 gallons per minute. Used by the volunteers of Pawtucket until about 1870, it was retired and successfully used in "musters" of firefighters in pumping competition with teams from towns all over New England. It was probably at this time that the engine was modified to be pulled by horses. Firemen rode on the horses since the engine lacked a seat. This one is very ornate in its finish with fine details on the wheels, etc. Not uncommon with units build and used in the United States. There are several units built and used in England. They are finely painted but they do not have the ornate designs found on units built in America.

Yesterday I posted some photos of an old bus conversion seen in Maine a few years ago. A friend of mine, in the "automobile know" responded with the following information. The unit is a 1949 General American with probably a vista cruiser roof added. It was available with a diesel or gas engine and air conditioning. It was built in the post war years but was not a big seller. Thanks Bob for the information. I had sent the photos to several other people and no one was familiar with it.