PORTRAIT OF A RETIRED FIRE TRUCK
Old Number 2 was one of the long-serving fire trucks in our town. Almost 20 years ago, she was replaced, but no one could bear to scrap her, so she was put out to pasture … literally. Her rusting hulk stands in the empty field across from the post office — where she remains, even today, though now because the rust has started to win the battle, she is fenced off for safety’s sake.
Old fire truck wheel
A Photo a Week Challenge | Ruins
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Categories: #gallery, #Photography, Cars and Trucks, Photo A Week Challenge
THE FIRE TRUCK WHO SERVED AND GOT SAVED – Marilyn Armstrong 
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
What a fantastic rusting relic that is.
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Awesome, love that you took photos of it and it is a page out of time!
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Thank you. I’m glad I took pictures because it’s disintegrating pretty fast at this point. Not much left to shoot, these days.
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Exactly, so all the more precious you have what you took. They are dare I say, all the more appealing because of that fact, and the character is outstanding!
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As sad as it might seem, it is wonderful to have things like in our lives to remind us of our history and keep touch with the past. Wonderful images, Marilyn. Thanks for joining the challenge!
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You’re more than welcome Nancy. If you hadn’t made me go looking, I’d never have posted the pictures … and they deserved an airing 🙂
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Yes they do. You have an incredible eye, and I love seeing your photos. 🙂
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Thank you so much!
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#2 will do. I bet it is a collector’s item alright.
Leslie
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It would have been — ten years ago. Now, it’s so badly deteriorated, I doubt it could be restored. There is such a thing as “too late” and this is one of these.
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It is a shame they hadn’t had a place it could have ‘retired’ to. Like a museum of historical safety equipment. But, at least it has become a legend for the community. I remember driving past a school house for several years that slowly decomposed into a crumpled heap. I would photograph it periodically. Sadly, I wasn’t organized about keeping the pictures, so I have nothing but memories now that they finally razed its resting place.
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We have a decomposing church in town. I had hoped someone would step up and save it, but I think it’s too late now. I have a lot of pictures. You just reminded me I ought to take some more because eventually, they will have to tear it down. Pity. It’s a lovely old (early 1800s) church. A classic.
As for preservation, very few small towns have the resources to preserve much of anything. Even big cities like New York and Boston rely on private contributors for preservation project .. or when it applies, federal funding. We don’t even have a mayor and there aren’t enough wealthy people in town for the number of old places that need and deserve preserving. I’m pretty sure this is true all over the world, not just here.
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Come on! Save that thing! It’s rotting out there and it’s a gem!
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It’s now part of the landscape, part of the legend that grows with each passing year.
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And it is well past saving at this point.
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I’m sniffling for that poor neglected fire truck. If I only had a million dollars she’d be riding proud in next year’s parade. Give you guys a ride while the throngs cheer!
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If I had the money, I’d have salvaged her and would buy the old church in town and fix it, too. Sadly, we don’t have that kind of money. The church bothers me even more than the fire engine. It’s a beautiful, old classic white clapboard church with a clock in the tower. It’s beautiful and it’s falling apart.
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When I was in Nova Scotia I saw this old church and I felt the same way. It all boarded up and there was a For Sale sign outside. I had never seen a Church for sale in my life. It just struck that there was something wrong about that.
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The church of which I speak is in the middle of town. Exactly in the middle and one of the earliest churches in a town of many churches. It has been for sale for at least 10 years. But it’s a very small church. It has no parking. No heating. It has plumbing, sort of — and electricity, sort of. The amount it would cost to renovate probably exceeds its value to anyone as a church. If we had money, I’d buy it and turn it into a home, but no matter how you look at it, making is habitable all year round would be hugely expensive. It’s an architectural treasure and would make a lovely little museum, but no one is willing to take the challenge. A terrible pity.
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Sad. I see a lot of things go by and get torn down that should have been saved. There was a huge sandstone school downtown with incredible wooden staircases and beautiful doorways – and amazing building that could be built these days – that they tore down. Didn’t even consult the public on it. They built a bus depot there. Same with several old Theatres around here that used to palaces. Bet it’s the same down there. Shameful.
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It is too bad that they did not try to take care of it. Maybe a good coat of wax now and then would have helped to preserve it much longer.
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It had been replaced and was too old to sell. The best they could afford was to not send it to a junkyard. I think the town could have gotten some good money for it, even “dead.” Old fire engines have lots of reusable parts. But the fire department guys are sentimental, so there she sits amongst the wildflowers in the summer and the snow in winter, watching over our town. Or, at least the post office.
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