Over the Fourth of July weekend, I spent some tome with my wife's family in the Catskill Mountains south of Albany, NY. One of the things I managed to get to was the Fireman's Association of the State of New York (FASNY) Museum of Firefighting in Hudson, NY. While I was expecting a small but nice museum I have to admit that I was plesently suprised by the size of the musuem & the variety of artifacts & apparatus on display. It was a little overwhelming (in a good way).

The museum covers firefighting from the Roman Empire through today. Artifacts include gear & tools from colonial New Amsterdam & New York to modern equipment. There were hand-drawn pumpers & carts, elaborate horse-drawn pumpers & steamers of the Voctorian & Edwardian eras, and a large collection of 20th century apparatus. The oldest apparatus is a 1731 Newsham Pumper. The museum even had several pumpers for kids of all ages to "gear-up & climb aboard". These vehicles included a 1972 Ford C800, a 1968 Ford F850, a 1952 Dodge brush truck, and a 1924 Afhens (I think). All in all it was very cool. Here are some pictures that I did manage to take.

[u]Apparatus Room[/u]




[u]1902 Hayes[/u]


[u]1916 American-LaFrance[/u]


[u]1950 Autocar[/u]


[u]1965 American-LaFrance 900 Series[/u]

(yes, that's an American-LaFrance 700 Series behind the 900 Series)

It was a very nice trip, and I definately want to go back with the kids as i think they will enjoy all of the "hands-on" activities. Here is the museum's Website: http://www.fasnyfiremuseum.com/

Jim

Looks quite comprehensive. When I first opened up the thread I thought you were talking about the Firefighting Musuem in the Cradle if Aviation on Long Island (wasn't reading very closely). My dad's also a volunteer firefighter with the Massapequa Fire District.

It was comprehensive. I'd like to go back & be able to spend more time there.

Jim