Detroit Firemen's Fund 1937 Seagrave Caisson Rig

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Dean Wilkinson

Early this morning Walt McCall and I travelled over to the Detroit Fire Department Apparatus shop to meet up with Russ Dalziel and fellow members of Box 42 to view and photo the completed 1937 Seagrave Caisson Rig. The Detroit Firemen's Fund member started this ambitious project several years ago to restore the former Detroit Engine 13 rig to be used as funeral caisson throughout the state. The body of the 37 Seagrave was removed from the Seagrave chassis and retrofitted to the chassis of a late model Freightliner that is powered by a Mercedes Benz 4 cylinder turbo charged engine and an automatic transmission, enabling the rig to travel long distances under its own power at highway speeds. I think the pictures below will give you a good idea of the great job that was done as it would be hard for the average person to know that this is not the original chassis without opening the hood or crawling under the rig. And yes, it still has (limited) pumping ability.

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Very nice restoration job they have done,also like your rig,can't wait to see it in person,yet I am a little leery of seeing you and Walt on the loose in Detroit without Len there to keep you on the straight and narrow..:)
 
Beautiful rig! It is fabulous what they have done to preserve and utilize such a piece of firefighting history. Thank you for sharing the pictures with us!
 
Dean Wilkinson said:
Early this morning Walt McCall and I travelled over to the Detroit Fire Department Apparatus shop to meet up with Russ Dalziel and fellow members of Box 42 to view and photo the completed 1937 Seagrave Caisson Rig. The Detroit Firemen's Fund member started this ambitious project several years ago to restore the former Detroit Engine 13 rig to be used as funeral caisson throughout the state. The body of the 37 Seagrave was removed from the Seagrave chassis and retrofitted to the chassis of a late model Freightliner that is powered by a Mercedes Benz 4 cylinder turbo charged engine and an automatic transmission, enabling the rig to travel long distances under its own power at highway speeds. I think the pictures below will give you a good idea of the great job that was done as it would be hard for the average person to know that this is not the original chassis without opening the hood or crawling under the rig. And yes, it still has (limited) pumping ability.

7035902667_40a54145e8_c.jpg


6889810766_842b99baa7_c.jpg


6889813618_25407da422_c.jpg


7035910999_b6eb2f4b1d_c.jpg


7035913143_4ee1231773_b.jpg


6889821808_979d120c1c_b.jpg


7035919463_fb4658fce2_b.jpg


6889828504_5a0d5ce32e_b.jpg


6889831618_496519eb1e_b.jpg


6889834394_6d5aacbc32_b.jpg
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Dean It was great to see you and walt in the " D" I am glad Both rigs turned out so well (68 Dodge & Engine 13). You guys are always welcome to our Dinner and a Movie held the 2nd Saturday of each month.
See you guys soon at an event nearby

Russ
 
I posted these once before, but they were hosted on my old site and are probably gone now.

Under construction:

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Don't know the girl, and if I did you wouldn't be getting her digits from me...
 
Fantastic photos ! Thanks for sharing.

The fire engine is very cool ! So is the Dodge !

I think you would never know it has a new chassis by the pictures.
I wouldn't have known for sure.


As for the hottie in Todd's pictures... :thumb:


Thanks to all,
Darren
 
Beautiful truck! (and ambulance!) Is the back open or is there some kind of door or cover for the rear for highway travel?
 
John Burchfield said:
Beautiful truck! (and ambulance!) Is the back open or is there some kind of door or cover for the rear for highway travel?
Click to expand...

The DFD bought these Seagrave "sedan pumpers" through 1965. Basically the same over the years except for a few styling changes, the rear was open. There were no booster tanks. This photo of a later model shows how the rear facing crew seat was accessed by a walkway between the hose beds:
 

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