Duluth,
South Shore & Atlantic Railway Fire-Fighting Tank Car
Fires along the right of way of railway lines, especially in
thinly-settled localities, are serious matters and the cause of much
anxiety to officers and loss of property. To meet this condition the
Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railway has built, or rather
rebuilt, an old tank car into a very efficient fire-tighting machine.
The tank was reclaimed after it had been through a fire, and fitted
with platform and railings about the dome and then mounted on an
underframe and trucks.
(from a 1920 magazine,
in the public domain)
The car is fitted with two duplex pumps and has both steam and water
connections at each end. The tool and supply boxes carry a complete
outfit of nozzles, wrenches and other necessary tools, as well as 1,000
ft. of 25-in.
water hose. At present the car is all that there is of the
fire-fighting plant ; but, owing to the efficiency of its operation and
the value of the work that was done
during the past season, it is the intention to have an equipment car
fitted up for the use and accommodation of the crew when it is out on
the road.
As a large proportion of the engines of the road are fitted with a hose
connection on the injector discharge pipe, and also carry a length of
water hose, the combination of this car and a locomotive makes it
possible to play three streams of water on a fire at the same time. In
the illustration, it will be seen that one stream only is at work from
the car, the other being shut off. The upper peninsula of Michigan has
been the scene of some of the worst forest fires in the history of the
country, and the past summer has been one of the driest on record,
with the result that, for two months, fires were raging almost
constantly, and there was no time during this period when fire-fighting
was not in progress at some place along the line. And in many cases the
prompt arrival and efficient operation of this apparatus prevented the
loss of hundreds of heavy losses, not only to the railroad company but
to individuals. In very few cases were these fires started by the
locomotives, on which very efficient spark-arresters are used. In most
cases the fires originated hundreds of yards, and in some even several
miles, from the railroad, so that the car and its crew serves as a
general fire department for the territory traversed by the railroad.
