FIRE-ENGINES AND TRUCKS
The Engine
Every boy is interested in fire-engines and fires, and in the absence of
the real thing there is a great deal of fun to be had in playing fire.
The regular steam apparatus is rather beyond a boy’s constructive
ability, but the engine shown in the illustration (Fig. 1) can easily be
made from an oil or pork barrel, a keg, a pump, and a set of old wagon
wheels. A box may be used for the seat and a small force-pump may be had
at a hardware store for a nominal sum. The pump should be fitted with a
hose-coupling at both inlet and outlet, so that a piece of garden hose
can be used for the suction and force.
The construction of the body part of the engine is shown in Fig. 2. Two
rails six inches wide, seven-eighths of an inch thick, and six feet long
are set wide enough apart for the barrel (representing the boiler) to
fit between. These pieces are securely attached with stout screws to the
barrel so that a foot of each rail will extend beyond the rear of the
barrel. At both ends a rail corresponding in width and thickness is cut
and fitted between the ends of the rails as shown at A A. These are to
be held in position with long, steel-wire nails or with screws, which
always make the best and most secure joints.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
]
To prevent the side-rails from spreading, a cross-rib should be made
fast to the under side of the side-rails about at the middle as shown at
B B. This is a precaution taken to prevent the rails spreading and
letting the heavy barrel full of water drop. In addition to the screws
that are driven through the side-rails and into the barrel, it would be
well to screw a batten fast at each side over the rail as shown at C.
This lug will help the bearing and take the strain from the screws in
the rails.
The truss which holds the keg, or imitation dry-steam chest, is made of
strips four inches wide, seven-eighths of an inch thick, and built up so
that the angle stands fifteen inches above the top of the side-rails as
shown at D. These trusses are securely bound at the angle with screws or
clinch-nails, then screwed fast to the inside of the rails as shown at
E E. Cut a short piece of board and nail it fast between these
truss-knees to act as a platform on which to stand the keg. Another
small platform can be made between the truss and barrel on one or both
sides of the apparatus to accommodate one or two pumps. The smoke-pipe
at the top of the barrel is cut from an old stove-pipe and is shaped as
shown in Fig. 1. With a tin-shears or snips the ears are cut at top and
bottom. Those at the top are pointed and give a crown effect, but if the
plain-rim top is preferred do not cut the pipe. At the bottom, slits are
cut in the pipe two inches in from the edge, about three-quarters of an
inch apart, and with a flat-nosed pliers the ears are bent out so that
they will lie flat on the barrel-top when the smoke-pipe is set in
place. A piece of tin or zinc is placed on the barrel-head under the
smoke-pipe, and with large tacks the pipe is then made fast.
When running to a fire some shavings, chips, or cotton on which some
paraffine has been melted is put in this smoke-pipe and lit, and as the
engine is drawn along the sparks and smoke will shoot out from the top
of the pipe in a very realistic manner. The seat is made of a box on top
of which a back and side-arms are arranged as shown in Fig. 1, and when
it is complete it is attached to the side-rails and truss. The upper
edges of the side-rails are decked over in front of the box so as to
make a platform, and at the front end of the frame a dash-board is
arranged and held in position with battens.
A small, water-tight keg is fastened to the platform between the knees
of the truss by means of screws passed up through the bottom of the
platform and into the under side of the keg. One or two openings are
made in the keg and a hose-coupling driven into them so that the long
hose may be attached when at a fire. Short lengths of hose and couplings
extend from the top of the pumps to the keg, so that when the pumps are
in action the water is forced into the keg and out through the openings.
There will always be a cushion of air above the water which is more or
less elastic, and when the water is forced in faster than it can escape
through the nozzles the air-cushion will take care of the pressure
automatically.
Small carriage wheels and axles support the frame, and at the front a
fifth wheel is arranged so that the front wheels can be turned. Back of
the barrel the frame is decked at the under side so as to make a
fuel-box where more smoke and spark making materials can be stored. It
would be well to fasten a lid to this compartment so that sparks
dropping from the smoke-pipe will not fall on and ignite the contents.
If it is possible to obtain a force-pump it can be mounted on one of the
bases arranged at the side of the barrel.
The suction-hose should come from the under side of the barrel and be
attached to the base of the pump. The coupling to which the long hose is
attached should be arranged at the side of the keg or it can be screwed
directly on the outlet of the pump. A short length of the hose—a
coupling and nozzle—may be supported on hooks and a standing Y as shown
in Fig. 1. The hook on the barrel is made from a piece of iron bent as
shown at Fig. 3 A, with holes bored to receive screws. If the iron is
too hard to work a wooden bracket can be made, as shown at B, and
screwed fast to the barrel.
The Y may be made from strap-iron and a stick, as shown at C and D (Fig.
3), the iron being attached to the top of the stick which in turn is
screwed fast to the truss. A pole is made fast to the forward
running-gear to drag the engine with, and if several boys are to be
members of the fire company a rope should be made fast to the axle at
both ends or to the body frame, and the boy nearest the engine can steer
it with the pole. All the wood-work should be painted red and the metal
parts with asphaltum varnish, which will give them a good appearance,
and as it is water-proof it will prevent the metal parts from rusting.
Trip-gongs and signal-lamps should, of course, be provided, for without
these appurtenances the engine would be a flat failure.
The Hose-carriage
A hose-carriage (Fig. 4) to accompany the engine is made of wood and
constructed on the same lines as the engine.
The frame is made of boards six inches wide, seven-eighths of an inch
thick, and is five feet long by two feet wide as shown at Fig. 5. A
dash-board is made and fastened to the front of the frame, and between
the dash-board and seat the side-rails are decked over to make a
platform. The remaining part of the frame may be left open. Across the
under side of the frame fasten two cross-bars to which the axles are to
be made fast. Baby-carriage or small wagon wheels are to be used for the
hose-carriage, and if the axles should not be long enough a blacksmith
will weld in a piece at the middle so as to make them the required
length.
The reel is made from a round piece of wood and two circular sides and
arranged so as to revolve in a supporting frame. One side of the frame
is shown in Fig. 5. It is made from wood three inches wide,
seven-eighths of an inch thick, and the pieces are securely attached at
the inside of the side-rails with screws and clinch-nails. The sides of
the reel are made from three pieces of matched boards and are twenty
inches in diameter.
Drive three pieces of board together and lay them flat. With a pin, a
piece of string, and a pencil describe a circle twenty inches in
diameter using the centre of the middle board as a place to drive the
pin. After the circle is drawn, separate the boards, and with a
compass-saw cut the wood on the lines. Then drive the boards together
again and band the outer edge with a piece of box strap-iron, driving
the nails in about two inches apart all around the edge.
[Illustration:
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
HOSE-CARRIAGE AND HOOK-AND-LADDER TRUCK
]
Attach one end to the flat end of the hub. The other piece should have a
square hole cut in it so that it will fit over the square shoulder cut
on the other end of the axle as shown at Fig. 6 A. Attach both ends to
the axle with long, steel-wire nails, then from a piece of hard-wood cut
a crank and handle as shown at Fig. 6 B. The crank is ten inches long
and at both sides of the square hole the wood should be bound with wire
to prevent its splitting. At the opposite end from the crank an iron pin
half an inch in diameter is to be driven through the side and into the
end of the hub through a half-inch hole bored with auger or bit and
brace. This is shown in the drawing of the complete reel. Fig. 6 C.
On the end of the hub and close to the square crank-shaft the hub is
turned round for a distance of two inches. This is the part that will
fit in the bearing cut in the supporting frame. To hold the reel in
position at the top of the truss, straps of iron, as shown at Fig. 6 D,
are screwed fast over the angle when the reel is in place. With a coat
or two of paint this hose-carriage will be ready for use.
The Hook-and-Ladder Truck
To complete the outfit a hook-and-ladder truck (Fig. 7) will be
necessary, on the racks of which four hooks, three ladders, six buckets,
and other paraphernalia can be accommodated.
The length of the truck will depend somewhat on the strength of the
wheels that can be had, also on the size of the boys in the fire
company; but for serviceable use for both small and large boys a truck
eight feet long will be a very good size. The frame or body is made of
boards six inches wide, seven-eighths of an inch thick, and is eight
feet long by thirty inches wide. The frame should be braced across the
bottom, at the middle, and near both ends to prevent it from racking.
Two cross-timbers for the axles are made fast under the forward and rear
ends, and to the forward one the fifth-wheel bar is made fast so that
the front wheels can be turned.
The ladder-rack is constructed from pieces of curtain-pole and side
uprights, six inches wide at the bottom and tapered to three inches at
the top. The uprights are attached to the inside of the body frame, and
the bars on which the ladders rest are let into holes in these uprights
and keyed as shown at Fig. 8 A. The end of the bar is cut across with a
saw, and when this is passed through a hole in the upright a
wedge-shaped key is driven in the cut to spread the end of the bar and
expand it so that it will hold. Some glue on the wedge will cause it to
stay in place after it has been driven in as far as it will go.
The ladders are made of two spruce rails three inches wide and one inch
and a quarter thick. The rungs are let into holes made in the middle of
the rails and keyed fast with wedges as just described for the
ladder-rails. If a flat rung is preferred the rails may be cut in as
shown at B in Fig. 8, and flat strips are to be laid in these laps and
nailed or screwed fast. The sharp corners may be planed off so as to
make the grip easier to the hands. The ladders may vary from seven to
twelve feet in length and from eighteen to twenty-four inches wide,
preferably the wider ones, as they are safer and will not slide sidewise
as a narrower ladder is apt to do.
The dash-board and forward deck are supported on two bracket-plates made
fast to the forward part of the body frame, and on the deck planking a
box-seat with sides and back is to be made fast. Stout iron hooks are
driven in along both sides of the body between forward and rear wheels,
and on them ordinary wooden pails or buckets may be hung. Two sets of
hooks arranged at the outer side of the ladder supports will hold the
long handles of fire-hooks, and a scaling-ladder can be hung under the
truck.
The goose-neck of a scaling-ladder should be made of tempered iron by a
blacksmith, and all the wood-work should be of hickory. The plan for a
scaling-ladder is shown in Fig. 9. The stick is three by one and a half
inches and the rungs are three-quarters by two inches, driven through
mortises cut in the stick twelve inches apart and held by a steel nail
driven through the centre. The goose-neck base is divided like the
front-wheel fork of a bicycle and with corresponding holes bored in each
side. Bolts should be passed through them and the head of the stick so
as to hold the iron straps securely. Good, strong hickory may be had
from a wheelwright or wagon-builder, and care should be taken to cut the
mortises accurately so that the parts will fit snugly together.
Ladder-building is different from ordinary carpentry, and pains should
be taken to have all the joints very tight so that they will not rack.