LINKS
Below are links to other web sites that may be useful if you would like to learn more.

first...let me say again that I am not a mechanic.      I do not sell fire engines or fire engine parts. If you have technical questions or want to buy something, please contact some of the people listed below. 

I do gold leafing, lettering and decorative painting on vehicles, boats, and signs.

restorers

FIREFLY  RESTORATION
Andy Swift is the owner of Firefly Restoration which specializes in restoring fire apparatus.  I do most of the decorative painting and gold leafing for Firefly Restorations. The shop is located in Hope, Maine. Click the link above to go to the Firefly web site.
      Firefly does full and partial restorations as well as selling parts and even complete vehicles. There is a page on this web site describing Firefly in more detail. Click this second link to go to my page about Firefly Restoration

HAND IN HAND  FIRE  COMPANY
Ken Soderbeck has been instrumental in the field of fire engine restoration for many years. He has been a generous and inspiring teacher to me. He is an expert in many areas of restoration. He is a historian of the fire service as well as being a hands on restorer. Click on the link above to go the Ken's web site.
     There is a page on this web site that gives more information and photos about Ken. Click on this second link to see my page about Ken Soderbeck

HAL FILLINGER
Hal is located near Philadelphia. He specializes in restoring early motorized vehicles and early American LaFrance fire apparatus. He also sells parts and early fire memorabilia.

museums

FIRE  MUSEUM  NETWORK
This web site lists and links many fire museums from all over the world. It also gives news on events of interest. It is loaded with information.

FASNY  AMERICAN  MUSEUM  OF  FIREFIGHTING
This is my favorite fire museum. It is located in Hudson, New York on the grounds of the Volunteer Firemen's Home. It opened in 1925 to "preserve the relics of the old New York City Volunteers not alone for what they are, but what they stand for". The collection has an amazing number of vehicles still in their original paint.

AURORA  REGIONAL  FIRE  MUSEUM
Here is a web site for a museum in Illinois. It shows them remodeling an old fire house into their museum, developing educational resources, restoring their collection of antique apparatus, and more. It is a fine example of a fire museum and of a museum web site. Deborah Davis is the museum manager and David Lewis is the curator. 

HALL  OF  FLAME 
This is a museum in Phoenix, Arizona. It has its own restoration shop, kept busy by their large collection. Most pieces have been repainted at the museum. There are photos of most of the vehicles on their web site.

RELIANCE  FIRE  MUSEUM
This museum is located in Estes Park, Colorado. They are "dedicated to the preservation, restoration, and operation of fire apparatus". The collection is used to educate the public through museum tours, parades, fire musters and SPAAMFAA events around the country. Their web site lists where they will be showing their apparatus in the future. Doug Klink is the museum director.

FIRE MUSEUM  OF  MARYLAND
This museum is north of Baltimore in Lutherville, Maryland. It has a large collection and many educational displays. They host events in the summer.

SAN  FRANCISCO  FIRE  MUSEUM
This is a good site. You can really get a feel for what the museum is like. They give a lot of information on the site. The collection contains vehicles and a nice assortment of memorabilia.

NEW  YORK  FIRE  MUSEUM
This museum was smaller than I expected, but the collection is first rate. A lot of New York's early pieces were donated in 1925 to the FASNY American Museum of Firefighting listed above.

HENRY  FORD  MUSEUM
This museum in Dearborn, Michigan has a lot more than just fire apparatus. It is a vast collection of all things mechanical. There are bicycles and locomotives and every kind of vehicle in between. The dozen or so fire engines are very interesting, though I do not think any are displayed on the web site..

AMERICAN  SIGN  MUSEUM
This museum has no fire engines. It is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is dedicated to preserving the history of sign making. It is full of nostalgia and Americana. This is where the neon Golden Arches and Burma Shave signs have gone to rest.

fire web sites

HAND  TUB  JUNCTION
This site deals specifically with hand powered fire engines. It is the place to begin if you are interested in 19th century apparatus. 

FIRE  HYDRANTS
Yes, this site documents fire hydrants throughout history and around the world.

SPAAMFAA
This is the Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus in America. This society is dedicated to the hobby of collecting fire engines. There are local chapters around the country. They have a magazine that is a great source for parts and information if you are restoring an old truck.  They sponsor meetings and musters all over America.

SEAGRAVE  OWNERS  ASSOCIATION
This web site is for and about the people who collect Seagrave engines. This company used some of the most interesting and unusual decoration on their apparatus.

AHRENS-FOX  FIRE  BUFF'S  ASSOCIATION
A site dedicated to the history of the Ahrens-Fox Company, and to the people that collect their vehicles.

FETTEN SIGN CO.
Jim Fetten is a sign painter who specializes in lettering and decoration on modern fire vehicles. He is located on Long Island, N.Y. His web site has many photos showing his award winning designs, such as the one shown here.

M. NORRIS & SONS
This is another shop that specializes in gold leaf lettering on fire apparatus.

boats

PENDLETON  YACHT  YARD
This boat yard is located on the island of Islesboro,  Maine. They do excellent work and take care of beautiful yachts. If you can't sail in for a visit, try surfing over with this link.

LYMAN-MORSE  BOAT  BUILDING  CO.
This facility is a full service boat yard that specializes in building custom yachts, both motor and sail. They have a large web site that shows their yachts in many stages of construction.

DARK  HARBOR  BOAT  YARD
Located on 700 Acre Island, Maine. This is a small yard in a beautiful location with interesting boats.

FRENCH & WEBB CO.
Custom joinery for boats is the specialty of this company. They build beautiful wooden boats from skiffs to yachts with the latest technology. They also restore antique wooden boats.

C. W. PAINE  YACHT  DESIGN
Chuck is a world class yacht designer that lives in my home town. He also shows his oil paintings of marine scenes on his website.

gold leafing

SOCIETY  OF  GILDERS
This is an international society of craftspeople who apply gold leaf on items from picture frames to manuscripts to architecture to signs to religious icons. If you need something gilded, or want to know more about the process this is a great source.