Lansing TWP Fire Truck Takes up Residence in Georgia.
Following an honorable career with the Lansing TWP Fire Department, this 1956 Diamond REO pumper gets the opportunity for new life near Atlanta, GA.
REO has long been a household name in the Lansing, Michigan area. Not a name actually, but the initials of Ransome Eli Olds who made a name for himself in the automotive industry in the early 1900’s. In 1899 he helped form the Olds Motor Works. In 1904 he left Olds and formed the REO Motor Car Company. Then between 1919 and 1936 the trend was more toward truck manufacturing and thus car production ceased at REO in 1936. In 1954, long after Ransome Olds’ reign, REO Motors, known best for its production of the Gold Comet gasoline engine, joined with the Diamond T Company that was know for its manufacture of truck cabs. The result was Diamond REO Trucks, Inc. which remained in business until 1975.
Our Pumper #8, complete with a John Bean system, began its career with the Lansing TWP Fire Department straight out of the Diamond REO factory in Lansing in 1956. It became the station’s “first out engine” and continued in this status for several years until downgraded to “second out” when the station acquired a new diesel truck. In 1989 the Township found itself with too many fire trucks and having been unsuccessful in locating a buyer agreed in 1990 to donate the pumper to the RE Olds Transportation Museum. During its tenure at the museum it participated in several parades and was on loan briefly to Impression 5, an adjacent museum geared toward the younger generations. In 2004, #8 was being squeezed again, this time due to a lack of space in the Olds Museum. The TWP, having retained the “first right to buy back”, purchased the truck for an undisclosed amount and ownership went to the Lansing TWP Firefighters Association. It was the Association’s intent to further restore the truck as lack of use and exposure to the elements had been hard on the pumper and she was starting to show her age. However, there was insufficient interest and little or no funds available so it was decided that the truck should be sold.
What a sad thing, to be up for auction (Ebay) following such an honorable career in lifesaving and firefighting. How many lives has this fire truck touched, too many to even hazard a guess
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Now, #8 has another chance at life. It is my intention to restore the truck to her original proud condition complete with axes, hoses and Federal Q siren. In spite of the fact that it was a museum piece and never privately owned, there is very little documentation available. I would like to enlist the help of those of you who remember this 1956 REO Fire Truck. Please send photos, stories, news articles, recollections or even memorabilia so I may compile some historical data on this Lansing truck.
In the meantime, my thanks to the TWP firefighters of station #2 for their help, to the historians at the RE Olds Transportation Museum for their encouragement and to the employees at Northside (Towing) Service for safely delivering the fire truck to me here in Georgia. Please forward information to: David A. Harris, 8545 East Hwy 16, Senoia, GA 30276. Email: bluehangar@mindspring.com
*This article was submitted to the Lansing State Journal for publication.
