Post #1

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We went through the Firefighter’s Historical Museum Saturday and was really surprised how interesting it was. It is full of antique fire equipment, trucks and horse-drawn pump wagons, alarms, fireboxes, uniforms, photos, you name it! I took some video and pictures (they welcome cameras so bring it along.) You can pull and hear the different alarms go off and get demonstrations on how they worked. See pictures and some video of part #1 in my firehouse series by clicking the links at the bottom of this post. Kids and adults will really enjoy this museum!

Below are video clips demonstrating alarms and a slideshow of the inside of the museum.

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Where: The corner of West Fifth and Chestnut Streets, Erie, PA

This building replaced the original. Current building was built in 1903.

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Hours: Open May through August

• Saturdays 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM
• Sundays 1:00 PM until 4:00 PM
• Groups by appointment - call 814-864-2156

Fall Hours (September-October)

• Saturdays 1:00 PM until 4 PM
• Sundays 1:00 until 4 PM

Phone number 814-456-5969

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Click on one of the options below for a slideshow of Part #1 of the museum. (Part 2 will be posted sometime this week.)

1. Slideshow - 320 x 240 (dial-up) small-sized pictures
2. Slideshow - 800 x 600 (DSL-high speed connections) medium-sized pictures
3. Slideshow - 1024 x 768 (DSL-high speed connections) large-sized pictures
4. Slideshow - 3072 x 2304 (DSL-high speed connections) very large pictures. Choose this option only if you want to see extreme detail of a particular picture. The images are much larger than your monitor.

*Click below for video demonstrations.*
Here is a brief explanation of a following video. Note the brass wheel in the this picture (highlighted.)

It is made with protruding notches that corresponds with the alarm-box number. If the alarm was pulled, the wheel would turn. The notches would make contact with a gear and that gear would turn and make contact with an small metal arm that touched electrical contacts. That would send an electrical impulse through a wire to a fire station and that impulse would punch a series of holes in a “ticker-tape”-type machine. The brass wheel on this alarm box has 3 notches in a row with a space between, then a one notch, then a space, then 6 notches. This box was 316. If the alarm punched 3 holes in a series, a space, then 1 hole, then a space, then 6 holes in a series they knew the alarm came from box 316 and would respond with firefighters to the area where that box was located.

*Here is a video clip demonstrating this box working.*

Click To Play

The following clip demonstrates the battery back-up system on a vintage operator board if the power should go out.

Click To Play

Check back sometime this week for part #2.

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