Engine No. A3125508

Registered No. F1058

Even if one has never heard of a calliope, the distinctive sound of this instrument will be familiar to anyone who ever took a riverboat cruise or visited the circus. Resembling a small pipe organ, it uses pressurized air, originally steam, rhythmically released by a keyboard into ranks of tuned whistles. The resulting merry, jaunty tunes could be heard a full quarter-mile away, which meant that the calliope was more than just music – it was potent advertising. Even today calliopes remain in operation at many amusement parks and on the few surviving sternwheelers, although they are frequently now operated, safely and reliably, by compressed air.

This Ford Model AA heavy-duty chassis was fitted with a fire truck body by one of the era's most well-known constructors of such apparatus, American-LaFrance of Elmira, New York, and is complete with a ladder, fire extinguishers, ax, and hose nozzle. It was acquired roughly forty years ago by Willard Taylor, Jim Taylor's father, who was himself an avid collector, and has remained in family ownership for two generations. The elder Mr. Taylor commissioned a restoration of the showy truck to use in local parades. Accordingly it was mounted with a beautiful calliope, run by compressed air provided by an on-board compressor and generator, and instantly visible thanks to the brass whistles emerging over the truck's cab.

Recording 55,551 miles at the time of cataloging, the truck is in running order, and the calliope is understood to be operational and to have been enjoyed by all during its last outing. Undoubtedly it will continue to thrill and amuse new generations, whether on parade route or carnival field.