Former New Britain pumper was the first apparatus to occupy new Mt. Carmel annex
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| New Britain's 1946 Maxim Pumper |
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| In the summer of 1975, four members of Co. 5 - two of them career department members - purchased this nearly 30 year-old former New Britain Maxim pumper for $600. The truck ran perfectly, consuming about one gallon of gasoline every five miles. The new owners used the truck for paper drives and other events that summer. One of them even drove it to work at Station 2 one night with a fellow Platoon 3 firefighter named Ray Reilly. Following an anticipated restoration, the '46 Maxim was to have been a Co. 5 parade piece.
As the summer of '75 drew to a close, work on the new Station 5 annex was nearing completion. The new concrete floor was fully cured. After the new bay floor was ready to handle the load, but before a Hamden pumper was assigned there, two of the owners of the 1946 Maxim drove it into the new bay, making it the first apparatus to occupy the new annex at Station 5.
The antique pumper sat behind Station 5 during the winter of 1976. Unfortunately, the owners had neglected to put antifreeze in the cooling system. During a January cold snap of sub-zero temperatures, the block on the Hercules engine cracked wide open. New Britain's 1946 Maxim pumper was last seen decorating the backyard of a home on Academy Road in Cheshire.
Posted 7/12/13
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When the photo below left was taken in March 1976, the 1965 Mack occupied the new annex at Station 5 as Engine 5. About seven months earlier, the first fire apparatus to roll into the new bay was the Maxim pumper, bought new in 1946 by the City of New Britain.
Below right is the only known photo of the 1946 Maxim from the Co. 5 days, taken in August 1975. The "driver" is the young niece of one of the owners.
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| This March 1976 photo shows the SECOND apparatus to occupy the new annex bay |
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| August 1975 - Photo by Bill Olesen - CLICK to enlarge |
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| Maxim's 1931 body style lasted until 1946 |
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| New 1946 body style lasted until the 1960s |
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Aficionados of Maxim fire apparatus know that 1946 was a transitional year for the Middleboro, Massachusetts manufacturer. The 1946 Maxim pictured above was of the restyled open cab design that was introduced in 1931. It was succeeded in late 1946 by the design that was familiar to Hamden firefighters beginning with the delivery of Hamden's 1951 750 GPM pumper.
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