My latest FedSig Beacon Ray model 17 & model WLR siren light

[wfdstation42]

Here are my latest aquisitions that I took delivery of late Sunday night. A Federal Signal model 17 Beacon Ray and model WLR siren light. Both are in need of a completed restoration but I am pleased with them and they will make a nice addition to the collection.








I know what your thinking, what's the big deal, right? Just another basic beacon ray and siren light, whoopee. Did I mention they came attached to this:


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Yup, a 1964 International Harvester/Howe fire truck that used to provide fire protection at the Everglades National Park. It too is in need of a completed restoration but that will happen over a period of time.

 

[dmathieu]

WOW!! Now there's a project!!

 

[patrol530]

Nice! I like the mechanical back up bell.

 

[plybeep68]

Alright!! Thats Sweet!!

 

[Hoser]

That will make a nice restoration. Good find!

 

[philyumpshus]

It's funny they got a siren with a flashing light to the rear and then mounted it to the fender.

 

[wfdstation42]

It's funny they got a siren with a flashing light to the rear and then mounted it to the fender.

I thought it was kinda weird myself but I have seen other trucks with the same setup.

 

[PinballCharlie]

WOW, congratulations!!!! Very nice find...

 

[Skip Goulet]

It's funny they got a siren with a flashing light to the rear and then mounted it to the fender.

You would think that a fender-mounted WLR would be unusual, but in the '50s, Huntsville, Alabama's PD ran WLRs on the fender, with a Model 17 beacon on the roof. I wondered if that rear light might've bothered the driver. While Federal's sold literally thousands of the WLs and WLRs over the years, I always questioned why any busy emergency vehicle would run something that small. Even in the '50s when people drove with their windows down, the were still hard to hear. My one experience with a WL was on a '66 Pontiac ambulance we bought that had a WL (obviously a later add-on) mounted in front of a center-mounted 17D beacon, along with four DoRay lollipops, two on each side of the 17. Fortunately the ambulance also had a Federal Director with a grille-mounted speaker. I tried using the WL on a particular run, just to see how it would work, and no one would move for me! Did I ever groan about that. But what's worse is one day we were transporting "hot" to the hospital in heavy traffic, and the Director suddenly quit! I had a devil of a time trying to get through traffic. Fortunately, my fire chief saw what was happening and came up behind me with his pickup and then went around, breaking the intersections for me. I said "never again" with something that small! But then I happened to see something worse! I happened to see an older Suburban ambulance come in from a small town. It had a little VL siren mounted in front of the 17 on the roof. How would anyone hear something that tiny?

 

[Skip Goulet]

What a super find! I can imagine how it will look after your restoration of it. Does it run at all?

 

[wfdstation42]

What a super find! I can imagine how it will look after your restoration of it. Does it run at all?

It has sat unstarted for a few years so I got a carb rebuild kit on order and I'm gonna go through the fuel system to make sure there is no gunk in the tank or lines.

 

[Skip Goulet]

It has sat unstarted for a few years so I got a carb rebuild kit on order and I'm gonna go through the fuel system to make sure there is no gunk in the tank or lines.

I'm sure with a little TLC, you'll have it up and running soon. I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that I have a decent old WLR that I've had a number of years. The old Olds tailight lens on the rear light (as on yours,too) was broken when I got the siren. A friend of mine in MI who deals in old lights and sirens sent me a replacement lens, but it's the newer style that Federal used the last few years that these sirens were built. I found one of the Olds lenses online, but it was more than what I paid for the siren, so I'll just use the lens that I have! Have you had a chance to see how well the siren and beacon work?

 

[wfdstation42]

I'm sure with a little TLC, you'll have it up and running soon. I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that I have a decent old WLR that I've had a number of years. The old Olds tailight lens on the rear light (as on yours,too) was broken when I got the siren. A friend of mine in MI who deals in old lights and sirens sent me a replacement lens, but it's the newer style that Federal used the last few years that these sirens were built. I found one of the Olds lenses online, but it was more than what I paid for the siren, so I'll just use the lens that I have! Have you had a chance to see how well the siren and beacon work?

It always amazes me how many off the shelf parts the light and siren manufacturers used.


I haven't had the chance to check the light or siren yet, no battery in the truck.

 

[Wheels]

Awesome truck! I've always admired the International Harvesters and they're very well-built. I was talking to Skip not too long ago about these vehicles and I would love to own one some day, especially a TravelAll model. I bought a lightbar from a very well known Texas legislator who has quite a collection of vehicles and one of those vehicles happens to be a 66' International Harvester TravelAll that was owned by John Wayne. I took a photo of it but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post it. This behemoth looked bigger than a Ford Excursion.


Good luck with your restoration. I'm sure it will look terrific once it's complete.

 

[wfdstation42]

Awesome truck! I've always admired the International Harvesters and they're very well-built. I was talking to Skip not too long ago about these vehicles and I would love to own one some day, especially a TravelAll model. I bought a lightbar from a very well known Texas legislator who has quite a collection of vehicles and one of those vehicles happens to be a 66' International Harvester TravelAll that was owned by John Wayne. I took a photo of it but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post it. This behemoth looked bigger than a Ford Excursion.

Good luck with your restoration. I'm sure it will look terrific once it's complete.

I for one would love to see the travelall. My better half fell in love with the front end styling of this truck and when I told her they made a vehicle (travelall) that competed with the suburban that had this front end she decided she needs one as her daily driver.

 

[Wheels]

This was the only photo I took of the vehicle. (I know, it's not the best pic) However you can view a few more photos of the travelall with this link:


Texas legislator selling John Wayne’s War Wagon Waynemobile Travelall for $1 million | Hemmings Blog: Classic and collectible cars and parts

 

[Wigwam700]

You would think that a fender-mounted WLR would be unusual, but in the '50s, Huntsville, Alabama's PD ran WLRs on the fender, with a Model 17 beacon on the roof. I wondered if that rear light might've bothered the driver. While Federal's sold literally thousands of the WLs and WLRs over the years, I always questioned why any busy emergency vehicle would run something that small. Even in the '50s when people drove with their windows down, the were still hard to hear. My one experience with a WL was on a '66 Pontiac ambulance we bought that had a WL (obviously a later add-on) mounted in front of a center-mounted 17D beacon, along with four DoRay lollipops, two on each side of the 17. Fortunately the ambulance also had a Federal Director with a grille-mounted speaker. I tried using the WL on a particular run, just to see how it would work, and no one would move for me! Did I ever groan about that. But what's worse is one day we were transporting "hot" to the hospital in heavy traffic, and the Director suddenly quit! I had a devil of a time trying to get through traffic. Fortunately, my fire chief saw what was happening and came up behind me with his pickup and then went around, breaking the intersections for me. I said "never again" with something that small! But then I happened to see something worse! I happened to see an older Suburban ambulance come in from a small town. It had a little VL siren mounted in front of the 17 on the roof. How would anyone hear something that tiny?

Thanks for the story!

 

[wfdstation42]

This was the only photo I took of the vehicle. (I know, it's not the best pic) However you can view a few more photos of the travelall with this link:

That is quite a ride, now if only someone will let me borrow a million dollars.....

 

[Skip Goulet]

This was the only photo I took of the vehicle. (I know, it's not the best pic) However you can view a few more photos of the travelall with this link:

Texas legislator selling John Wayne’s War Wagon Waynemobile Travelall for $1 million | Hemmings Blog: Classic and collectible cars and parts

Now that's a neat old TravelAll! Over the years with our small standby ambulance service we had two Internationals: a '62 that had belonged to Baker Ambulance in Odessa that they had brought down here from Montana and a '63 that had belonged to Metropolitan Ambulance in Amarillo. The Metropolitan rig was famous! It was used for the filming of the Roundup herbicide TV commercials back in the early '70s. It was nice to drive something famous!

 

[Skip Goulet]

Thanks for the story!

If you liked that story, you'd love the article that was just publised in the "Professional Car Collector" newsletter, all about my 52nd anniversary in EMS.