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Van Blerk Tractor

The FDNY's transition to the gasoline combustion engine was slow and cautious both in terms of locomotion and particularly for powering the pumps. Many of the Department's horse drawn steamers were converted to tractor driven engines in the 1910s but this is not the case with this steamer.

By 1912 the steam engine was a well developed and proven technology and the Department's top brass was not willing to completely risk the safety of the city on the relatively new technology of the gasoline engine. Thus the rig was ordered with a coal burning steam engine for pumping water. A different sort of calculation was done when deciding how to move the rig. The gasoline engine if not initially as dependable as horses was a lot cheaper.

The FDNY took very good care of their horses, the official directives, for example, demanded that they receive the best feed. Thus as a cost saving measure a gasoline tractor was chosen. The original tractor for this rig was manufactured by Christie and was converted a few years later to its current Van Blerk tractor.

© 2006, New York City Fire Museum