1911 Christie Fire Engine

The historic change from horse powered transport to vehicles using internal horsepower was most obvious in the 1910s and 1920s. At the time most cities had a significant investment in horses and horse drawn equipment of many types. Some of the most expensive and hard to replace were the fire engines with steam powered water pumps usually pulled by a 3-horse team. One solution to this problem sprang from the mind and experience of an American engineer and inventor by the name of J. Walter Christie. He was passionate about the design and building of these new horseless carriages and was especially interested in the possibility of a front wheel drive configuration. By 1910 Christie had designed and built several front wheel drive race cars and drove them with some success. These early Christie automobiles are some of the strangest looking vehicles ever built (search on Christie V4). The model you see here is from the marriage of his inventive FWD ideas and the necessity for cities to save on public funds. The tractor portion of this curious monster had two steerable drive wheels, a transverse 4-cylinder engine, and all the other parts needed to run a gasoline powered vehicle. The frame of an existing horse drawn coal fired boiler with steam powered water pumps was extended and welded to this new front tractor section. Even with an extra-large steering wheel, I’ll bet this was a beast to drive. It is interesting to note that about 60 years later a similar front wheel drivetrain configuration became the standard for most vehicles made in the world.

My 1/12 scale model is an MPC plastic kit from 2002 of the 1911 Christie fire engine. This model is large, complex, and needed a massive amount of cleanup and painting. I nearly quit the build a couple times because it was just so tedious. I kept thinking that after all this work it might still just look like a bunch of red plastic. Well, I added many metal parts, new finishes, working lights, sounds, and engine flywheel motion. With this work and the addition of a fireman driver I hope that I have moved the build to the point where you first see the technology and not my limitations or that of the kit. Hope you like it.