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For sale: one really big toy Photo by Steve Johnson Fred Waugh regretfully is selling his favorite toy -- a 1955 Pirsch Aerial Ladder Truck. He hopes to find someone who can take good care of it. Fred Waugh bought a genuine 1955 ladder truck to indulge a boyhood love of fire engines By MARK FREEMAN Driving his long, red machine down Oregon's blacktop, drawing waves and smiles from fellow motorists and even seeing geese flap past at speeds he cannot muster, are all great moments that make Fred Waugh feel like a little kid again. "I'm a 57-year-old who still thinks he's a 2-year-old who still loves his fire trucks," Waugh says with a laugh. But, alas, the 57-year-old Waugh is too busy being an adult to tinker with this great toy -- a 1955 hook-and-ladder truck. The truck, which once hosed flames for the Albany Fire Department, is a nostalgic toy that deserves better attention than simply staying parked at Waugh's rural south Medford gas station. So Waugh wants his truck to find a new home -- something with a big enough toy box to house a 45-foot-long ladder, and someone with the time to fix it up. "It's a neat truck, and I don't want to see it deteriorate," Waugh says. "I want to find someone to restore it and bring it back to its original glory." For $5,000, someone can have Waugh's Pirsch Aerial Ladder Truck. It sports a 90-foot hydraulic ladder, a six-speed engine with six cylinders the size of coffee cans, four other extension ladders, windshield wipers inside and out, and a bench as hard as a block of madrone. "Restoring it will take more time than money," Waugh says. Waugh thought he had the time for such an endeavor last April, when he surfed the Internet and found the truck for sale in Hollywood. He and his wife drove from their Shady Cove home down to Los Angeles, bought it for an undisclosed price, then headed up Interstate 5 to the Rogue Valley. For three days of driving mostly at 40-50 mph, Waugh chugged up I-5 and learned the beauty of owning a fire truck. "Everyone smiles, everyone waves and the truckers all honk their horns," he says. "If you ever feel lonely, just drive a fire truck around." But not if you're in a hurry. One morning while motoring up I-5 outside Sacramento, a pair of geese flew up from behind, looked down at Waugh puttering north... and passed him. Once he reached Medford, he parked it in his Arco lot off South Pacific Highway and waited for a chance to start restoring it. Eventually, he could then drive it in parades, promotions and maybe even children's parties. But a bustling business has kept that day from coming. Waugh hasn't driven the truck since he came to town, and its California license plates are expired. He put a "For Sale" sign on it around Christmas and has drawn steady interest but no takers. "I always have people come up and say, `Can my kid go sit in there?"' Waugh says. Some big kid with enough time to restore the old truck will likely buy it and fill in for Waugh -- temporarily. It seems you can take the fire truck from the little boy, but you can't take the little boy away from fire trucks. "If another one comes along, and I'm in a different time or space," he says, "I'd get it." Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA