My mom's remark about my chasing street sweepers reminded me that this was yet another "spinning thing" that I was crazy about as a child.

From when I was age 1 to 5, we lived in a large residential housing development in Hampton, Virginia. Once a week, a big yellow truck sizzled and rumbled by. It had a large Kirby Floor Polisher type brush on the back with tan bristles, and two circular commercial-type polisher brushes on each side at the middle of the truck.

As it lumbered by, a volley of pressurized water would hisss forth, and the spinning brushes would sweep the water and trash up into the street. I could hear that truck coming from blocks away and would run out to the front yard to watch it pass by.

One time, I started trotting along beside it, watching those enchanting spinning and revolving brushes! I got so caught up in watching the truck that I lost track of time and place (shades of Aspergers?!). By the time I finally ran out of steam and plopped my fanny down on a street corner to rest, I suddenly came out of my trance and realized I was lost. I had no idea where I was! I had never strayed that far from home before. I started crying and bawling and I can very clearly remember how terrified I was, even though I was only about 3 years old at the time.

What seemed like an eternity later, but was probably only a few minutes, Daddy came driving up in his blue '53 Plymouth. He got out of the car with some very stern words which of course stemmed from his love-imbued fear for my safety. And that same love was also the source of the good switching I got from Mama when I got home.......!

Today, with all the madmen and perverts running around preying on children, parents would be harshly judged - and rightly so - for letting a small child go unsupervised outside. However, back in those days, the late 1950s, things were a lot different; it was a much more innocent time. We children always played outside unsupervised, sometimes alone, sometimes with siblings, sometimes with friends. And no one thought anything of it. I would even walk by myself to my aunt's house, which was several blocks away.

So it was not unusual for me not to be inside the house for a short period of time, which was why Mama and Daddy did not become alarmed at my absence until they did realize I had been gone for a while and did not come when called.

At age 5 we moved to a much more rural area of Virginia where there were no street sweepers, and then to another rural area when I was 12. It was not until we moved to Annapolis, Maryland in 1970 when I was 15 that I saw another street sweeper! The ones in Annapolis were the same as the one I chased after in Hampton, except they were dark green as that was the color of all the City of Annapolis's fleet.

I moved to Los Angeles in 1980 when I was -- yes, do the math! -- 24 years old. One day I heard a street sweeper coming by so I went outside to see it. I was quite amazed to see that it was EXACTLY like the one I remembered from my childhood in Hampton!

To this day, whenever I hear that sound -- that sizzling, rumbling and purring of a diesel engine -- my heart starts racing a little and sometimes I do even go outside to watch it pass. However, I have not felt the urge to go chasing after one! I don't want to get another switching from Mama! :)

(The photo attached is EXACTLY like the one I remember from Hampton -- the driver sat on top on a tractor-type seat, exposed to the elements! With the ones here in Los Angeles, the drivers are enclosed in a cab.)

My young nephew has Aspergers, so I found the whole conversation very interesting. I also have a fairly vivid memory of following the street sweepers through our neighborhood with other kids when I was probably 5,6,7,. Also the mosquito spray trucks, we lived by the river, and was always fascinated by both.

I just moved back to my hometown after a 30+ year absence. I took a drive by the first house I grew up in in the 50's early 60's and what back then seemed huge, the house, the park, the corner down the street all seem so small and close by now.

Growing up on a farm I did not get a chance to see the street sweepers as much, unless I was staying with the grandparents which both sets lived in Omaha. Like most of us I thought they were very cool. But the thing I did was when the grandparents would take me and my sister to the mall to walk around and look at things. While walking through the mall my grandparents used to say that if they lost me or if they turned around and could not find me for some reason. They would know exactly where I would be. I would be standing infront fo the Ludens Vacuum store in the Mall. Just standing there admiring the vacuums. I remember always hoping that the guy would be demonstrating something so I could watch.
My favortie part was watching the bags blow up on any machine. That truly fasinated me. Espcecially the Kirbys or the Royals.

I remember once when my grandparents had their ducted work cleaned and the truck was just outside along side the house in the driveway. When it started up I thought it was so cool. There were 6 or 8 bags on top of the truck that were blowing up so I ran up stairs and look out the window which overlooked the top of the truck. That was so very cool, and fun to watch.

David

I wonder if I have Aspergers-I liked watching spinning-rotating things today.Started out of all things watching the spinning sawblade on my Dads Shopsmith-even at that young age-didn't dare touch that rotating blade.And then the spinning beaters of my Moms mixmaster.Kept my fingers away from that too.Was later that I found the spinning brushes in our Kirby 511.and now--have a Shopsmith just like what Dad had.and have a newer one.At present-the rotating tuning drive in our transmitters are interesting-especially a "balance" drive that turns a coil and a vacuum capacitor at the same time.Wished the cover on the side was transparent so I could see it.And yes-keep my fingers and hands away from the tune drives as well their chains and gears would snick off a finger that gets too close.they don't move fast-but have LOTS of torque.And I do LOVE to listen to music.

Street sweepers are kinda interesting-also remember them as a kid-didn't follow them too far and kept some distance.Some of them have a suction fan just like a Kirby or Royal vacuum cleaner-and the fan is driven right off the engine.The brushes sweep (like an upright vacuum) debris into the suction path of the fan.the newer models use a suction fan that is positioned outside of the dirt bin(just like a clean air vacuum cleaner)so debris doesn't go thru the fan.I can remember hearing debris making quite a clatter when it went thru that big fan!

The building that once was Bison headquarters is now occupied by E-One, a fire truck manufacturer.

E-One is owned by Federal Signal Corp.

Elgin, a different division of Federal Signal, makes street sweepers.

I LOVE their old sirens!! The Thunderbolt, for example. It made such a cool noise!! People even still use them! We have maybe 3 that I have seen, just in the Birmingham and outskirts area! This link is a guy who collects Civil Defense stuff: Geiger counters, Cold War supplies...etc. It is a well desgined website, as you will see!

Yes, sirens are very cool! I remember as a kid we lived near a fire station. Whenever the siren would go off, we were so close that we could hear it as it started to wind up -- the low, moaning tone it made as it started to rise in pitch, something you could only hear if you were close by, was absolutely eerie!

And of course the sound of the siren (the original type, that is, not the new electronic ones) is made by ... fan blades!!

There are air raid sirens on tall wooden poles all over Los Angeles but most of them look like they are abandoned and probably do not work.

My little Southern hometown had a big siren on top of the firehouse. It sounded every weekday at 5 p.m. for about half a minute. You could hear it all over town. Made any dogs within a half-mile howl in pain too.

Yes,I too like the true centrifical sirens-the ones with a fan in a housing with the tuned perforations to make the LOUD sound-more so than the electronic ones-and resistant to EMP!!At an air Force Base I used to be at-my dad worked there-they had air raid sirens and it was kinda scary when they tested them-they were the rotary fan type as well-and the sound they make as the blower fan spins down after the siren is turned off.This would have been back in the early 60's "atomic age"-"Duck and Cover!"They used them to alert folks in case of an atomic or other attack.also sirens can be made to run from an air compressor-like a deisel truck or locomotive horn.Its really a loud whistle or high pressure organ pipe.A company sells such units for car use under the name of "HornBlasters"They sell them as kits-the horns and the compressors to blow them.There is a siren of sorts near the RR tracks by my house-don't think its used much any more-think they have only sounded it a time or two since I have lived here.think it was part of a fireman call system.

Besides streeet cleaners-other machines strangly interest me-namely the "Alamo" roadside flail and rotary mowers for roadside mowing.these are all hydraulic-no mechanical drive connections like on other mowers.the mower blade or rotor is turned by a hydraulic motor-the pump is turned by the tractor PTO-I got a closer look at one of these and there are two pumps for each mower deck.One pump(small one) powers the lift cylinder to raise or lower the deck.The larger pump runs the mower's hydraulic drive motor.another interesting thing about these-the hydraulic lines go across the top of the mower housing-using the mower deck housing as a heat sink to cool the hydraulic oil as its pumpted thru the cylinder or motor.I guess us Vacuum-appliance colectors have an intest in other machines.Heavy equipment also intests me.same with motion picture projectors,and the transmitters I normally operate and work on.

GEIGER COUNTERS!!! I have a collection of Geiger counters, all Civil Defense ones. You know, the yellow ones? Two of my three still work! (The other one fell the day I got it...the meter went bad after that fall) Then I have some dosimeters, which measure the accumulated dose of radiation.

Charlie: There must be SOMETHING about air that fascinates us all!! I haven't figured it out yet, though...Moving air...hmmm...

I also have a few of the CD "Radiation Survey Meters"and they also work.At my workplace-it was built in the early 60's they also have a large yellow CD box that contains radiation survey meter-Geiger Counters.And they also have the Dosimeters.We have some hanging on one of our transmitters-one of the tubes produces X-Rays-you can measure them with both the dosimeters and the Geiger meter.When we run that transmitter-I stay well away from the modulator-HV rectifier cabinet.I have warned others as well-and demoed that with the Radiation meter.Right now that transmitter needs a new HV rectifier transformer.Waiting for it to be made up.

I thought they were neat,be cool to have a powerwheels version of that so your kids can help with vacuuming the carpets in your home,after seeing a street sweeper you guys thought my arco wand vacuum was big LOL