Learning to drive a Standard

I learned to operate a pump on a rig sort of like this one, except the pump panel had a tach for rpms and a main pressure gauge, one, you had to figure out how much pressure you had on each line by calculating, and the pump was a different design. Learning on an exposed front mounted pump is actually easier than on a standard pump. On a standard engine the pump is hidden inside the rig, all you see are gauges, ball valve handles, throttle handles, prime handles, indicator lights, and valve knobs. 

With a front mounted pump, everything is visible, you can see what connects to what and how things are actually operating. You receive more of an operating knowledge rather than a how to operate knowledge.

The unit I operated had a 750 gpm Barton American pump

It was pretty much like the one shown above except the intake and tank connections were opposite.

There were two sister units that I trained on, 1962 and 1963 Internationals, referred to in the department as corn binders.

I not only received my class two drivers license on one of these but this is where I learned to drive a standard transmission. no synchro five speed. Shift up through the gears, double clutch your way back down.  The wonderful thing about driver training on a unit with a front mounted pump is that, like a normal truck you can't see what's behind you, you need to use the mirrors and judge the distance, but with a pump on the front, the bumper is almost four feet out in front of the hood and you can't see where the bumper ends. So pulling up to something means you have to judge that also.

Here's a quick story, 
we were at a structural fire one day, one of these units is pulled onto the property on the north side of the fire building with just the rear end in the road. Connected to the pump were 2 three inch supply lines and there were three 1 3/4" attack lines stretched into the building, this unit wasn't going anywhere. There was a second ladder truck coming into the scene from another town, The ladder came wheeling into the scene, going a little too fast and slammed into the engine. The force had the engine literally jump four feet forward, not bad considering there was 750 gallons of water on her. The pump operator jumped back landing on his back on the ground as the engine leapt towards him.

During the following incident investigation the ladder chauffeur reported that the engine had backed into the ladder. The investigators were hard pressed to determine how a unit with 5 fire lines attached and in pump gear backed anywhere.