• Hand drawn renderings of his concept
• Literature from other fire apparatus manufacturers
• A preliminary specification sent out to builders for input prior to going to bid
• The actual bid specification document and equipment list
• Completed equipment bid from Western Fire Equipment
• Bid proposals from Coast, Ward La France and Pirsch (all taking complete exception)
• Preliminary pricing done by Ken Roney at Wesco
• Ford chassis info including the invoice for the chassis
• Letters between my father and various parties involved with the construction
• Hand written notes and letters
• Construction blueprints including body construction, plumbing and electrical
• Photos during construction and after delivery
• Equipment catalogs from various manufacturers
• Information on where each piece of equipment would be stored on the apparatus  

This information has proven to be extremely valuable in the discovery process, as many things were changed through the years. Many times I have discovered new clues about the construct while looking at the drawings or the specs.

February 1999 - In my quest to answer as many questions as possible about the truck, I found some of the old volunteer firefighter rosters and began searching out some of the people who were around in the mid to late 60's to ask them questions. Many of the people obviously had passed on, but there were several that I was able to make contact with, including Warren "Doc" Schaffer, who was once the chairman of the fire district board of directors. He used to refer to Engine 32 as his engine, so I thought he may have pictures or something of interest. He did not have anything he told me, but just before hanging up he said he did have something that I might be interested in; the plumbing schematic off the pump panel. Apparently when the air controls were removed, he saved the schematic and had it hanging over his workbench in his shop. He told me the next time I was in the area to stop by and he would give it to me. To say the least, I just happened to be in the area the next evening!

March 1999 - I was selling ambulances and fire apparatus at the time, and was up in the Astoria, Oregon area and made a stop at the Knappa Fire District. While talking with the fire chief, I mentioned that I was looking for a couple of clear domes for Federal Beacon Rays, and it just happened that he had a couple that had been removed from a truck. He would have to find them and told me he would place them by the front door  and I could pick them up later. Our conversation was overheard by a young volunteer from a neighboring district who offered that when his department was formed, other departments gave them hand-me-downs, most of which were still in the attic of the local grange hall. He told me that after I got back from my other sales calls in the area to stop by and look at what they had. I stopped in at Knappa and there on the porch were not just two clear domes, but two complete Beacon Ray warning lights! That really made my day, but I had no idea of what was to come. I went out to the grange and discovered a fire collectors dream: a room piled high with all sorts of old firefighting equipment. The guy set aside a few items he felt he could not let go, but said I was welcome to everything else. I started digging through things and setting aside the items I wanted, a few more Beacon Rays, an attic ladder, a Motorola Radio, a Plectron and a set of hose bridges. Wait a minute, what is that stenciled on the hose bridge? HVFD 65....E-32! Amazing, in this pile of unwanted items, I found the actual hose bridges originally purchased for Fire 32! To say the least, they went home with me that night.

June 1999 - One of the only activities I took Engine 32 to was the fire muster held in Estacada, Oregon. My daughter Jessica and I got up early and made the drive to Estacada and participated in the early morning fire truck parade. During the muster events, I had the engine on display for people to look. One of the departments attending the event had a Roney pumper, and having seen the Roney name on all the letters and paperwork related to the engine, I asked the chief if he knew anything about the Roney family. Unfortunately he knew nothing and went about his way. Later in the day, another participant came up to me and said he heard that I was looking for information on the Roney's. It just happened that he had a name and phone number for Bruce Roney (the son of Doug Roney), who had been at the muster with his son Will earlier in the day checking out the fire apparatus, as they were interested in buying an old Roney pumper. The next day I called Bruce to introduce myself and we made plans to meet later in the week. Since that time, Bruce and I have become close friends and he has been a wealth of information regarding not only Roney Fire Apparatus, but also Westland and Wesco, answering many of the questions I had about the companies.

November 1999 - While talking with Doc Schaffer and a couple other people, the names of Dan and Tim Ruffing kept coming up, as they apparently purchased the wrecked portions of the fire trucks from the insurance company and parted them out. I tracked down Dan and he gave me info on how to contact Tim. I called Tim one night and he said he thought he might have a few parts from the wrecked trucks and that I should stop by his shop. I made the trip down to Hubbard and met Tim. After visiting a bit, I followed him back into his truck repair business to a steel cabinet. He pulled open a couple of the drawers and they were full of miscellaneous parts from the wrecked trucks! He said he had been hauling the parts around for thirty years and people had tried to talk him out of them Although he had no idea why he was hanging onto the parts, he told them no but he said I needed them more than he did, so we loaded everything into a couple of boxes and hauled them out to my truck. The most amazing find was all the original Schrader air valves, all 11 of them with their function still marked with label tape.