To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' The Hershey Auction event, 7 - 8 October 2026.

Offered Without Reserve | $200,000 - $300,000 USD Originally delivered to Philadelphia’s Engine Company 42Reportedly only five owners since newMeticulous 15-year restoration; in beautiful condition throughoutAn outstanding showpiece for any collection By the latter part of the 19th century, there were more than 80 manufacturers of steam fire engines in the United States.

Most prominent among them was the Silsby Manufacturing Company of Seneca Falls, New York, which built its first such unit in 1856.

In contrast to other firms of the era, which held to old-fashioned reciprocating engines and piston pumps, Silsby employed the innovative rotary pump designed by Birdsill Holly, who also invented the frost-proof fire hydrant.

Such was the demand for these strongly designed engines that they survived a parade of mergers that eventually folded Silsby into the soon-legendary giant Americ...