Pictured left: An American style round top fire hydrant, near the Prince Bernard Bridge leading into Philipsburg. On the right: A European style fire hydrant, at the intersection of Arch Road and A.T. Illidge Road, near the Aleeze Convention Center.
Attention to detail is often the difference between a good layout and a great one. Take, for example, a simple fire hydrant. On eBay, I saw three fire hydrants for US $9.95 so I bought them. The hydrants had not even shipped when another offer popped up – four hydrants for just $9.95.
I continued to scroll. There before me were dozens of listings for hydrants – different styles and colours ranging from red to blue. Not sure I have ever seen a blue hydrant, but a quick check on internet confirms there are blue hydrants. Blue means the hydrant can deliver more than 1,500 gallons of water per minute (gpm). Turns out a green hydrant can deliver between 1000 and 1499 gpm. Orange is good for 500 to 999 gpm and normal red less than 500gpm.
And then I stopped and let out a big laugh – this offer had one hydrant and four dogs. I looked closely and sure enough, one dog had a raised leg and was peeing on the hydrant. I must confess I laughed so hard and then of course ordered it – it cost $15.
I continued to scroll. Wow, wait, you can order a life size hydrant – yes, a real life-size NOT FUNCTIONAL hydrant for $73. It is sold so dog owners can put it in the yard to mark a sport where you want your dog to really pee. While I do have a dog...okay, seven… I did not order the pee hydrant.
Now I am not sure I really need four more hydrants, but while looking at them, I realized the first three were the US rounded top style and the other four were the straighter post-Euro style.
Well, you normally cannot mix Euro and US styles on a layout or a diorama, unless of course you live on or are modelling St. Maarten. Yes, look around and you can see both styles of hydrants – sometimes just down the road from each other. Do the US hydrants use US measurements and couplings? You would expect the Euro Hydrants are metric.
Do the fire trucks have to carry adapters? Oh! And if the department is ever asked to cross the border to help St. Maarten. What do they face there? Wow! Could be a real problem. Imagine a fire truck rolls up to save your house and cannot connect to the hydrant! Do not worry – turns out the Fire Brigade and Disaster Control have published a four-page document dated Version 2 Sept. 9 which is available online at:
It explains the hydrant must be fitted with a 2½ Storz (German) connection as specified per DIN 3222. DIN stands for “Deutsches Institut für Normung” – a German national standards organization.
The document covers where the hydrant should be placed, the size of the open and close nut on top of the hydrant (1¾-inch if pentagon shape, or 1¼ if square). The document covers water flow requirements as well as actual placement and access from a road for the fire department. Anyway, mixing and matching hydrants is a bit unusual – but not on St. Maarten.
Until next time, hope to see you around the tracks.
