"He would just sit in his room and read those journals all the time and educated himself as to the history of the Albany Fire Department," said Chris Kollias, a 15-year veteran and the senior firefighter on Rankin's shift.
The journals were "interesting to read, because of the way the men worked back then; everything was manual," said Firefighter Dave Ornoski of Engine 11.
"Firefighters would have to replace the glass in the pull-box," when it was broken by someone reporting a fire, said Ornoski, who has 13 years with the department. Rankin would tell the men they didn't have it so bad.
Rankin died Sunday after battling cancer for eight months. The popular fire captain was 50 and had served for 30 years. In addition to the fire service and its storied history, he loved photography, making videos, fast cars, motorcycles and boats. He was assigned to Engine 11 on New Scotland Avenue. His obituary called him the department's unofficial historian.
Firefighters recalled Rankin with fondness Tuesday.
"As long as he has been on the job, 30 years, I have rarely seen him angry or lose his temper," Kollias said. "But if I could have a penny for every time he made someone laugh, I'd be a millionaire. He had a great sense of humor and was very quick-witted."
One of the captain's prize possessions was a 1901 film of horse-pulled steamers marching in an Albany parade and reportedly taken by Thomas Edison, he said.
"Tommy put music to it," Kollias said. "Tommy loved video editing," and had up-to-date computers and digital cameras.
"He's always been a photography buff and had tons of pictures, archives of pictures," said Fire Lt. Richard Carey of Engine 11, a 16-year veteran.
"He had photos of fires, firefighters, apparatus, fire houses," Carey said. "He collected Fire Department memorabilia. Tommy loved this job more than anybody."
Firefighters were looking forward to his return as Engine 11 commander. He had been on sick leave since June 7. That day, he was at a house fire on Mountainview Avenue "when he became weak and told his crew he didn't feel right," Carey said.
"They took him to the hospital, and that's when he was diagnosed and he's been out ... ever since," he said. "But he still touched base with the guys, stopped in to visit."
About a month ago, he stopped by after seeing his doctor and said his prognosis was good; he had been through chemotherapy, he felt good but needed to rebuild his strength, Carey said.
His death came as a shock.
Firefighter Pat Cahill of Ladder 4 on Delaware Avenue, a member of the department since 1987, called Rankin "an outstanding officer, (who) passed on a lot of knowledge, stuff I use today that he taught me when I first came on. They were tricks of the trade, and are as good now as then."
Before joining the department, the Albany native worked for the city and one of his jobs was lighting kerosene lamps that were placed at construction sites or potholes to alert motorists, Ornoski said.
He was a devoted parishioner of Blessed Sacrament Church and took photos of Holy Communion services and the elementary school graduations. A Selkirk resident, he had a camp at Cossayuna Lake where he was involved in improving the water quality and the area surrounding the lake, Kollias said.
His pride was a 1977 Pontiac Trans Am in mint condition on which he worked, firefighters said.
Carey said: "Tom was always there, always the gentleman, always the kind soul for anybody. He kept a low profile, came in to do his job, help people and go home, and he did it well."
