Charleville in Queensland's outback channel country is probably best known for it's floods more than it's famines. When the rains come, Charleville goes under, even as recently as earlier this year when the levee built to protect the town, trapped floodwaters on the wrong side. There's nothing new about Charleville flooding ... nor for that matter the nearby towns of Morven, Cunnamulla and Quilpie.
Before the roads between these townships were sealed with all-weather roads, when the floods came road transport came to a halt. Generally folks coped pretty well, but for some the isolation could be a death sentence. There was no way to get to hospital of you took ill or were injured. Out of this need was born the rail motor ambulance.
Back in the 1920s and 30s there were ten of these light ambulance vehicles operating on the rail links in Queensland. Hang on you say, this is a classic car web site, not a train website. Well, our featured car a British Standard, that made the crossover from car to rail ambulance in December 1929. The car is featured in the Charleville Bi-Centennial Shed and Museum, which we visited during our recent 4600 km road test of an Isuzu D-MAX dual cab ute.
The need for a rail ambulance was highlighted by a death of a patient during floods in nearby Quilpie in the early 1920s. Due to the death, Charleville Ambulance Superintendent, Mr J.Grimstead and Charleville's resident doctor, Dr J. Shannesy asked for a rail motor ambulance to be supplied in 1922.
The wheels of progress turn slowly and it was not until December, 1929 the Standard Rail Motor was delivered. It was built by the firm of Gardner in Enoggera, Brisbane using the Standard chassis as a platform. The Charleville ambulance is 15'6” long and has a wheelbase of 7'8” and is powered by a Standard Coventry four-cylinder engine producing a modest 10 hp. Speeds were not great – 32 km/h on a straight stretch of rail at first – but this was cut to 24 km/h in 1935. On curves the ambulance was allowed just 9.5 km/h. The vehicle was operated by a qualified railway department driver, accompanied by an ambulance officer. There is room in the back for two stretchers, but as our image shows there is one stretcher on one side and a timber bench along the other.
After being withdrawn from service in 1956 the vehicle went through a series of owners. At one stage it was on display at an Ipswich service station and in 1986 was on display at the Bli Bli Northcoast Pioneer Village Museum on the Sunshine Coast. The Charleville Historical Society wanted the ambulance back and two members, Alex Collins and George Balsillie went to the village and purchased the vehicle for $3,400. Mr Collins spent some time getting the vehicle's engine going – but Charleville being Charleville, a flood in 1990 set progress back with the restoration.
It's always good to have a target to work to and the Charleville Ambulance Station asked the Historical Society if the vehicle could be ready for show by 1992 – the Centenary of the Queensland St John Ambulance Service. As a result the Standard ambulance was taken to Charleville TAFE College where the body was worked on and the engine sent to Dalby Motor Rebuilders.
In July 1992 the Standard Rail Motor Ambulance returned to where it had performed most of it's valuable work, on the rail lines at Charleville Railway Station, where locals saw it run on track for the first time for 36 years. Two weeks later when officers from the St John Ambulance Brigade visited Charleville for the Centenary the ambulance ran again. Special tickets were printed for the day and some of the former Charleville ambulance officers were on hand to see it run. They included Frank Gurney, Jack Ronan, Blue Petteford, Joe Pike and Toby Brown.
As per railway regulations a certified driver, Ron Curry was at the controls. The ambulance is now on display in the Charleville Bi-Centennial shed in the centre of town. The vehicle took part in the Wyandra Rail Centenary with a run from Charleville to Wyandra and return during Easter 1998 and also in the Cunnamulla Railway Centenary in October 1998.
The Standard Motor Rail Ambulance epitomizes the important role cars had in Australia's development, particularly in the outback, where basic emergency services taken for granted in the city, are, even today, far more at risk of being interrupted by floods, and placing lives at risk. In this scenario the humble British Standard, built in Coventry, and adapted for rail in Brisbane, is somewhat of an unlikely hero, but has received due recognition by the people of Charleville and surrounding towns. The Coventry-based Standard Motor Company was founded in 1903 by Reginald Walter Maudslay and was used in Britain until 1963.
(Ambulance information supplied by the Charleville and District Historical Society) |
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