| 1949 Mareeba |
| About this Railway Ambulance |
| Basic data |
| Name | Power | AEC 45hp | |
| 4-2wPMR | |
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| Gauge | 3ft 6in | exists | |
| Builder | Mareeba | ||
| Year | 1949 | see below |
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| In service info by J.W.Knowles 1990 |
| The third and current Mareeba car was the largest rail motor ambulance of all. It ws a 45hp AEC model 506, and was bought by the Mareeba Hospitals Board after the war for 25 pounds ($50) from the Atherton Dairy (or Butter) Company, which had operated it for cream transport on the nearby Millaa Millaa branch with a QR driver from 1926 until about 1940. It had been left with the bonnet raised and spark plugs removed (the plugs are at the top, and the valves at the side of the cylinders on this engine). The engine was rebuilt by Carl Zahlten the QGR Locomotive Foreman at Mareeba, using some parts from a QR 45hp (34km) AEC wrecked at a level crossign accident in Cairns. The body was rebuilt at the QGR Townsville workshops at a cost of 1550 pounds ($3100) and the car issued to traffic in April 1949. |
| In the rebuild, the 24 in (610mm) diameter rear wheels were replaced by a set of standard 36 inch (914mm) diameter driving wheels of the QR 45hp AEC cars. The body was made the same length and height as a QR 45 hp AEC, the wheelbase was made the same, and it was given a roof which overhangs the windscreen, another common feature. The major difference from the QR cars are that the body is narrower (6ft 6in cf 7ft) and that it was given rear outwards opening doors, with footboards below. The hand brake operates on the bogie and the footbrake on the rear driving wheels; there is no air brake. Inside there is space for stretchers and seats for up to 6 patients, and cupboards. Lighting is electric, the car has a headlight but has no sidelights as on the QGR AEC cars. This is the only ambulance rail motor without some form of built in turning ability. It can be turned only fork lines or turntables, which sometimes requires it to run beyond the patient to turn. |
| This car was owned by the Mareeb Hospitals Board, and not the QATB, but the QATB operated and maintained it, for which the Hospitals Board made a donation. It has been used on all line south and west of Mareeba. By June 1951, it had run 11,973miles, by June 1959, it had run 33,110 and by June 1964, 34,771 |
| WIth vastly improved roads, it has since reeived little use, but is still available. even where there are good roads, it is used if road bridges are flooded but the railway open - eg to Dimbulah in March 1972 and biboorah in 1974. In the 1974 floods it proved especially useful in the evacuation of the Chillagoe hospital. In 1976 it made two trips to Chillagoe by night. Its mileage from 1964 to 1976 was 2524 (4062km). It had no use at all from 1976 to 1979. |
| About 1975, the State Health Department disputed paying any of the costs of the railway ambulance through its grant to the Hospitals Board, preferring air movement. There was strong local support for retention of the rail ambulance especially for use at night, when air navigation is not always possible. After some years of contention, the Mareeba QATB took the car over completely. It is regularly maintained, and made a trip to Chillagoe in 1983. |
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| Out of service |
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| About the location(s) |
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| About the railway line (extracts used from Triumph of Narrow Gauge, J Kerr) |
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| About the people helped |
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| More info from JWK's database |
| 1996: The Mareeba Hospitals Board Rail Ambulance is one of the major exhibition in the Mareeba Heritage Museum. It featured in the Cairns Post of 6 July which mentioned that the museum officially opened on 14 October 1995. The ambulance was stated to have made its last run in 1983, a run to Chillagoe. It began running as an ambulance in April 1949. (SE Sep 1996 p155) |
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| The Atherton Butter Factory rail tractor at Malanda Butter Factory circa 1932 K Rogers Collection |
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| Photo made available by Peter R Murray |
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| Photo made available by Ray Shun |
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| Photo made available by Ray Shun |
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| Photo made available by Ray Shun |
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| Photo made available by Ray Shun |
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| Photo made available by Ray Shun |
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| Note that during the course of the research, on several occasions I was informed that this unit was never a London bus, nor was it ever a Butter Truck (road vehicle). Ken Mc |