Now that I've built an HO-scale version of the Ontario Street Kingston Fire Department fire hall, what about other emergency services in my modelled era? At the Kingston Fall Fair on September 12, 1968 an ambulance display was set up. Featuring one of three new Regional Emergency Services overseen by the Ontario Hospital Services Committee, the Ford ambulances operated out of Hotel Dieu Hospital.
The archival photo (above - Queen's University Archives. V142-6-122. Kingston Whig-Standard Fonds) is quite different from the one that appeared in the Whig (below). Cropped closer and focused more on the people than the ambulance. Answering questions was driver-attendant William Pippy:
In action! A motor vehicle collision on Highway 401 between Sydenham Road and Highway 38 on December 3, 1969 was photographed by a Whig photographer:
The photos that didn't appear in the newspaper (below - Queen's University Archives. V142-7-157. Kingston Whig-Standard Fonds) show both ends of the ambulance. The striping was likely navy blue. I remember larger Dodge versions in succeeding years. This was in the era of load-n-go, with little room in the back of the van for supplies or equipment:
I recall the stripe colour as navy blue as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Eric. This is a real problem for modelling an earlier era! I encountered it with buses and other vehicles that only seem to live in black & white due to the limitations of photography in earlier years!
ReplyDeleteEric