back to old ambulances

Before we had the Bedford we had a 1946 Morris Commercial, reg LNN 31.
That was a scary old beast to drive. There was no power brakes or
steering, so you needed muscles! The radiator was almost completely
blocked and the cooling was via a rubber tube originally meant for the
rear compartment heater. This tube simply short-circuited the radiator!
If we stopped in traffic the heat from the engine would cause the petrol
in the pipe to the carburettor to boil, and the engine would stop.
Incidentally the electrics were positive chassis.

I've had a lot to do with old ambulances over the years, both ours and
other peoples. They make terrific camper vans.

Just to dispel one common myth, when an ambulance leaves service and is
put on the open market the various sirens, horns, and blue flashing
lights are always removed. So tales of people using the 'blues and twos'
to get through a traffic jam are pure fantasy.

Bill

In article ,
Bill Wright wrote:
Just to dispel one common myth, when an ambulance leaves service and is
put on the open market the various sirens, horns, and blue flashing
lights are always removed. So tales of people using the 'blues and twos'
to get through a traffic jam are pure fantasy.

Yup. Even 'classic' versions of these aren't allowed to have working
emergency horns. Bells are ok. Blue lights are allowed, but must be
covered on public roads.

--
*You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Wed, 01 Dec 2010 02:31:46 +0000, Bill Wright
wrote:

Before we had the Bedford we had a 1946 Morris Commercial, reg LNN 31.
That was a scary old beast to drive. There was no power brakes or
steering, so you needed muscles! The radiator was almost completely
blocked and the cooling was via a rubber tube originally meant for the
rear compartment heater. This tube simply short-circuited the radiator!
If we stopped in traffic the heat from the engine would cause the petrol
in the pipe to the carburettor to boil, and the engine would stop.
Incidentally the electrics were positive chassis.

I've had a lot to do with old ambulances over the years, both ours and
other peoples. They make terrific camper vans.

Just to dispel one common myth, when an ambulance leaves service and is
put on the open market the various sirens, horns, and blue flashing
lights are always removed. So tales of people using the 'blues and twos'
to get through a traffic jam are pure fantasy.

Back in 1960s Manchester a friend of mine had an ex-police car, a
Wolseley. One evening after a jolly time in a pub near the centre of the
city we got in the car and drove along a side road to a main road and
waited for a gap in the traffic. A policeman nearby saw the car and
walked rapidly into the middle of the road to stop the traffic to let us
out. The driver later told me this is one of the most scary things that
had ever happened to him. In spite of being drunk he had to drive
perfectly. He did.

There were no police markings on the car so we weren't sure why the
policeman behaved the way he did. We wondered whether he had recognised
the number on the numberplate. Perhaps at one time the police had bought
a batch of cars with adjacent numbers and the number on my friend's car
was recognisable to the policeman as one of a series.

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

"Peter Duncanson" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 01 Dec 2010 02:31:46 +0000, Bill Wright
wrote:

Before we had the Bedford we had a 1946 Morris Commercial, reg LNN 31.
That was a scary old beast to drive. There was no power brakes or
steering, so you needed muscles! The radiator was almost completely
blocked and the cooling was via a rubber tube originally meant for the
rear compartment heater. This tube simply short-circuited the radiator!
If we stopped in traffic the heat from the engine would cause the petrol
in the pipe to the carburettor to boil, and the engine would stop.
Incidentally the electrics were positive chassis.

I've had a lot to do with old ambulances over the years, both ours and
other peoples. They make terrific camper vans.

Just to dispel one common myth, when an ambulance leaves service and is
put on the open market the various sirens, horns, and blue flashing
lights are always removed. So tales of people using the 'blues and twos'
to get through a traffic jam are pure fantasy.

Back in 1960s Manchester a friend of mine had an ex-police car, a
Wolseley. One evening after a jolly time in a pub near the centre of the
city we got in the car and drove along a side road to a main road and
waited for a gap in the traffic. A policeman nearby saw the car and
walked rapidly into the middle of the road to stop the traffic to let us
out. The driver later told me this is one of the most scary things that
had ever happened to him. In spite of being drunk he had to drive
perfectly. He did.

There were no police markings on the car so we weren't sure why the
policeman behaved the way he did. We wondered whether he had recognised
the number on the numberplate. Perhaps at one time the police had bought
a batch of cars with adjacent numbers and the number on my friend's car
was recognisable to the policeman as one of a series.

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)




Yes, he could have misbelieved it was a Commanding Officer's car.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Bill Wright wrote:
Just to dispel one common myth, when an ambulance leaves service and is
put on the open market the various sirens, horns, and blue flashing
lights are always removed. So tales of people using the 'blues and twos'
to get through a traffic jam are pure fantasy.

Yup. Even 'classic' versions of these aren't allowed to have working
emergency horns. Bells are ok. Blue lights are allowed, but must be
covered on public roads.

So as I said, people telling stories about gypsies or whatever using the
blue flashing light are pure fantasy.

Bill

"Pikey Bill" wrote in message ...

So as I said, people telling stories about gypsies or whatever using the
blue flashing light are pure fantasy.

Is that what you claimed in court?
Oh, and don't use the G word - it's racist.

On Dec 1, 2:31*am, Bill Wright wrote:

I've had a lot to do with old ambulances over the years, both ours and
other peoples. They make terrific camper vans.

And old mobile libraries - you can get a decent double mattress in the
back of them!

In article , Chris Hogg
wrote:
Not sure about that, Bill. May be in your area, but not here. Our late
next door neighbour ran a second hand car business (10th hand, more
like), and his specialities were ambulances and police cars. His
ambulances all had the blue lights and two-tone horns, and he'd set
the horns going occasionally just to set the dogs barking and make his
neighbours (us) jump! Don't know about the police cars though.

I was once given the lights and horns roof assembly of a police car to
make it practical for a TV drama scene. I had to use really thick wires
because those horns take a huge current, 10A or more, and if you think
they're loud out of doors, try and imagine what they sound like in a
small workshop...

Rod.
--
Virtual Access V6.3 free usenet/email software from
http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtual-access/

....snip...
Back in 1960s Manchester a friend of mine had an ex-police car, a
Wolseley. One evening after a jolly time in a pub near the centre of the
city we got in the car and drove along a side road to a main road and
waited for a gap in the traffic. A policeman nearby saw the car and
walked rapidly into the middle of the road to stop the traffic to let us
out. The driver later told me this is one of the most scary things that
had ever happened to him. In spite of being drunk he had to drive
perfectly. He did.

There were no police markings on the car so we weren't sure why the
policeman behaved the way he did. We wondered whether he had recognised
the number on the numberplate. Perhaps at one time the police had bought
a batch of cars with adjacent numbers and the number on my friend's car
was recognisable to the policeman as one of a series.

You don't even need an "official" car. Our "works car" used to be a white
sierra estate, no flashies, markings or anything - regular car throughout.
With two "white shirt and tie" professionals in the front, I was amazed at
how many motorway drivers slowed down and pulled over as we approached them.
Whether they realized their mistake as we went past I don't know but clearly
they weren't taking any chances.

Paul DS.

"Bill Wright" wrote in message
...
Before we had the Bedford we had a 1946 Morris Commercial, reg LNN 31.
That was a scary old beast to drive. There was no power brakes or
steering, so you needed muscles! The radiator was almost completely
blocked and the cooling was via a rubber tube originally meant for the
rear compartment heater. This tube simply short-circuited the radiator! If
we stopped in traffic the heat from the engine would cause the petrol in
the pipe to the carburettor to boil, and the engine would stop.
Incidentally the electrics were positive chassis.

I've had a lot to do with old ambulances over the years, both ours and
other peoples. They make terrific camper vans.

Just to dispel one common myth, when an ambulance leaves service and is
put on the open market the various sirens, horns, and blue flashing lights
are always removed. So tales of people using the 'blues and twos' to get
through a traffic jam are pure fantasy.

Bill

On a smaller note, the old Moggie Minor vans beloved of the post office were
not quite as spacious but very useful little tools. I remember my very
proper Aunt being horrified when my cousin and her boyfriend purchased one
(car were for people, not vans!). I think she relented when they explained
how they used it to transport things to and from Portabello market, which
was how they subsidised their time at Uni in London in the 70s.

Paul DS