automobile

This is actually on the corner of Brunswick and Ann streets, Fortitude Valley.

A rail ambulance is a vehicle used for medical transportation services on railway lines. The first rail ambulance in Queensland, Australia, was introduced in 1918, with the last withdrawn from service around 1990. The rail ambulance was usually a specially equipped petrol-engined rail inspection trolley, funded by a local community, with a railway employee volunteering to drive it when necessary. The initials QATB stand for Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade. Queensland is a vast, relatively unpopulated area, where providing services to remote communities in a cost-effective way has been a continual challenge. Railways were built from 1865, and in many areas provided the major form of transport until a significant road improvement program was commenced by the Queensland government from the 1960s. It was in this context that the mining community of Blair Athol introduced the first rail ambulance in 1918, in order to enable injured people to be transported to the nearest hospital at Clermont.[1] The idea rapidly spread, with rail ambulances being introduced at Dalby (1919), Mount Mulligan (1920), Roma and Charleville (1922), Goondiwindi and Baralaba (1923), Cloncurry (1925) and Blackall (1941). Other towns known to have had a rail ambulance at some stage include Charters Towers, Pentland, Atherton, Ravenshoe and Millaa Millaa. The last rail ambulances were withdrawn in 1990 from Mareeba and Blackall, as by that stage road ambulance services were available through the State. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_ambulance

Prior to the formation of the QATB service in Roma, Mr A.C. Hoskins carried out the work of transporting patients to the hospital. He commenced this work in an honorary capacity in 1903. Dr A.A. Doyle then became interested and was responsible for the firsthand litter, which was purchased from public subscriptions. In the work of transportation, Mr Hoskins was assisted by members of the Fire Brigade, namely J.H.D. Grant, J.W. Sparks, Mat Reid, J.J. Graham and Chas Moore. In those days the litter was housed at the Fire Station which was then in the main portion of the town. Transportation was over very rough roads, and the pushing of the litter up the hospital hill was no mean effort. Mr Hoskins gained his First Aid Certificate in 1910 and continued his good work in an honorary capacity until the inauguration of the Ambulance as a Branch Centre of the QATB in October 1915. In November 1913, the QATB Toowoomba Committee established a Sub-Centre in Roma and appointed Mr J.J. Harland as Officer-in-Charge with the rank of Deputy Superintendent. The first important business to occupy the Committee’s attention was the proposal to purchase a motor ambulance, and Mr. H.A. Watson, on behalf of the Wallumbilla residents, guaranteed £50 towards this project. In April 1916, the Ford car was delivered and proved a boon to the service. The report for the month of May showed the car had traveled 57 miles in that month. In 1921, a rail car was purchased to enable patients to be brought in from places on the Injune line during wet weather. The rail ambulance carried two lengths of the line which were placed on the tracks for the car to run onto and then turned to face the way home to Roma. Source: www.ambulance.qld.gov.au/docs/history/Roma.pdf