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For many years after the team was formed in the late 1960’s, transport was provided by individual team members, using their own personal vehicles. It was not until 1973 that the first thoughts of obtaining a vehicle for use as an ambulance are recorded. An approach was made to the police for help, but an offer came out of the blue which started a section of the team which was inevitably to prove the most fund consuming and at times controversial in its history . . .
In January 1974, Mr Bill Thyne of Yair Estate donated a canvas top short wheelbase Land Rover, to the team. Originally green, the team applied a coat of bright yellow paint and large red crosses on the doors, a box was mounted on the front bumper to hold the equipment that was needed, and a roof mounted sign and amber flashing light fitted! The vehicle gave good service to the team until it was sold in 1976.
BMC JU250 Minibus JKS751H was purchased as an ex-police "troop carrier" from Chalmers McQueen in 1976. It had seats for 12 people and was run alongside the Series 1 Land Rover until the cost of running both vehicles became prohibitive for the team and the Land Rover was sold. The vehicle sported a remarkably high ground clearance and, despite only having rear wheel drive, very low gearing and a 1600cc engine, performed well on forest tracks and the like. In 1977, the vehicle was taking the team on an exercise to the Highlands, when a car in Peebles struck it. It was temporarily repaired and the journey was completed, but upon return was taken off the road and never repaired. The team’s insurance company eventually wrote it off.
The loss of the minibus left the team with the problem of finding a new vehicle. Through the Scottish Home and Help Department, two ex-civil defence Austin Gypsies ALF566B and NHV190E were sourced and bought in April 1977. Despite their age, these vehicles both had only about 150 miles on the clock and were bought for the princely sum of £156 +VAT each!
Both vehicles were dark blue with side windows and were fitted with brand new seat belts and fire extinguishers that were apparently necessary before they could be sold from the civil defence. The team did all conversion work. TheyALF566B was eventually involved in an accident while towing a heavy control centre trailer which resulted in the trailer becoming detached from the vehicle, overtaking it and causing it to overturn! Fortunately no-one was seriously hurt, but the Gypsy never ran again and was later sold without being repaired. NHV190E survived until 1982 when, due to the poor availability of spare parts, sometimes meaning the vehicle was off the road for periods of two weeks or more, it was sold locally.
In early 1981, the team bought ex-Borders Regional Council Water and Drainage Department 109 inch LWB Land Rover YSF 474K. The vehicle was sprayed white and sported a fluorescent orange roof and side stripe and was equipped with a full length roof rack for carrying a MacInnes stretcher and other equipment. Rear access to this vehicle was by means of a tailgate, which split horizontally and did not make for the easiest entry! There was seating for 11 people although consider-ably more were often squeezed in and some bear the scars to this day! were powered by petrol engines through part time 4 wheel drive.
The vehicle was fitted with the usual adornments found on an ambulance. Mountain Rescue and CB radio sets were fitted. Team members carried out all fitting work and the fitments themselves were largely donated by sponsoring organisations in response to letters sent by the team secretary.
Maintenance was carried out by team members and included the replacement of some fairly major items. Many spares were purchased direct from British Leyland and the surplus later sold off to boost team funds. The vehicle was sold locally in 1986 and could be spotted around and about for many years after.
In 1985, the need for a vehicle with more carrying capacity, a higher degree of comfort and more suitability as a base control was debated at great length at team meetings. It was largely felt that four wheel drive was a necessity and late in the year, a rare five-year-old Bedford CF350 panel van was noticed for sale from a main dealer in Glasgow. The vehicle had been converted to 4-wheel drive by a firm called Ferguson Formula in Coventry At that time, FF Developments as they later became known, specialised in fitting their "fluid flywheel" permanent 4-wheel drive conversions to largely Bedford products, and it was this clever "automatically" locking centre differential which "sensed" a wheel attempting to spin that was later to be fitted to high performance Ford cars such as the XR4x4 and Granada. A fund-raising effort had been arranged to provide finance for a new vehicle and it was eventually purchased.
The interior of the van was fitted with side seats on welded frames, which left the space under the seats for stowage of rescue equipment. All the necessary accessories were stripped from YSF 474K and fitted to the Bedford. Team members did all work and the result was a vehicle that, in its day, was a credit to the team and a testament to what can be done by people dedicated to their cause. Eventually in 1992, it was decide that the Bedford, which was by this time almost 12 years old, would have to go in favour of a "quick response" vehicle. At this time, the idea of using a trailer as a base vehicle was coming into favour, so it was felt the need for lots of internal space was not important. The vehicle was sold to a market gardener near Bonchester Bridge.
Vehicles obviously play an important part in the functioning of the team, and consequently are often the cause of sometimes-heated debate. One such debate arose after the teams involvement in the Lockerbie disaster in 1988. The question was raised that the team needed a second vehicle for deployment of search party members while the Bedford was being used as a control centre.
Some members remembered when the team previously owned two vehicles and were quick to point out what a drain they were on limited funds and also that suitable garaging was not available at the present Mountain Rescue Post. But by majority decision, it was decided that with another big fund-raising effort, a second vehicle would be of benefit. The garaging problem was solved when it became necessary for the team to move premises to its current location at Goslawdales in a purpose built building with a double garage – built and fitted out largely by team members.
In 1989, the team purchased a 1984 Masai Red and Cream, 2.25 litre petrol Land Rover 110 hard top, which was given the "treatment" and converted to the now familiar ambulance. The vehicle gave the team far more flexibility to deploy and uplift team members close to search locations and off-road training was organised for regular drivers at Ronnie Dale’s Off Road Adventure Driving School to ensure it was safely used.
The vehicle was not without its problems though. With a full length roof rack loaded with two stretchers and a dozen people inside, its stability caused much concern amongst drivers and in an attempt to cure this, Monroe gas shock absorbers were fitted, along with a rear anti-roll bar and ultimately, heavy duty springs. This made the ride somewhat firmer than usual for the coil sprung 110, but did cure the handling problem. With only 38,000 miles on the clock, A199CSF had done very little serious work when it was bought and was in excellent condition. The chassis was sand blasted and sprayed with Hammerite when purchased by the team. It performed well during the time it was run as an ambulance but, with the 1950’s designed 2.25 petrol engine under the bonnet, it was felt by some team members to be too sluggish when asked to transport a full load of team members and a fully loaded trailer. Something with a bit more "life" was needed to do this kind of work. In March 1993, the team’s Vehicle Officer bought the vehicle.
The decision to sell WPP990X, the Bedford CF, was not wholly popular, especially when the replacement was to be another Land Rover, which despite its unrivalled ability off-road, lacked the comfort and space of the big van. However, a policy had been formulated by the team whereby the two vehicles would adopt specific roles in a call-out situation — one acting as a "rapid response vehicle" transporting two or three key members to the scene of the incident as quickly as possible for rapid deployment, while the other waited at the mountain rescue post for the rest of the team members to arrive and then transported them together with the newly acquired mobile base trailer to the scene. When on site both vehicles could be released for deploying members as close to the incident area as possible, which meant sometimes many miles off road.
In February 1992, G454SVR arrived from a local garage, conveniently sprayed white. Team members began work in earnest to convert the vehicle to an ambulance with an aluminium full length roof rack to hold rucksacks and other personal gear. Stretchers were also stored on the roof. In 1993 a "County" converted 4x4 minibus, F264RYL was spotted in a South of England motor trader magazine and the team decided to pursue the possibility of purchase. The Transit had spent the first years of its life as an "escort" vehicle ferrying air passengers around Heathrow Airport. The standard of comfort was like nothing the team had ever experienced before, but at the same time a low range transfer box and high ground clearance gave the vehicle good off-road capability. Other adornments found on an ambulance such as high intensity side stripes, blue flashing lights etc., were donated and fitted by Lothian and Borders Police.
