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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Police Panel Truck







While I was out shopping for my 1955 Chevy, I picked up another of those great panel trucks from Athearn. This one is marked as a police vehicle. In HO 1/87th scale, it is a great addition to my 1950's police department.




Panel trucks like this served police departments all over America in many roles. This was well before the advent of paramedic services and many were rescue ambulances. They would carry a variety of hand tools (no jaws of life back then) and pry people out of crushed cars and perform other rescue duties, afterwards they would transport the victim to the hospital while performing little or no first aid on the injured party.






These trucks also served as Paddy Wagons, picking up drunken Irishman, "Paddies" and taking them to the drunk tank to sleep it off. Or if things go too hot on a Saturday night and a few too many people got "Paddy Whacked" that is beaten up by Irish gangs, the riot squad would ride out to the neighborhood and knock a few heads together.




A fine example of a police panel truck and I suspect more of them will find their way into my arsenal of law enforcement tools. Couple this with the Pegasus spaceship, "One Adam Twelve, take the paddy wagon, pick up the riot squad and respond to the field just out of town for a report of a flying saucer just landed..."

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