Shawshank Redemption S&S ambulance

Tom Hoczyk

PCS Past President
No doubt this question has been asked before, but does anyone know who owns the '41 S&S Cadillac ambulance used in Shawshank Redemption? Mansfield (Ohio) Prison was used for the movie. I don't know if you can still go into it, but it seems like a neat place to visit during PCS Hudson. Tom
 
G Herold Berthy of Morgantown, WV I believe. It is listed in the directory as a combination. That is the way his first name is spelled in the directory. I agree, it looks like an awesome place to visit--that is one of my favortie movies. I know you can go inside and they give tours, as the Ohio chapter went last year. There should be a thread about it somewhere on here......with pics included.
 
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reformatory

go to the search icon at the top right of the tool bar here. type in Ohio Reformatory. this will then give you the postings for the Ohio Chapter reformatory tour from last year.
Mike
 
Ahhhh....... I hadn't thought about Herold. I haven't seen him at a PCS show in many years, and didn't associate this car with him. I suppose many years ago I would have seen the car at a show. I'll have to dig into my old print photos. Thanks! Tom
 
The reformatory is less than an hour and a half away from the hotel in Hudson. The Ohio Chapter had a meet there last fall and we had a great time. It's an amazing building and the tour guides are great at explaining everything. It's definitely worth checking out if you have the time. Tours are available every day of the week except Saturdays. The Monday-Friday tours are self guided and the Sunday ones are guided. Depending on how you're traveling home, checking it out the Sunday after the meet may be a good option. For more info, check out their website: http://www.mrps.org/
 
I would love to plan a tour on the Sunday after the PCS meet this summer.

Anyone else in on it ?!

Sunday for the guided tour would be my choice. In my opinion, the guided tour would be way better than a self guided one. I always find that the guided ones are much more informative than the do it yourself ones. You often get other info or stories you wouldn't get on a self guided tour. Being able to ask questions or getting explanations would be fantastic.

Shawshank Redemption is in my top 10 movies ever !


Post here in this thread if you are interested in a tour on Sunday July 17th.
If we get a few wanting to we can start a new thread and/or ask the meet hosts to add it as a "day after" event.

Being able to do another motorcade with the cars would be a great way to spend a little more time with our PCS friends. A great thing for sure !


Darren
 
If you are a Shawshank person, the Reformatory is a must-see place. I would also recommend the guided Sunday tour. Keep an eye out for the "Brooks was here/so was Red" location. Also interesting is the location of the safe in the warden's office. Be prepared for a LOT of climbing, and don't stray from the group. Very easy to get lost in there. And don't miss the "hole." Straight out of the "Man in the Iron Mask"..............
 
I would love to plan a tour on the Sunday after the PCS meet this summer.

Anyone else in on it ?!

Sunday for the guided tour would be my choice. In my opinion, the guided tour would be way better than a self guided one. I always find that the guided ones are much more informative than the do it yourself ones. You often get other info or stories you wouldn't get on a self guided tour. Being able to ask questions or getting explanations would be fantastic.

Shawshank Redemption is in my top 10 movies ever !


Post here in this thread if you are interested in a tour on Sunday July 17th.
If we get a few wanting to we can start a new thread and/or ask the meet hosts to add it as a "day after" event.

Being able to do another motorcade with the cars would be a great way to spend a little more time with our PCS friends. A great thing for sure !


Darren

Darren,
If I make it to Ohio I would be all for going to the prison.
 
If you do a tour on the Sunday after the meet, definitely let them know that you have a group coming ahead of time. That way you can get on the grounds earlier than the normal opening time, so you can all park together. Also, because I'm assuming that you'll all want to go in one tour group, let them know so they can have a specific tour guide for you. By having a specific tour guide, you'll get more of a general tour of the place instead of the Hollywood or specific block tours - this is a good thing because you'll get to see the best of all of the prison, instead of just one block. It also means that your tour might be closer to two hours in length instead of just one.
 
The information presented is correct. Herold (yes, that's the correct spelling) owns/owned the S&S ambulance in Shawshank, and he brought it to the PCS '94 International Meet in Pittsburgh (Greentree).

Herold owns many antique fire engines and several pro-cars. A couple years ago, there was a flood that affected one of his garage buildings, and I believe the S&S was severely damaged. If he even still has it, it's unlikely it will be on the road again. I'll almost certainly see him in two weeks (at Allentown), and I'll ask.

I'd love to go on the prison tour, but is it scooter-accessible?
 
I'd love to go on the prison tour, but is it scooter-accessible?
I believe that there might be a ramp into the gift shop, which is also the warden's quarters. There's neat pics and glass cases of reformatory memorabilia in the gift shop too.

The standard tours are not scoot friendly at all. Expect a lot of walking and a ton of stairs. You'll have even more stairs if you're going on a tour that includes the guard tower.

According to the FAQ page on the reformatory's website, you can contact them to schedule a handicap friendly tour of the bottom level.
 
To follow up, I did see Herold Berthy on Sunday. And I did ask about the "Shawshank Redemption" '41 S&S Cadillac ambulance, which he still owns.

He said that some of the wood flooring was damaged in the flood, but otherwise, the ambulance is fine. He described it as "restorable" - he said he just hasn't gotten to it yet, and he assured me it is well protected now. So I guess it's not as bad as I had thought.

Here's a photo of it when he brought it to the '94 International Meet. As I remember, this was before the movie was released so we didn't know why it had the "State of Maine" decals on the side. And he wouldn't say! Well, then the movie came out and.... :657:
 

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Well, I have it marked on my list from '94 as an ambulance. But I haven't seen it since then, and without looking at it in person, I don't remember what I saw that far back. In fact, I think you were there, too... ;)

Based on the lack of tunnel lights, the later beacon and (maybe) later siren, and the movie-car-style window treatments, I would guess it was originally a combination.
 
This ambulance is currently still at Herold Berth Y's in Morgantown. I have photographed it frequently and did not know it was in the movie until I recognized it while watching the movie just last night. I'm impressed!
 
Here are photos I took of it a few weeks ago.

That 1994 photo of it is far from the state of it after it got flooded years ago when a over flown creek put it under water.

Would likely need 50,000.00 + to completely restore it now after the flood.

Darren
 

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Here are photos I took of it a few weeks ago.

That 1994 photo of it is far from the state of it after it got flooded years ago when a over flown creek put it under water.

Would likely need 50,000.00 + to completely restore it now after the flood.

Darren

Sure is a shame to see the car in it's present condition. In the words of Paul Harvey "Now the rest of the story." It sure would be a great car to save.
 
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