Civil War Rucker Ambulance 1/16

 The carnage of the Civil War made transporting the wounded from the battlefields a matter of life and death. The ambulance wagon designed by Brigadier General D. H. Rucker and built at the Government Repair shops at Washington proved to be the most valuable innovation. Used during the latter half of the war, it was able to carry patients in seated or prone positions.

Two litters (stretchers) on the floor of the wagon were divided by longitudinal hinged joints and could be bent at right angles to serve as bench seats. The upper platform halves, hinged to the sides of the wagon, dropped down to form the seat backs.

In the raised position, the seat backs were supported by iron posts hinged to their bottom surfaces. These posts fit into sockets in the floor. The resulting platform supported two more stretchers suspended from the roof. The space between the lower and the upper stretchers was ventilated by louver openings on each side of the body of the wagon.

The ambulance body rested on platform springs designed to reduce both fore-and-aft and side-to-side jostling. The suspension also included a horizontal draught spring under the fifth wheel to reduce the sudden lurch of the wagon when the team started to pull it. Though somewhat heavier than other ambulance designs at 1,120 pounds, the added weight improved stability.

Kit Features:

Historically accurate and perfectly scaled
Cleanly cast Britannia metal components
Laser-cut ply and basswood platform & chassis
Spoked wooden wheels with metal rims & axles
Realistic Red Cross decals
Canvas top
Clearly written illustrated instructions
Model length 8-1/2" / width 4" /height 6" / Scale 1:16

Difficulty Level: Intermediate Level

Design, prototype model and instructions by Ken Goldman