Amherst craftsman restores horse-drawn history

Ted Hughes’ garage is a testament to his work ethic: large wooden wheels stacked against the wall, several buggies, and other antiqued debris fills the garage and the surrounding area. He keeps several projects around in case one becomes interrupted while awaiting an order.

Hughes, 75, owns Chalklevel Carriage and Buggy Works in Piney River and for the past 19 years has restored, or rebuilt all types of horse-drawn carriages, sleighs and buggies.

Last year, he completed 27 pieces for the Robert Thomas Carriage Museum in Blackstone.

He has just finished a yearlong, 500-hour project: a replica of an 1861 Rucker ambulance, the most popular ambulance used by the Union army during the Civil War.

“I’ve been busy,” he said. “I haven’t had a slack time since we started.”

The ambulance is nine feet tall, about 3,500 pounds and can carry eight wounded or four dead soldiers. The ambulance requires six horses to pull it or Hughes’ 1988 GMC truck, which he’ll use to deliver it to a private collector in Appomattox.

The plans came from the U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum in Fort Lee, which houses an original Rucker ambulance. “It’s not as complete as this one,” Hughes said.

David Welker, Hughes’ new employee of three months, also worked on the project.

The only ambulance parts that were not built on site were the wheels and axles.

What requires the most time are the details, Welker said.

“As much as possible, it’s exactly the way they did it,” he said.

Even the unseen features are accurate, such as the 40 pounds of horsehair that fills the cushions where the wounded would sit in the back.

Another feature is a functional water keg. “Water for your wounded,” Hughes said.

The power tools they used reduced the construction time “to half to a quarter of the time it would have taken to build it,” Welker said.

Welker finds meaning in restoring older, horse-drawn carriages, such as the street sweeper that they plan to work on next.

“You’re trying to conserve it, to keep it in good shape so your grandchildren can see it,” he said.

Hughes started building the carriages after retiring 19 years ago from the Virginia Department of Transportation as a bridge inspector.

His knowledge of the craft comes from research and consulting with Amish people and Mennonites, who still use the old-fashioned transportation.

He’s not sure what brought him into building and restoring the horse-drawn vehicles. He only expected to do it for about three years or so.

Mainly, he said, he wanted to do something that wouldn’t have made him leave the house.

“I just happened upon it,” he said. “It just blossomed.”

Welker, too, retired into the job. He used to hang wallpaper in Charlottesville. He moved to Amherst County about three years ago, where his parents live.

He found out about Hughes through his father.

“On a whim, I called him to see if he needed help,” Welker said. “It was the best call I ever made.”

“It’s been fascinating,” Welker said. “It’s kind of like a puzzle, but the puzzle has to do something.”

Hughes said he put out about four other vehicles during the time he worked on the ambulance.

Mostly because he had to wait for wheels he ordered, usually about eight to 10 weeks.

“You just don’t pick them off the shelf and ship them,” Hughes said, “they have to be made.”

n Reach Nolan Connelly at (434) 946-7195 or

nconnelly@newsadvance.com