The hype and heartbreak of the Antarctic Snow Cruiser
September 8, 2021 11:32 PM Subscribe
The Antarctic Snow Cruiser was a wheeled vehicle unlike any before or since. Built for Byrd's third Antarctic expedition, it was hailed as a modern marvel by the American press in 1939. Conceived more like a ship than a truck, it was designed to support a crew of four in insulated comfort for months at a time, cross crevasses with ease, and deploy a biplane stowed on top for reconnaissance and rescue. It left a trail of local news stories in its wake as it trundled its way from Chicago to Boston to be loaded onto a ship bound for Antarctica. But as midwest blog Orangebean recounts, the trip did not go entirely as planned.
Wheels are not as useless on snow as the article would have you believe: Modded light 4x4s and pickups can traverse Antarctica quite handily. However, the ratio of weight to tyre footprint is very different from the Snow Cruiser's.
posted by Harald74 at 12:56 AM on September 9, 2021
posted by Harald74 at 12:56 AM on September 9, 2021
The Snow Cruiser would be stylish transportation for a supervillain hideout, btw.
posted by Harald74 at 1:00 AM on September 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Harald74 at 1:00 AM on September 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
I'm only into cars on a hobbyist level and not an off-roader at that, but those tires look like naked inner tubes. Why in the world did nobody think tread might be helpful?
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 4:29 AM on September 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 4:29 AM on September 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
It's not like the USA is lacking in places with a lot of snow, making the lack or tread on the tires even more baffling.
posted by Paladin1138 at 4:36 AM on September 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Paladin1138 at 4:36 AM on September 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
The lack of tread is definitely baffling. All I can figure is they couldn't reliably mold treaded tires that large in the late 30s. At least not so that they could stand-up the extreme temps, and possibly the weight of the thing. Those huge tires look to be of a uniform thickness throughout.
Tire manufacturing was comparatively primitive back then. They still largely used innertubes, for instance, and treads were rarely better than thin channels running along the circumference of the tire, even on big trucks.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:12 AM on September 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
Tire manufacturing was comparatively primitive back then. They still largely used innertubes, for instance, and treads were rarely better than thin channels running along the circumference of the tire, even on big trucks.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:12 AM on September 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
Richard Byrd was quite the huckster. The plane he supposedly flew over the North Pole in is on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.
posted by Bee'sWing at 5:20 AM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Bee'sWing at 5:20 AM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
The legendary Cummins Engine Company out of Columbus had manufactured the Cruiser’s state-of-the-art diesel engines—the only reliable engines in the searing cold.
So, this struck me, because we'd always learned growing up that diesel engines couldn't be started in the cold and that's why we didn't go to school when it was too cold out -- the diesel buses couldn't run at those temperatures. Did I learn that wrong?
posted by jacquilynne at 5:49 AM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
So, this struck me, because we'd always learned growing up that diesel engines couldn't be started in the cold and that's why we didn't go to school when it was too cold out -- the diesel buses couldn't run at those temperatures. Did I learn that wrong?
posted by jacquilynne at 5:49 AM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
Diesel fuel used to gel up in cold weather, though there were additives you could pour into the tank that would help (as I discovered with my Rabbet Diesel many years ago). I think the fuel these days is much more refined and no longer has that problem.
posted by Bee'sWing at 6:04 AM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Bee'sWing at 6:04 AM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
Did I learn that wrong?
I think not, the reliability claim looks doubtful to me. When I lived in Moscow we used to take the bus provided by the embassy to school and on the day the temperature fell to -42 Celsius (-43.6 F) it failed to start and we had to wait for a bus borrowed from the Russians with a petrol engine.
posted by hat_eater at 6:06 AM on September 9, 2021
I think not, the reliability claim looks doubtful to me. When I lived in Moscow we used to take the bus provided by the embassy to school and on the day the temperature fell to -42 Celsius (-43.6 F) it failed to start and we had to wait for a bus borrowed from the Russians with a petrol engine.
posted by hat_eater at 6:06 AM on September 9, 2021
I'd guess school buses have been using block heaters since the 50s?
In many cases semi trucks might have kept their engines going in order to avoid the risk of not being able to restart it, but you're parking a bus at the same place every night.
posted by sebastienbailard at 6:16 AM on September 9, 2021
In many cases semi trucks might have kept their engines going in order to avoid the risk of not being able to restart it, but you're parking a bus at the same place every night.
posted by sebastienbailard at 6:16 AM on September 9, 2021
You can run a diesel engine in weather as cold as you like, because it's self-heating when running. And once it's running, the fuel gelling up isn't a problem, because you can use heat from the engine to pre-heat the fuel to reduce its viscosity.
The challenge is getting it started from cold. At antarctic temperatures the crankshaft bearings might well be seized up entirely with the block cold, just from thermal contraction. And with with 1930s monograde lubricants, all the oil in it would probably be like a jar of stiff honey.
Generally you need some external means of heating up the block until it's at a viable temperature. For modern vehicles this is often done with an electric block heater and an external source of power.
None of what I've seen about the snow cruiser mentions this detail, but for a 1930s solution it might have been as simple as lighting a fire under the block and waiting.
posted by automatronic at 6:20 AM on September 9, 2021 [7 favorites]
The challenge is getting it started from cold. At antarctic temperatures the crankshaft bearings might well be seized up entirely with the block cold, just from thermal contraction. And with with 1930s monograde lubricants, all the oil in it would probably be like a jar of stiff honey.
Generally you need some external means of heating up the block until it's at a viable temperature. For modern vehicles this is often done with an electric block heater and an external source of power.
None of what I've seen about the snow cruiser mentions this detail, but for a 1930s solution it might have been as simple as lighting a fire under the block and waiting.
posted by automatronic at 6:20 AM on September 9, 2021 [7 favorites]
I'd guess school buses have been using block heaters since the 50s?
It was a school bus, but not the school bus.
posted by hat_eater at 6:21 AM on September 9, 2021
It was a school bus, but not the school bus.
posted by hat_eater at 6:21 AM on September 9, 2021
Anti-gel additive is still a thing some people use in their aboveground diesel storage tanks.
posted by hypnogogue at 6:58 AM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by hypnogogue at 6:58 AM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
It says engine and exhaust heat was used to keep everything else from freezing, so the idea may have been to never switch it off.
The ground clearance and approach angles look abysmal unless you’re only planning to drive on very flat bits.
I don’t understand the diagram of it crossing a crevasse. It implies the rear wheels would have had enough traction to slide the flat underneath of the nose across the snow. Seems even more wishful thinking than everything else.
posted by grahamparks at 6:58 AM on September 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
The ground clearance and approach angles look abysmal unless you’re only planning to drive on very flat bits.
I don’t understand the diagram of it crossing a crevasse. It implies the rear wheels would have had enough traction to slide the flat underneath of the nose across the snow. Seems even more wishful thinking than everything else.
posted by grahamparks at 6:58 AM on September 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
In many cases semi trucks might have kept their engines going in order to avoid the risk of not being able to restart it, but you're parking a bus at the same place every night.
Part of the concern that we heard about when I was a kid, specifically, was that if the bus stalled, it wouldn't be able to be restarted and then all the kids would freeze to death on the side of the highway.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:07 AM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
Part of the concern that we heard about when I was a kid, specifically, was that if the bus stalled, it wouldn't be able to be restarted and then all the kids would freeze to death on the side of the highway.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:07 AM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
The Soviet version was the Kharkovchanka - in use from the late fifties to fairly recently I think.
I still feel vaguely cheated they weren't nuclear powered.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 7:28 AM on September 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
I still feel vaguely cheated they weren't nuclear powered.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 7:28 AM on September 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
I live in a mild climate and even so in Winter we'd have to wait for the glowplugs to enable the diesel to start. This meant spending close time with my Dad doing nothing and carefully avoiding our mutual hatred. Fuck diesels.
This vehicle was probably designed to never have the engine stopped, given the cabin- and tyre-heating requirements.
posted by pompomtom at 7:33 AM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
This vehicle was probably designed to never have the engine stopped, given the cabin- and tyre-heating requirements.
posted by pompomtom at 7:33 AM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
I worked in Wyoming completing natural gas wells back in the early 2000s and strangely enough most of my coworkers were from Tennessee with exactly as much experience regarding snow and cold weather in general you'd expect.
Of course we were all issued company pickup trucks, most of which were diesel, and fuel cards so we didn't have to pay for our own fuel.
One of the Tennesseans was so terrified of his engine getting cold and being unable to start that he simply never stopped his truck. Ever. He parked it at the wellsite and let it idle for a 12 hour shift, drove "home" to the company apartments, parked it running next to his apartment building, went inside and went to bed, and would wake up the next morning and walk out to his running truck and drive it back to the wellsite.
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 8:16 AM on September 9, 2021
Of course we were all issued company pickup trucks, most of which were diesel, and fuel cards so we didn't have to pay for our own fuel.
One of the Tennesseans was so terrified of his engine getting cold and being unable to start that he simply never stopped his truck. Ever. He parked it at the wellsite and let it idle for a 12 hour shift, drove "home" to the company apartments, parked it running next to his apartment building, went inside and went to bed, and would wake up the next morning and walk out to his running truck and drive it back to the wellsite.
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 8:16 AM on September 9, 2021
Fucking fascists. Is there anything they can't ruin?
posted by Naberius at 8:22 AM on September 9, 2021
posted by Naberius at 8:22 AM on September 9, 2021
Generally you need some external means of heating up the block until it's at a viable temperature. For modern vehicles this is often done with an electric block heater and an external source of power.
None of what I've seen about the snow cruiser mentions this detail, but for a 1930s solution it might have been as simple as lighting a fire under the block and waiting.
Funny you mention that...
In 1989 I flew to Anchorage, Alaska in February with some friends, more or less on a lark. We took a rental car and drove north, eventually winding up at a place called Circle Hot Springs, which I seem to recall was pretty much as far as non-commercial traffic can/could drive on the haul road for the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline, at least at that time.
Anyway, after two lovely/strange days at Circle, our idled rental car (w/o an engine heater) failed to start. So we enlisted the help of one of the locals. After a massive external battery (on wheeled hand truck) failed to get the car started, a length of metal flue pipe was fetched and placed under the engine, a welding torch was lit, and then rather casually placed inside of the pipe. The local helping us then suggested we head back inside for a bit and let things 'warm up' under the car. About 10 minutes later, we returned. This time the external battery got the engine turned off and we were good to go.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 8:50 AM on September 9, 2021 [5 favorites]
None of what I've seen about the snow cruiser mentions this detail, but for a 1930s solution it might have been as simple as lighting a fire under the block and waiting.
Funny you mention that...
In 1989 I flew to Anchorage, Alaska in February with some friends, more or less on a lark. We took a rental car and drove north, eventually winding up at a place called Circle Hot Springs, which I seem to recall was pretty much as far as non-commercial traffic can/could drive on the haul road for the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline, at least at that time.
Anyway, after two lovely/strange days at Circle, our idled rental car (w/o an engine heater) failed to start. So we enlisted the help of one of the locals. After a massive external battery (on wheeled hand truck) failed to get the car started, a length of metal flue pipe was fetched and placed under the engine, a welding torch was lit, and then rather casually placed inside of the pipe. The local helping us then suggested we head back inside for a bit and let things 'warm up' under the car. About 10 minutes later, we returned. This time the external battery got the engine turned off and we were good to go.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 8:50 AM on September 9, 2021 [5 favorites]
No One Ever Saw the Snow Cruiser Again…
I'm fairly sure that it was spotted on LV-426.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:32 AM on September 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
I'm fairly sure that it was spotted on LV-426.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:32 AM on September 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
Strange that the article misses the fact that by the time the Snow Cruiser left its factory, the tracked Bombardier B7 had been in production for four years.
posted by Richard Saunders at 9:49 AM on September 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Richard Saunders at 9:49 AM on September 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
And we had experience using treads to traverse difficult terrain back in WW1.
I wonder if this may have been a wag-the-dog thing led by Goodyear.
posted by sebastienbailard at 10:13 AM on September 9, 2021
I wonder if this may have been a wag-the-dog thing led by Goodyear.
posted by sebastienbailard at 10:13 AM on September 9, 2021
Strange that the article misses the fact that by the time the Snow Cruiser left its factory, the tracked Bombardier B7 had been in production for four years.
Byrd couldn't have ginned up nearly the same publicity with a Canadian device (that probably actually worked).
posted by Bee'sWing at 11:19 AM on September 9, 2021
Byrd couldn't have ginned up nearly the same publicity with a Canadian device (that probably actually worked).
posted by Bee'sWing at 11:19 AM on September 9, 2021
Diesel gelling is still a thing. Winter and summer or northern and southern fuel is formulated differently. The ski resort I worked at would occasionally get some southern truck with gelled fuel in the winter after they were forced to wait out a multiday road closure.
Also we used to buy fuel 7000 gallons at a time and we had to time it late enough that we could get winter fuel for our snowcats and generators but early enough that the road was clear of snow.
posted by Mitheral at 2:28 PM on September 9, 2021
Also we used to buy fuel 7000 gallons at a time and we had to time it late enough that we could get winter fuel for our snowcats and generators but early enough that the road was clear of snow.
posted by Mitheral at 2:28 PM on September 9, 2021
thatwhichfalls: The Soviet version was the Kharkovchanka - in use from the late fifties to fairly recently I think.
And there's a very good yt video of its history.
posted by sneebler at 7:10 PM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
And there's a very good yt video of its history.
posted by sneebler at 7:10 PM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
The Soviet version was the Kharkovchanka - in use from the late fifties to fairly recently I think.
And Previously
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 7:38 PM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
And Previously
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 7:38 PM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
I live in a mild climate and even so in Winter we'd have to wait for the glowplugs to enable the diesel to start. This meant spending close time with my Dad doing nothing and carefully avoiding our mutual hatred. Fuck diesels.
The diesel truck I owned at one point was primitive and you had to plug it in and even so keep cycling the ignition until it would reluctantly start. But I had a work truck for a while that had the glorious feature of remote start: hit the button on the remote and it would take care of all the pre-heating cycles and, as a bonus, automatically set the interior heat and seat heaters to high. Sit inside the house sipping coffee until it was all toasty warm and ready to go.
In a seriously cold place you would still have had to plug it in at night, but it was good for lower-48 winter temperatures without needing to be plugged in.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:31 PM on September 9, 2021
The diesel truck I owned at one point was primitive and you had to plug it in and even so keep cycling the ignition until it would reluctantly start. But I had a work truck for a while that had the glorious feature of remote start: hit the button on the remote and it would take care of all the pre-heating cycles and, as a bonus, automatically set the interior heat and seat heaters to high. Sit inside the house sipping coffee until it was all toasty warm and ready to go.
In a seriously cold place you would still have had to plug it in at night, but it was good for lower-48 winter temperatures without needing to be plugged in.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:31 PM on September 9, 2021
The Boston Public Library has a bunch of photos of the vehicle during its time in Boston.
posted by adamg at 9:02 PM on September 9, 2021
posted by adamg at 9:02 PM on September 9, 2021
I don’t understand the diagram of it crossing a crevasse. It implies the rear wheels would have had enough traction to slide the flat underneath of the nose across the snow. Seems even more wishful thinking than everything else.
Yeah, exactly.
The crevasse thing would have made sense if they'd built it with six wheels rather than four. Then you could pump fuel aft to shift the centre of gravity behind the central wheels, lift the forward wheels and drive forward until they're over the other side, lower them and shift weight forward, then do the same with the central and then aft wheels.
If they'd just built it as a six wheeler, and equipped all the tyres with proper snow chains, and reduced the gearing (it apparently ran fine in low-gear reverse), then I reckon it probably would have worked out pretty well.
posted by automatronic at 10:28 PM on September 9, 2021
Yeah, exactly.
The crevasse thing would have made sense if they'd built it with six wheels rather than four. Then you could pump fuel aft to shift the centre of gravity behind the central wheels, lift the forward wheels and drive forward until they're over the other side, lower them and shift weight forward, then do the same with the central and then aft wheels.
If they'd just built it as a six wheeler, and equipped all the tyres with proper snow chains, and reduced the gearing (it apparently ran fine in low-gear reverse), then I reckon it probably would have worked out pretty well.
posted by automatronic at 10:28 PM on September 9, 2021
"The Soviet version was the Kharkovchanka - in use from the late fifties to fairly recently I think."
Actually the US had something used in Alaska for defense resupply...
posted by cybrcamper at 11:36 PM on September 9, 2021
Actually the US had something used in Alaska for defense resupply...
posted by cybrcamper at 11:36 PM on September 9, 2021
I have (or probably had, I guess it's expired now) a military driver's licence for these things. They go over snow like nobody's business. The predecessor was developed in the late 50s, and is also a capable performer.
posted by Harald74 at 4:11 AM on September 10, 2021
posted by Harald74 at 4:11 AM on September 10, 2021
I don’t understand the diagram of it crossing a crevasse. It implies the rear wheels would have had enough traction to slide the flat underneath of the nose across the snow. Seems even more wishful thinking than everything else.
Grateful that nobody had to try it.
This wasn't such a ha-ha losers story as I thought it would be. It was about imperfect engineering as they tried to invent something like the Jawas's vehicular habitat. Live inside it, cruise the coldest place on earth!
And it worked, kind of. If polar exploration had remained a thing, if the war hadn't shifted the focus of engineering and killed off millions and wrecked the economies of Europe, maybe it would have been the start of something.
It's too bad it's not still there to be recovered. It would fit right in at the Henry Ford museum, with the House of the Future and all those engines and vehicles and trains.
posted by Orlop at 4:37 AM on September 10, 2021
Grateful that nobody had to try it.
This wasn't such a ha-ha losers story as I thought it would be. It was about imperfect engineering as they tried to invent something like the Jawas's vehicular habitat. Live inside it, cruise the coldest place on earth!
And it worked, kind of. If polar exploration had remained a thing, if the war hadn't shifted the focus of engineering and killed off millions and wrecked the economies of Europe, maybe it would have been the start of something.
It's too bad it's not still there to be recovered. It would fit right in at the Henry Ford museum, with the House of the Future and all those engines and vehicles and trains.
posted by Orlop at 4:37 AM on September 10, 2021
The beast stretched about 56 feet, as long as a professional bowling lane, and its wide frame spanned 17 feet—almost the length of a Coupe Deville.Americans will do anything to avoid using metric.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:02 AM on September 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Americans will do anything to avoid using metric.
12 yards long, 2 lanes wide, 65 tons of American Pride! Canyonero!
posted by xedrik at 7:48 AM on September 10, 2021
12 yards long, 2 lanes wide, 65 tons of American Pride! Canyonero!
posted by xedrik at 7:48 AM on September 10, 2021
I can kind of understand these things when it's like one of each. I struggle more with stuff like "the size of 115,000 football fields" or "weighs as much as 26 grown elephants". Just give me the measurements, guys, it's not easier this way.
posted by Harald74 at 7:04 AM on September 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Harald74 at 7:04 AM on September 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
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