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There’s a Massive Antarctic Exploration Vehicle Lost Somewhere at the Bottom of the World
Pocket ^ | unknown | Peter Holderith

Posted on 01/01/2023 7:22:31 AM PST by Dr. Franklin

Last seen in 1958, it was designed to travel 5000 miles and self-sustain for an entire year.

It’s quintessentially American to drive everywhere. This must’ve occurred to the planners of the United States Antarctic Service Expedition in 1939 when the joint government-private sector project ran into the question of how best to traverse Antarctica’s frozen wastelands. The obvious answer? A car. A really, really, really big car. Or so thought Thomas Poulter, designer of the doomed Antarctic Snow Cruiser seen in these pictures.

You’d think a massive machine like this would still exist somewhere, even in pieces. And surely they made more than one for the journey. But no—the single Snow Cruiser built is lost somewhere in Antarctica (or at the bottom of the Southern Ocean). Just where exactly is an international mystery that’s likely to remain unsolved forever.

...

The vehicle—there is no other word for it—had a twenty foot wheelbase and a total length of about 56 feet. Powering the cruiser were two Cummins diesel engines. Their combined 300 horsepower spun two generators, which sent their power to four motors—one per 10-foot-diameter wheel. Yes, this was a diesel-electric drivetrain in a vehicle way before that was a thing. The motors could push it to a top speed of 30 mph and up a 35 percent grade.

With four-wheel steering, the Snow Cruiser had a 30 foot turning circle, excellent for its size. It could also raise and lower its suspension, allowing it to (theoretically) push itself over wide crevasses on its smooth underbelly—like a 75,000-pound penguin. Interestingly, that independent articulation was designed to allow the craft to tuck its wheels up into the body when parked so the rubber tires could be warmed with exhaust gases.

...

(Excerpt) Read more at getpocket.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Outdoors; Science
KEYWORDS: 1939; antarctic; antarctica; dieselelectric; snowcruiser; thomaspoulter
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This is an interesting article about a poorly tested engineering concept sent to Antarctica, and essentially abandoned due to WWII. I would expect that if someone wanted to find a large steel object, it could be found.
1 posted on 01/01/2023 7:22:31 AM PST by Dr. Franklin
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To: Dr. Franklin

"Smile 'n wave, boys. Smile 'n wave."

2 posted on 01/01/2023 7:24:27 AM PST by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: Dr. Franklin

IIRC, it’s been spotted a few times over the years as the drifting snow periodically unburies it.

CC


3 posted on 01/01/2023 7:28:55 AM PST by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
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To: Dr. Franklin

Jeez, car thieves are everywhere! :^)


4 posted on 01/01/2023 7:32:26 AM PST by mkmensinger
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To: Dr. Franklin
United_States_Antarctic_Service_Expedition

At least they tried. Probably keeping the location hidden so that Greenies don't sue for polluting the pristine penguin poop in the area.

5 posted on 01/01/2023 7:32:35 AM PST by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: Dr. Franklin

Research Foundation of the Armour Institute of Technology

Built in Chicago, driven to Boston. All on smooth tires ...

6 posted on 01/01/2023 7:39:14 AM PST by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: martin_fierro

Must have been some sight to see on it's way to Boston.

7 posted on 01/01/2023 7:41:50 AM PST by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: Dr. Franklin
And it's last location?

Antarctica’s ice is forever shifting, and several years after that final Snow Cruiser sighting, a large chunk of the Ross Ice Shelf broke off near where it had been parked. Whether the vehicle is still entombed on the landbound side or lost at sea is unknown.

8 posted on 01/01/2023 7:42:52 AM PST by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: Dr. Franklin
Wait... Did you say, "Diesel"?....

Sounds like a challenge....

9 posted on 01/01/2023 7:44:05 AM PST by Hatteras
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To: Dr. Franklin

I see the problem. They didn’t put snow tires on it.


10 posted on 01/01/2023 7:44:15 AM PST by Fresh Wind (The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.)
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To: martin_fierro
A snow cruiser hits a bridge and plunges into a creek in Pullman, Illinois.

Unloading A South Pole

11 posted on 01/01/2023 7:45:17 AM PST by Robert DeLong
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To: Dr. Franklin

Now if it was required to renew an expensive license plate tag, or somebody had left a BlockBuster video in the living quarters, it would have been found and recovered a long time ago.


12 posted on 01/01/2023 7:47:25 AM PST by Bernard (“the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God." JFK 1-20-61)
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To: Dr. Franklin

“ Their combined 300 horsepower spun two generators, which sent their power to four motors—one per 10-foot-diameter wheel. Yes, this was a diesel-electric drivetrain in a vehicle way before that was a thing.”

EMD, the electro motive division of General Motors that started building diesel electric locomotives since the 1940s, such as the famous Santa Fe chief F7 model would be fascinated to know this not a thing until the late 50s.


13 posted on 01/01/2023 7:52:25 AM PST by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up..)
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To: Bernard

In fairness someone has been calling constantly to get the warranty extended.


14 posted on 01/01/2023 7:56:44 AM PST by pas
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To: Dr. Franklin

“Their combined 300 horsepower spun two generators, which sent their power to four motors—one per 10-foot-diameter wheel. Yes, this was a diesel-electric drivetrain in a vehicle way before that was a thing.“

This is how every diesel locomotive works and did for two decades before this. They don’t have a drive shaft to a differential. Sounds like the car inventor in Illinois knew this. That state was home to EMD.


15 posted on 01/01/2023 8:03:05 AM PST by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up..)
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To: Dr. Franklin

Navy diesel subs also. Same thing.


16 posted on 01/01/2023 8:05:57 AM PST by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up..)
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To: Hatteras

Matt’s Off Road Recovery. “We’ll get ‘em out”.


17 posted on 01/01/2023 8:17:40 AM PST by AlaskaErik (There are three kinds of rats: Rats, Damned Rats, and DemocRats.)
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To: Dr. Franklin

They didn’t test it driving it on snow until taking it to Antartica. It carried 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel, which should weigh about 15 tons.


18 posted on 01/01/2023 8:26:11 AM PST by xxqqzz
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To: xxqqzz

Wouldn’t diesel fuel have gelled at Antarctic temperatures?


19 posted on 01/01/2023 8:35:20 AM PST by redangus
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To: AlaskaErik

Contact the car jackers in any major city pay a reward. They will figure it out.


20 posted on 01/01/2023 8:41:57 AM PST by mosaicwolf (nd M19)
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