Admiral Richard E. Byrd’s Snow Cruiser

By Sam Moore
Published on August 21, 2018
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The Ohio State Highway Patrol leads the Snow Cruiser over the Lincoln Highway.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol leads the Snow Cruiser over the Lincoln Highway.
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A cut-away drawing of the Snow Cruiser.
A cut-away drawing of the Snow Cruiser.
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The Snow Cruiser in a ditch near Gomer, Ohio.
The Snow Cruiser in a ditch near Gomer, Ohio.
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Crowds flock to see the curious beast as it is parked in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, for five hours for repairs to hydraulic lines.
Crowds flock to see the curious beast as it is parked in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, for five hours for repairs to hydraulic lines.
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A postcard showing the Cruiser in the Antarctic.
A postcard showing the Cruiser in the Antarctic.

This story has absolutely nothing to do with farming, or collecting for that matter, but collectors are always looking for “one-offs” and this machine would surely qualify as that.

In November 1937, the U.S. government became interested in an official American expedition to the Antarctic. Although Admiral Richard E. Byrd had made two earlier expeditions to that frozen region, both were privately financed. Byrd was planning a third private expedition when, on Jan. 7, 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt approved the plans for a federally sponsored trip to be commanded by the admiral.

Two ships were used by the expedition, Admiral Byrd’s old ship, Bear of Oakland, that was reconditioned by the Navy and commissioned the U.S.S. Bear, along with the North Star, a 1,434-ton ice breaker. There were four aircraft as well. On the Bear was a twin-engine Barkley-Grow seaplane, and there were two twin-engine Curtiss-Wright Condor biplanes for use after landing in Antarctica. The fourth was a single-engine Beechcraft that was to be used in conjunction with the subject of this column, the Snow Cruiser.

Monster of a machine

Thomas C. Poulter, the second-in-command of Byrd’s second expedition in 1933-35, had experienced the limitations of motorized transport in the Antarctic. A Cletrac crawler tractor, two Ford snowmobiles and three Citroen halftracks (the latter originally designed for desert use, but modified for the Arctic with skis replacing front wheels) had made up the motor pool. The tracked vehicles were usually able to move, but couldn’t cross crevasses and there was a lot of trouble with water condensing and freezing in the fuel lines.

By the time the third expedition was announced, Poulter was Scientific Director at the Armour Institute of Technology in Chicago and he determined to build a vehicle capable of navigating Antarctica. The resulting “Snow Cruiser” was built in the Pullman Company’s Chicago shops in less than six months and at a cost of $150,000, all donated by private entities.

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