Sno-Freighter
LeTourneau had built a series of prototype "land trains" for use in roadless environments, and Alaska Freight Lines contracted the company to build a special model for cold-climate transportation on January 5, 1954. The contract called for an off-road vehicle capable of transporting 150 short tons (140,000 kg) of cargo in −68 °F (−56 °C) temperatures, through 4-foot (1.2 m) deep streams, and deep snowdrifts.
Using parts from its previous land trains, LeTourneau manufactured the Model VC-22 Sno-Freighter, completing it on February 17. It left the factory in Longview, Texas on March 16. The "locomotive" (serial # 5198) of the Sno-Freighter contained two Cummins NHV-12BI V-12 diesel engines operating at 400 horsepower each. These engines drove 24 electric motors (one for each wheel on the locomotive and trailing cars). Each car (serials # 5199-5203) measured 40-foot (12 m) in length and was 16-foot (4.9 m) wide. They carried 30 tons each for a combined payload of 150 tons for the 274-foot (84 m) long Sno-Freighter.
Its first trip under power was in the Fall of 1954, when Alaska Freight Lines began their 400-mile trek north from Fairbanks, Alaska to the Arctic Ocean. During its second trip north in the Fall of 1955, the Sno-Freighter jack-knifed and its engines burned just north of Eagle, Alaska. The cargo was off-loaded onto either "Cat" trains (Caterpillar bulldozers pulling cargo sleds) or one of the eleven 1956 Mack LRVSW semi trucks that Alaska Freight Lines had purchased to supplement the Sno-Freighter.
Today, the Sno-Freighter is abandoned and lies next to the Steese Highway in Fox, Alaska.
See also
Notes
References
- *Orlemann, Eric C. LeTourneau Earthmovers. MBI Publishing Company, 2001. ISBN 0-7603-0840-3
- *Orlemann, Eric C. [1]. Iconografix, 2009. ISBN 1-5838-8226-X
- *Bishop, Cliff [2]. Publication Consultants, 2009. ISBN 978-1-59433-110-7
- *Holderith, Peter. The Incredible Story of the US Army's Earth-Shaking, Off-Road Land Trains. The Drive, 2020.
External links
- Geographic data related to Sno-Freighter at OpenStreetMap