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flMMH -Mechanical Monsters Aid Man; ‘ -tt-.The worst blizzard of the j year lashed at the Alaskan mission outpost; All bush pilots had been long grounded.The weather was even too mean for dog teams. Yet at the outpost they knew help would come to the teen-age Eskimo suffering horribly with an attack of appendicitis. They had seen the giant monster riding over:the snow many times before. '‘^Another hour crept by. Then. ■ youngster at the window let out a delighted yell- Through his peep hole, rubbed clear of ice, he had spotted the monster.Its great wheels turned across the drifting snow like a gigantic snake. The long machine wound slowly around the bills toward the mission.The man-made monster’s op*, erator had heard of the Eskimo’* plight over his cab’s radio. He and his Sno-Freighter were on the way back to civilization from supplying Air Force radar stations. He had turned off his course to pick up the lad*Safely aboard the Sno-Freighter the youth was soon on his way to a doctor and these wonderous machines.W%8§P- • •W* 1 ‘\srattWwass;r /rV«.v / .v.v/.vBuilt for U.S. Army aervice In tires are 10 feet high.the far north, this Sno-Train'sAnother type of big-wheeledfreedom from pain and worry.This man-helping monster called a Sno-Freighter was built where almost everything is claimed to be the biggest, the state of Texas. ,The arctic freight hauler is 17 feet tall, 17. feet wide and 247 feet long. One operator, .perched in the front cab, drives the machine. B~ G. LeTourneau, Inc., a pioneer in builders of gigantic equipment, builds vehicle 1* also used in Alaska.It is called a “Sno-Traln.” Le-Toumeau builds this kind too.Other machines of this type snake their way through the hot jungles of the tropics. Their 10-foot wheels pound out their own way through jungle underbrush. The “Jungle Buggies haul supplies to remote jungle villages. In the future these jungle travelers may help missionaries carry n e e d e 4equipment and supplies in and out of the bush.The vehicle’s many hugej tires hold only five pounds air pressure. This allows them to roll over marshy land and sand without bogging down.Jungle animals? What beast would dare attack such a fearsome looking monster?Another machine called an Electric Log Stacker, can unload logging trucks with ease. Its twin “tusks'' act like fingers in a huge steel hand.Twin forks below the tusks act as thumbs. The great steel hand can pick up one log between “thumb*” and “fingers,*' or snatch up a 22-ton load of log*. The Log Stacker makesmokffllenincstr.haienlt;topthehisupthethe backbreaking task of log' ging easier.AH of these machines—Sno Trains, Sno-Frelghters, Cross-Country Freighters and Log Stackers—are powered by electricity. Each wheel contains its own electric-power.A diesel engine turns a generator which feeds electric power to every wheel. The big diesel and generator is located just behind the cab on the Freighters.These monster machines are helping man open new arctic and jungle frontiers. They are making nigged jobs easier and safer. .—Terry KayJjevfritsuemaorailiclepietogAtilooCRrfoncellbeEbesbra
Newspaper Details
Fairbanks Daily News Miner
Fairbanks, Alaska, US
Tue, Jun 09, 1959
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
WA, USA 15 Sep 2020
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