The Antarctic Snow Cruiser was a vehicle designed from 1937 to 1939 under the direction of Thomas Poulter, intended to facilitate transport in Antarctica. The Research Foundation would finance the cost and oversee the construction, and lend the vehicle to the United States Antarctic Service. Work began on August 8, 1939 and lasted for 11 weeks. On October 24, 1939, the vehicle was fired up for the first time at the Pullman Company just south of Chicago and began the 1,640 km journey to the Boston Army Wharf. After it arrived in Boston, it departed for Antarctica on November 15, 1939 aboard the ship the North Star. The Snow Cruiser arrived at Little America in the Bay of Whales, Antarctica with United States Antarctic Service Expedition in early January 1940 and experienced many problems. The large, smooth, tread-less tires spun freely and provided very little forward movement, sinking as much a 3 feet into the snow. The crew attached the two spare tires to the front wheels of the vehicle and installed chains on the rear wheels, but were unable to overcome the lack of traction. The crew later found that the tires produced more traction when driven backwards.
While having several innovative features, it generally failed to operate as hoped under the difficult conditions, and was eventually abandoned in Antarctica. Rediscovered under a deep layer of snow in 1958, it later disappeared again due to shifting ice conditions.
What is included:
Antarctic Snow Cruiser Vehicle - Poser ERC Figure
2 material variants: road trip to Boston and journey in Antarctica
Scaled to poser people, textures 4000x4000, product is intended for midrange to distant shots, selected dials with limits on, suitable for animations. ERC coding for easier use. Unpacked Runtime Size: 195 MB. Historical Reconstruction.