When the Sno-Train manufacturing was completed, it was sent to Houghton, MI for the Army to test capabilities. In the image shown below, you see two personnel checking trailer connection or power cables. The large pill-shaped canister between the rear tires is the fuel tank. This photo also shows the Sno-Train with traction lugs attached.
Inspecting the Sno-Train in Houghton, MI dated 3-10-56
Traction lugs are the equivalent to tire chains, but they are for the monster 120x48x68 tires. Seen below is the diagram showing the Overland Mark 2 traction lugs, which vary from the lugs seen above. R.G. and his engineers iterated on many of the designs as they learned more about how they operated in field conditions. The traction lugs were one of those iterative devices.
The first 6 book chapters are being reviewed and edited! I received the first copy edit on Chapter 1 last night. I have three “Monster” chapters in the book, the Sno-Freighter, Sno-Train, and the Overland Mark II. The good news is that the remaining chapter drafts are complete, aside from the aforementioned three.
When I went to Texas for research last month, I had boxes and boxes of old documentation to review. The image below is just a small percentage of data that were reviewed. Part of the problem with all of these fantastic data sources was filtering. Sometimes, there were an excessive amount of documentation on a particular topic; I had to mentally step back and filter what was important to telling the story.
Some of the historical records researched for this book
As I started writing this book, I wanted to throw out any of the data derived from stories. I started from scratch, presenting information only from physical documentation or from those present during the event. Aside from the mass amount of information in this book, it is based on data that I can back up by documentation and first hand accounts.
Our Facebook Overland Trains page reached 1,000 followers yesterday! The first 7 chapters of the Overland Trains book are being edited, while I continue to work on the larger 3 chapters, the Sno-Freighter, Sno-Train, and Overland Mark II. Thank you for joining our Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/OverlandTrains.
As part of researching “The Overland Trains Project,” I have been able to take use some of my technical background to good use. These slides show one of the Overland Trains trailers. On Thursday, I received an envelope of old film negatives. These needed to be digitized and analyzed for content. How in the heck do I do that?
Film negatives pouch
When I was a kid, I used to buy 35mm film, take random pictures, and take them to PayLess for developing. I would get back pictures and these negatives. I did not realized until now, how important these negatives are as a part of history.
I called up a couple of pharmacy stores that had photo print capabilities. Anytime a customer wants negatives digitized, they are sent to Fuji, with a turnaround time of 2-4 weeks. Realistically, this would end up being 6-8 weeks. I searched Neeva and found out that digitizing negatives is quite simple. In short, use a high quality, uniform light source, take a completely still digital camera image, then edit the colors in a photo editor.
Rybozen 5″x4″ light table
I used a high quality digital camera to capture an image of the negative. The raw image looks like this.
Raw negative image under a light table
Next, I used Gimp photo editor to Invert the colors, which makes the image have a blue hue.
Negative image after Invert colors was applied.
Lastly, Auto Equalize the image, and you are left with a digitized negative to image.
Final processed image from film negatives
Once the image is processed, crop and apply additional filters to meet your needs.
By now, you must be wondering what is the machine in this image. One of the more recognizable feature is the Firestone 120x48x68 tires. The tires above are 10 feet tall, with the machine standing well above the tire height. The amazing thing is that the machine is not even finished. Additional slides in this series show closeups of the rims and trailer. The trailer platform for this machine is from the Overland Mark II from Yuma Proving Ground, AZ. There is an additional top deck that is placed on top – not shown. I will discuss this machine, provide additional images, and talk about the story of this machine in my book.
The photo negative above was captured by Lloyd Molby. Thanks to a few amazing people, we are able to learn and relive Lloyd’s experiences. This is just the surface.
During the early 1950’s Tournatrain development, numerous ads were published about the trains, or the products that they used. This particular ad by R.G. LeTourneau, Inc., was meant to advertise it’s capabilities in multiple terrain types (e.g. deserts or jungles). Additional language within the ad also advertises LeTourneau’s newly re-designed electric wheel.
The Overland Train Mark II concept began in 1955. While the Mark II was the last of the Overland Trains to be built, it had the longest history. R.G. LeTourneau, Inc. would not see a purchase order for the Mark II until 1958. The images below show the Mark II on the test track at R.G. LeTourneau, Inc. in Longview, TX in 1961. Once the Army accepted the Mark II in Texas, it was sent by rail to Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona in April, 1962. This is where the real machine testing would occur. Today, the Mark II Control Car, the lead car, sits at the Yuma Proving Ground Heritage Center – https://history.army.mil/museums/IMCOM/yumaProvingGround/index.html.
Overland Mark II Undergoes Testing – image: Lloyd and Larry Smith
Overland Mark II at R.G. LeTourneau, Inc.; image: Lloyd and Larry Smith
Under the Overland Mark II; image: Lloyd and Larry Smith
LeTourneau Overland Trains used a variety of American made parts and materials. Companies used their contributions to help America fight and win wars. Advertisements like the one here helped to bolster their product lines. After all, if the United States military used their products, why wouldn’t you? The advertisement below is from a news release of the National Carbon Corporation, a division of Union Carbide Corporation.
The last Overland Train, the Overland Mark II (Mk2), consisted of 13 cars – the leading Control Car, 10 Cargo Cars, and two trailing Power Cars. Each of the 54 wheels had its own wheel motor that used National Carbon Company brushes. A total of 668 brushes were needed to complete the Mk2 – 504 brushes were used in the traction motors within the wheels, 56 large brushes for the DC generators, 12 for the exciters, and 96 round items for AC generator contacts.
image: news release of the National Carbon Corporation, a division of Union Carbide Corporation, date unknown.
If the military is involved, you can be certain that they will use an abbreviation or acronym for their organized name, project, or equipment. Here are a few of the more commonly used abbreviations and acronyms used during the scope of the Overland Trains.
The United States Army contracted with R.G. LeTourneau, Inc. to build the Overland MkII. The two drawings and the image below show the primary Control Car. In the drawing shown, the Control Car has a radar mounted on the top-front and a boom jib on the rear for tire changing.
image: Phase I included diagrams.
The Overland MkII is 46 feet long and 20 feet, 7 and a half inches tall with the radar. Without the radar, the Control Car is 16 feet, 9 inches tall.
image: Phase I included diagrams.
In the image below, two men walk by the front passenger side tire. Note how they compare to the 10 foot tall tire and center of the rim. The Overland MkII Control Car is found at the Yuma Proving Ground Heritage Center (https://history.army.mil/museums/IMCOM/yumaProvingGround/index.html).
photo: Lloyd and Larry Smith | description: two military men walk on the passenger side of the train’s most forward Firestone 120x48x68 tire.
In the late 1950s, the United States Army (USAR) started carving ice tunnels in the Greenland ice shelf. The tunnels formed Camp Century, secretly known as Project Iceworm. Publicly, Camp Century was a research and development station. Ice cores sampled during this time are the foundation for scientists climate change assertion. The first functional nuclear power station, as part of the Army’s Nuclear Power Program, went CRITICAL in Camp Century – the reactor was called PM-2A and built by ALCO. Project Iceworm’s mission was to determine the feasibility for the Greenland ice shelf to support nuclear missile launches.
Letter stamped with Camp Century processed through Army and Air Force Postal Service dated 22July61.
A couple of decades after Camp Century was abandoned, a 1962 memo was found, detailing Project Iceworm’s proposal. The USAR really wanted to determine the feasibility for the Greenland ice shelf to support 600 nuclear missiles, targeted at the Soviet Union. The missiles would be moved around, under the ice sheet, by rail. The warheads would be safely concealed under 28 feet of ice, with a surface area equal to the state of Alabama.
photo: A. Haynes
In 2013, the United States Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center was planning to award several study contracts, worth up to $3 million each. The goal of the study contract was to figure out how to extend the operational life of the Minuteman III missiles.
There were two possible outcomes that the Air Force was looking to pursue, (1) maintain the current Minuteman III missiles until around 2030 or, (2) replace the current setup with a new ICBM that would be hidden within a trackless, underground subway system. The cost of developing a complex underground system would be a considerable, with figures between $52 billion to $210 billion.
Overland Trains 