SIPRE began in United States Army Corps of Engineer in 1949. Their job was to “conduct basic and applied research in snow, ice and frozen ground.” As we became more entrenched in establishing a solid presence in Greenland, snow, ice ,and frozen ground research became critical to establishing logistics in and around the region. Researchers within SIPRE heavily participated in developing Camp Century, Greenland.
I had intended on self-funding this project. The deeper that I get into the research and writing, I am realizing that the costs are quickly escalating. I applied for a grant through the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for a small grants. As part of the application process, a Letter of Inquiry must be written to the program director. If approved, I would be given the green light to write a grant application. Here is the letter of inquiry that I wrote, minus the recipient name and the project participants.
After reading Jon Gertner’s books, I realized that he used a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to fund his Greenland endeavors. I have spent around a $1,000 so far on writing this book – research materials, online archive subscriptions, computer hardware, and website hosting comprise my current My plan is to visit the three remaining Overland Trains. Covid travel restrictions and funding have been the two pain points. I calculated that visiting the three remaining Overland Trains would cost around $7,000.
I do not know if a grant is a long shot. As my old boss used to say, “The answer is already “no” if you don’t ask.” Thanks for that Fran!
“Exploring Greenland: Cold War Science and Technology on Ice (Palgrave Studies in the History of Science and Technology,” 1st ed. 2016 Edition, by Ronald E. Doel (Editor), Kristine C. Harper (Editor), Matthias Heymann (Editor).
Camp Tuto and Camp Century housed service members from the U.S. Army Polar Research & Development Center. Writing a book on the R.G. LeTourneau Overland Trains has taught me a great deal about how the United States pushed boundaries to learn about their new Arctic operating environment.
When I find relics like this on the internet, I tend to latch on and buy them. Aside from being ridiculously small, this Vulcan lighter captures a small, but distinguished piece of time.
The light logo says “Scientiae Servimus” on the bottom of the logo – meaning Scientists that Serve.
Jon Gertner’s “The Idea Factory.” I just finished his most recent book about Greenland. His writing style and research depth provide a well-rounded and thoughtful read surrounding the topic. So far, The Idea Factory has lived up to my expectations.
From time to time, I look for complimentary items on eBay and a few other sites. For the most part, I find old images and brochures. This time, I found an Alaska Freight Lines ash tray. It is in fantastic shape. The colors are still vibrant too. Enjoy!
The image below is from the TCREC Technical Report 61-118. This report outlines scale model tests for various tires in snow an sand.
“The Ice at the End of the World: An Epic Journey into Greenland’s Buried Past and Our Perilous Future” by Jon Gertner. The author has successfully captured my interest with the book. It starts out in the late 1800’s with Nansen’s exploration of Greenland. It took me 2 days to reach Chapter 6, Thule.
The Marsh Buggy was built as an experiment, a concept vehicle. It was completed in October of 1954. Only one was ever built. The Marsh Buggy had a gear driven scraper up front. This vehicle never ended up in service and was shipped overseas. Not too many images exist of this machine. I am going to save the details and images for my book. Stay tuned!
Overland Trains 