In December 2024, I received an email from someone who told an interesting story about Steve McPeak and owning one of the Overland Trains. McPeak was a daredevil and holder of 24 world records.
“Around 1980 I met a guy named Steve Mcpeak who at the time was doing a daredevil act act at Chicago fest at navy pier where he performed on a trapeze under a helicopter. He said that he owned a snow train in Alaska and he even showed us a video tape that was produced by an Anchorage TV station. The tape showed the snow train going through the woods knocking small trees as it went. It also showed it in a parade in Anchorage. He said that he bought it from the salvage yard and got it running again. This would of been late 70s. He said that he looked into getting new tires for it and the molds still existed then and it would very expensive to have them made. Does this make any sense to you? You can google Steve Mcpeak daredevil for more information on him. The best I can find I think that he went to prison in his later years for drugs. He lived in Las Vegas.“
Analysis
In trying to figure out whether McPeak had ties to the Sno-Train or the Sno-Freighter, I looked back at the documentation to understand where each machine was located during the 1970s and whether the details of a parade and tires had any traceable elements.
The Sno-Freighter sat at International Boundary for three years, from 1968-1971. Bobby Miller was trying to sell it to the oil industry. Miller later placed the Sno-Freighter at his salvage yard called Miller Salvage at 1485 30th Avenue in Fairbanks, AK. Eventually, Rick Winther purchased the Sno-Freighter from Miller’s Salvage for $2,000, with hopes to have it on display at Pioneer Park.
Shortly after 1964, the Sno-Train was purchased from Fort Wainwright by Carl Peterson. It then sat in Peterson’s Arctic Plus Salvage Yard until 2010, when it was purchased by Keith Byram off of eBay for $15,000.
In the July 16, 2020 version of the Sno-Freighter chapter, I had notes about Steve McPeak that never made it to the final book. He was involved in one of the machines, but I didn’t have enough supporting documentation to support his ownership at the time.
The comment that the reader sent me about getting new tires for the Overland Train also struck me as an important detail. Tires for the Sno-Freighter were not available during the 1970s. It’s unclear whether LeTourneau produced the tires for other machinery models. However, the tires on the Sno-Train were used for a number of machines and projects to include the Sno-Buggy, TC-497, the Panama Canal Tug system, Gold Digger, Crash Pusher, and Thompson Trailers to name a few. They would be relatively widely available without the need for reproduction.
At many times during the Sno-Freighters’ existence, it was transported on public roads. I don’t have any evidence of a parade, but it stands to reason that it could be part of one considering the massive size and general oddity.
During one of many interviews for my Overland Trains book, Mike Haskins did mention that “the family of Steve McPeak lived down the road…” in Alaska. This lends itself to McPeak having a tie within Alaska and potential knowledge of the Overland Trains.
Conclusion
The data suggests that Steve McPeak may have owned the Sno-Freighter for a short period of time or was in discussions or researching to purchase the Sno-Freighter from 1968 to 1971. Numerous people, including the reader who sent in the email mention McPeak with ties to Alaska, the potential machine ownership, and the multiple accounts of McPeak’s ownership. The Sno-Freighter was actively for sale during that time and McPeak would have the opportunity to purchase the machine.
If you, the reader, has more information about Steve McPeak and his ties to the Overland Trains, please reach out to me at mark@nwlinux.com.
