The odd historical past of the U.S. Army’s large off-street land trains has been revealed, shining a light on the huge Cold War relics.
In the 1950s, the Army commissioned a collection of increasingly advanced over-land trains that could haul equipment although the wilderness to build remote early-warning radar stations, as detailed this week by The Drive.
The Distant Early Warning Line, or DEW Line, was an important defensive measure to detect Soviet bombers flying over the North pole, the shortest route to North America.
But the stations were to be constructed hundreds of miles from any roads — leaving Army engineers the challenging problem of how you can transport tons of fabric for his or her construction.
The VC-22 was shortly assembled in a bit greater than a month. This is impressive contemplating it was one of many longest (if not the longest) off-highway automobile ever built at the time, with its six automobiles (including the locomotive) measuring a complete of 274 ft
Inventor R.G. LeTourneau was born in 1888 and started off as an ironmoger before going on to invent a wide array of heavy equipment, together with the land trains used by the US Army
The original VC-12 Tournatrain is seen utilizing articulated joints to maneuver logs by way of a road
The primary mannequin, used for logging, was the VC-12 Tournatrain (above) which had a simplified dashboard and controls
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The Army turned to Texas-primarily based LeTourneau Inc, the heavy tools producer based by R.G. If you have any thoughts concerning where by and how to use prime diesel generator set blog, you can get hold of us at our site. LeTourneau.
The company had developed land trains for the logging industry, using an modern diesel-electric hybrid drive.
Rather than use a drive train, the engine spun an electric generator that was used to energy electric motors that powered every wheel independently.
The primary of those designs was the VC-12 Tournatrain, which consisted of a power truck with a 500-hp Cummins VT-12 engine, and three 20-ton trailers.
In 1954, the corporate demonstrated VC-12 to the US Army Transportation Research and Development Command, or TRADCOM, proposing that the system could be helpful for logistics operations within the Arctic with some modifications.
TRADCOM provided funding to create the TC-264 Sno-Buggy, which had eight big 120-inch mounted in pairs, creating a large surface area that prevented the heavy tools from sinking in snow.
The hub motor system – LeTourneau had spent the early 1950s perfecting a sort of diesel-electric drivetrain for multi-wheeled heavy-machinery. The system used a combustion engine to spin an electric generator that powered motors on every wheel
The Sno-Buggy’s (above) large tires have been later used on the famous Bigfoot monster truck, after the proprietor purchased them in a Seattle junkyard for $1,000
The Sno-Buggy’s huge tires have been later used on the famous Bigfoot monster truck, after the owner bought them in a Seattle junkyard for $1,000.
First unveiled in June 1954, the Sno-Buggy was sent to Greenland for testing. Success resulted in a contract for the VC-22 Sno-Freighter, which served efficiently in development tasks in Canada in 1955.
The following year, nevertheless, prime diesel generator set a fireplace in the power technology unit put the VC-22 out of service, and it was hauled from Canada to Alaska, the place its stays can nonetheless be seen sitting next to the Steese Highway outdoors of Fairbanks.
In late 1954, the Army Transportation Corps asked LeTourneau to combine the features of his authentic logging Tournatrain and Sno-Buggy into a new car, which the Army dubbed the Logistics Cargo Carrier, or LCC-1.
In late 1954, the Army Transportation Corps requested LeTourneau to combine the features of his authentic logging Tournatrain and Sno-Buggy into a new vehicle, which the Army dubbed the Logistics Cargo Carrier, or LCC-1 (above)
An abandoned LCC-1 is seen in Whitehorse, Yukon, the place it helped construct distant radar bases
The LCC-1 mixed the wheels of the Sno-Buggy with the ability system of the Tournatrain to provide a 16×16 car with one locomotive and three cars able to handling a load of 45 tons.
It was handed over to the Army in March 1956, and continued testing in snow at the TRADCOM proving grounds in Houghton, Michigan.
The LCC-1 continued in service throughout the 1950s, working on initiatives in Greenland and Canada.
The LCC-1 was so profitable that in 1958 the Army contracted for a bigger model, the TC-497 Overland Train Mark II — the ultimate land train ever constructed.
Unlike its predecessors, the TC-497 included plenty of features that allowed it to be prolonged to any size.
LeTourneau’s final creation, the TC-497, might haul 150 tons of cargo at 20 mph for practically four hundred miles
The TC-497 had 4 1,170-hp Solar 10MC engines, one in the ‘control automotive’ and three others spread by means of the practice
Whereas the LCC-1 had a single 600-hp engine, the TC-497 had four 1,170-hp Solar 10MC engines, one in the ‘control automotive’ and three others spread by means of the train.
New energy trailers could possibly be added at any point alongside the train, which provided power to the unbiased motors powering each wheel.
In another innovation, each of the the TC-497’s wheels was independently steerable, and would begin turning when they reached the identical level where the management automobile was when it initiated the turn.
While older models had a turning radius of nearly half a mile, and couldn’t easily be steered round obstacles, the TC-497 was in a position to make practically 90-degree turns on a dime, threading around obstacles like a snake.
In another innovation, every of the the TC-497’s wheels was independently steerable, and would begin turning when they reached the identical level the place the control automobile was when it initiated the turn
While older models had a turning radius of practically half a mile, Prime diesel generator set blog and couldn’t easily be steered around obstacles, the TC-497 was capable of make practically 90-diploma turns on a dime, threading around obstacles like a snake
The TC-497 by no means left the Yuma Proving Ground after it was made out of date by heavy-lift helicopters
Final specifications for the TC-497 had been accomplished in 1960, and construction took most of 1961.
After preliminary testing, it was handed to the Army in February 1962, and shipped to the Yuma Proving Ground in Yuma, Arizona.
In whole the prepare now stretched over 570 toes, and on flat floor it might carry 150 tons of cargo at about 20mph.
However, the world’s most advanced land practice was made out of date earlier than it could ever see service, when in 1962 the Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane heavy-raise helicopter debuted with a carry capacity of 20,000 pounds.
The TC-497 sat unused on the Yuma Proving Grounds for years, till most of it was sold off for scrap. The management car at Yuma is the only part that continues to be.