BIGGEST SNOW MACHINE EVER BUILT!

[bill w]

there used to be a section of one,with the wooden racks at a lodge about ten miles south of delta for years.this has been a while since i've ventured down there,,,possibly the missing ''trailer''..

[fogtender]

There use to be one of the trailers up by the North side of the "Ferry" crossing just North of Healy. It sat there for years, haven't been back up there to see if it is still there. It sat by one of the mines there, I assume it was used to haul supplies at some time.

[Lyndon]

Like I said, parts and pieces are scattered all over the world. Several cars of one sat in an industrial area of Seattle. The guy who built the first "Big Foot" truck bought one to use for his very first "Monster Truck", and recounts that in a recent interview on a documentary.
The machine in the last set of photos, Nice posting by the way, is looking at the REAR, which would be one of the turbine cars, the 6 wheel locomotive at the other end is the one with the 23' clearence radar antenna folded down, sleeps ten model. The Antenna is just visable. They must have been daunting just to walk around. This one would appear to have 11, or 12 , of the larger Twenty Five Ton cars.
The earlier units had a massive V-12 or V-16 generator set. Pete's was a Cummings. It had 2 massive starters, one on either side of the engine. They were big enough that I doubt a person could pick one up. 24 volt.

[pixie]

A Utube about Bigfoot with some color, action footage of the SnowTrain.

YouTube - Bigfoot 5 & LeTourneau Alaska...

[groomerguyNWO]

good find.

[Lyndon]

Hey, Nice UTUBE Posting PIXIE! Thats the REAL Stuff! Thanks!

[bill w]

well it took a while but i tracked down petes daughter,she's in idaho.got her phone number from an old timer here in fairbanks.it would be too late to call tonite due to the time difference,but will call her in the morning.i guess mr reeves tried to buy it right after pete died and all but insulted them,,,they ran him off.he owns the set that is north of town by the pipeline viewing site as lyndon pointed out.the old timer also told me that some of the train at petes headed to arizona about fifteen years ago,he says he may have a number for that guy too.he also has a bunch of old 8 mm film of when they demobed the trains off the slope,he is gonna dig it up for me.he worked on the crew that used the one at petes.really a cool old guy,hes 82 and just finally sold his last dragline that he operated every day two weeks ago...tough old bird...will post again after talking to the daughter tomarrow....bill

[Mtn-Track]

Any updates on this?!?!

[bill w]

it's still sitting right where it was......the daughter never got back with me.i see someone has been cleaning up the yard out there.i heard it was the karls.k&k recycling...but don't know for a fact.so no new info......maybe lyndon knows the karls well enough to find out.they won't even talk to me...bill w

[Mtn-Track]

Thanks Bill. The thought of a "recycling" outfit getting ahold of this machine makes me cringe..

Unless, of course, they are willing to part with it "as-is"..

[bill w]

well,anything they get turns into gold as far as they are concerned...he buys almost every track rig that comes off the slope,and as soon as he does...he wants top dollar for every part.i tried to buy a used set of sprockets for my tucker from them and was able to send mine to fallline and return ship them foralmost half what they wanted.....so i don't hold much faith in them turning loose of the train for as-is price.it'll probably sit in their yard off the hwy with most of the tuckers and rot to the ground,sadly........bill w

[Lyndon]

One of the Karls was Old Pete's worst enemy. Another was a good friend. I have contact, I'll find out. The "War" between Bernie Karl and Old Pete is a saga in itself. I'm just trying out my new 'stand-up' computer installation, have to bear/bare with me. Seems to be better on the back. As I was involved with both the Karls and Old Pete, I'll have to take the time to tell the stories of the war between the two scrappers. Their rivalry was legendary! More soon.

[JIMMY66]

g,day fellas still plugging away on this one will post some progress shots of my build soon.. even at such a small scale this thing is huge ,but the holy graile still illudes me i need some engine room pictures ,but its good to know that it (the one at old Pete's) has not BEEN scrapped

so if anyone can jump the fence and snap a few shots in there of the engine room boy o boy that would be great

JAMIE

[bill w]

i drove past it today and it's still sitting there.they got some big dogs there so i wouldn't jump the fence with a backpack of steaks for them...lol if i ever see the guys working there i'll stop and ask...i ALWAYS carry my camera.the karl bros are mad at me and the company i work for because we cleaned up the flood control canal that borders their property last year and the borough(who we were doing the job for)found out they had old equip leaking fuel and oil into the canal.they were ordered to clean it up,but as of this post it is still a mess back there.i was going to go back there and take pics of the old bombi's just rotting into the ground and post them here....but may just want to stay away from that area..they are the old ones with the ski's in the front..way cool old sno-cats...Bill w

[JIMMY66]

thanks heaps there Bill ...... i so would love to see this thing just to appreciate the full size of it , must be awesome ...keep that camera handy for me wont ya JAMIE

[Lyndon]

Though I don't like to admit it, and definately don't list it on my Resume, I worked for Bernie Karl, the Karl Brothers, and K & K Recycling. I was also good friends with "Old Pete", which put me in a dicy position between 2 "arch rivals". I'd visit with Old Pete and loved to listen to his geat "war stories" as well as his antics with his fellow scrappers. Pete actually worked on building the famed "ALCAN", better known as the Alaska Highway. He even had an operational Cat Dozer that was actually used in the construction of the ALCAN. Of the 14 Karl's, only Bernie was at odds with Old Pete. The other Karl's were in good stead with him. Tony Karl was actually good friends with Old Pete, they palled around at auctions together and were always betting on how much something would sell for, the looser generally buying coffee.
As of last week Tony was unaware of K & K owning Old Pete's place. I'll be there this summer and make some pictures, as well as look for that famed serial number one Thiokol(Frandie Sea Wolf Serial #ONE) for those interested.
I've been following the history of the LeTourneau Overland Train now since roughly 1968 when I procured (2) sales announcements for the last one built, from the Department of Defense. A close and lifelong associate of mine was an engineering student at LeTourneau's engineering school in Longview Texas and worked on building a full size plywood mock-up prior to the construction of the first machine(the one the locomotive is sitting at Old Pete's junk yard). Years later(1994), when I first started working on the Trans Alaska Pipeline I spotted the cars and locomotive and that's how I came to be frineds with Old Pete. He had the original service manuals at his place there and I poured thru them in an attempt to get the electrical steering stuff to work.
The Army once hired Old Pete, along with his Letourneau Locomotive, to go up and drag another later model Overland Train home that had broken down. Kind of a tow Truck/Rescue.
Old Pete's junk yard was originally a part of Ft. Wainwright where they refirbished trucks, tanks and heavy equipment. The millitary used some form of toxic cleaning agent that poluted the water table for miles around. I believe it was Toluline, anyway water from nearby wells was leathelly toxic and would take your skin off. Many houses had to be condemed and the government made the entire area a Superfund Hazardous waste clean-up-site. Then when Old Pete was away on vacation in Washington one time they came in and fenced-off the whole site and fenced him out of his house. This resulted in a long running leagle battle between Old Pete and the State. Old Pete was a sharp man and won various of the leagle battles and the state basically 'gave-up' figguring that he would die off soon and that that would be the end of it. But Pete defied them by living another 20 years! Pete moved into a little out-house of a shack, maybe 10 by 15 feet, heated by a wood stove. It had a phone, and one outlet, no sink, no water, no closets, just about nothing. He managed to survive there for another 14 years. It was a real testament to how tough he was. North Pole Alaska, the town next to Fairbanks regularly goes to 50 below, and has particularly brutal winters. If you want to see the real Arctic Stuff just try hanging out in North Pole or Fairbanks in the winter.
I was once the liaison for a materials purchase between Bernie and Old Pete. so this summer when I'm there I'll see what I can find out about the status of the Overland Train.
I know a dozen other great stories about Old Pete Peterson, but frankly I'm getting tired of typing and I need to get back to work.
The Guiness book of worlds records list the Overland Train as the worlds longest vehicle.
Various magazines like Popular Mechanics ran detailed articles which would be a collectors item today.
It had a "Quarter Mile Turning Radius".

[moosebgy]

Drove by the yard yesterday and they were loading the onto a flatbed tractor trailer. Looks like it's going away. What a shame.

[alaska120]

Lynden, let me know if you're in the area and I'll buy you a cup of coffee. Would love to chat about ole' Pete. Met him back in 1992 - I used to live right off Badger and passed his place every day...Heck, you get around Nenana and I'll buy ya dinner over at Roughwoods' place. Even round up foggy...

[JIMMY66]

We have movement..?? so they took her away ,any ideas whats going on hope its saved

[Lyndon]

Just called K & K, they didn't buy Pete's place and don't know what the "story" is. Someone in Fairbanks will have to inquire around. When I started this thread I had no Idea it would generate so much interest, or that it would end this way.