The Antarctic Snow Cruiser as it appeared on August 16, 1940, immediately after emerging from its winter berth (seen at left), in Antarctica, near the Bay of Whales. #

Chicagoans got their first good look at the giant snow cruiser built for the Admiral Byrd Antarctic expedition when it was rolled out of the Chicago construction yards on October 24, 1939. #

A huge snow and ice cruiser designed for the Byrd Antarctic Expedition was unveiled in model form in Chicago on July 14, 1939, by its designer Dr. Thomas Poulter. Resembling a cross between a bus and a tank, the actual cruiser will be 55 feet long and 15 feet high. It will be able to carry four men inside and an airplane depending upon conditions. #

The Antarctic snow cruiser, designed by the search foundation of Armour Institute of Technology in Chicago, undergoing tests in the dunes near Gary, Indiana, on October 26, 1939, while en route to Boston then to the south polar areas. #

Admiral Byrd’s snow cruiser passes through traffic and onlookers before halting for the night in Framingham, Massachusetts, on its way to Boston, on November 12, 1939. Traffic was snarled for 20 miles in a jam that involved 70,000 automobiles. Note the two spare tires visible in the rear compartment of the cruiser. #

The controls of the snow cruiser, with Dr. F. A. Wade (foreground), chief scientist of the U.S. Antarctic service, and Harold Vagtborg, director of the Armour Institute of Technology Research Foundation. #

Onlookers watch as expedition members prepare to load the massive Snow Cruiser onto the deck of the North Star in November of 1939. The rear section of the vehicle is prepared for removal, to allow it to fit on the ship. #

Admiral Richard E. Byrd, leaving the North Star in Boston, the Snow Cruiser in background. Byrd was inspecting gear in readiness for his departure for the Antarctic. #

The North Star arrives in Antarctica, moored to ice in the Bay of Whales on January 15, 1940. Here, crew members are waiting for the Snow Cruiser to mount the wooden ramp during unloading. YouTube has an interesting color movie of the nearly-disastrous drive down the ramp. #

The crew of the Snow Cruiser photographed in Antarctica on September 20, 1940. From left, C.W. Griffith, diesel mechanic; F. Alton Wade, comm.; Felix L. Ferranto, radio operator; and T.A. Petras, pilot of the Snow Cruiser plane. #

Sergeant Felix Ferranto, radio operator, works with a primus torch to thaw out the wheel motors of the Snow Cruiser on August 23, 1940. The air temperature was -50 Fahrenheit (-45 Celsius) at the time. #