# Trans Antartic Expedition



## sno-drifter

I am taking Lyndon's idea regarding Rock and Roll and expanding it to open a thread about the 1957-58 Trans Antarctic Expedition (TAE). Those who attended the first Cat's Meow were able to witness Rock and Roll, one of four Tucker Sno-Cats. It was driven by Sir Vivian Fuchs, the organizer and leader of the expedition which made the first crossing of Antarctica.

This photo is of Sno-Cats Able and County of Kent extricating Rock and roll from one of the many snow bridge collapses. Able was driven by David Pratt and Kent by Roy Homard


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## sno-drifter

Here are a couple more TAE photos. The black and white is loading Rock and Roll on board for the trip home after the crossing. Crevasse collapse was a common problem. Photos curtesy of Peter Fuchs.


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## 3512b

I like to ride in a snow track but don't think I would like to ride on top of it onto a ship.... that could be pushing it a bit..


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## nikos

1955-1958: The Trans-Antarctic Expedition

The Trans-Antarctic Expedition, led by Sir Vivian Fuchs and supported by Sir Edmund Hillary.
The portraits of the Explorers.

Nikos


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## nikos

More photos
The Massey Ferguson Tractor TAE 20
The damaged rear side, probably from the crevasse Fields 

Nikos


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## sno-drifter

Thanks for the photos nikos. Do you know what flag is on Sno-Cat door code "C"? It was driven by Geoffrey Pratt, a geophysicist with British Petroleum Company. Perhaps the flag had some relation to him or PBC. Sno-Cat door code "A" was driven by David Pratt (no relation) flew the Royal Air Force flag. He was a member of the RAF. The Sno-Cat with no door code is the only one with side windows was driven by Roy Homard, (in your photo above) note the grease on trousers, he and David Pratt were the two engineers who took care of all the mechanical problems including figuring out how to remove vehicles from crevasses. Sno-Cat door code "B" was driven by Sir Vivian Fuchs, TAE leader. This photo shows David Pratt with his Sno-Cat, Able and RAF flag.


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## Cat-Modeller

The picture of (haywire) door code "C" was taken in London after the TAE was completed and then it toured the country with members of the TAE team giving talks and explaining what happened during the crossing. The flag on haywire in this picture is an orange coloured windsock with the BP logo on it.

The attached B&W photos were taken in Northern Norway during the late springtime of 1956. The three new 743 Sno-Cats together with the “Crossing Team” spent some time in Norway for training and for BP to test some of their fuels and lubricants in Antarctic like conditions. The performance of oil and grease in extreme sub-zero temperatures and fuel consumption at altitude was assessed and when the TAE team returned to England, modifications where carried out on the vehicles and calculations made on the supplies, spares etc. for the expedition to cross Antarctica.


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## DAVENET

That's one hell of a first post!


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## nikos

The Stories (all the guest of information) Behind the STORY.

...to be continued

nikos


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## JimVT

lack of spreader bars caused damage .they must have been hard to use.


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## DAVENET

More from TAE:


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## DAVENET

A couple more:


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## DAVENET

A few more:


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## DAVENET

Able


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## Aaron Tucker

JimVT said:


> lack of spreader bars caused damage .they must have been hard to use.





what do you mean by this . can you please explain ?


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## DAVENET

On the way south they used spreader bars to keep the hoisting straps from making contact with the sides of the Sno-Cat's.  Once the job was done, they didn't care how they got lifted.  They just hooked on to the lift points & moved them.  Every one of them have strap damage from the return trip. Though some have been recently repaired.


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## sno-drifter

Here is the story of County of Kent's last trip http://bobmckerrow.blogspot.com/2010/08/four-new-zealanders-have-died-in.html As noted above by Mr. Net, the Tucker pictured in this article is Able. 

Here is what County of Kent looked like after Lt. Couzens dropped her into the 100' crevasse. 

Second photo is how she looked  when she arrived in Antarctica in Jan 1956. This crate was home to eight who were left to build the winter over building for the crossing party which came down the following year. Note the PTO winch mounted at he rear of the cat, visible in both photos.


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## Pontoon Princess

County of Kent, in the crate


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## sno-drifter

Pontoon Princess said:


> County of Kent, in the crate



Thanks Ms. Princess for opening the photo for me. For good reading see Eight men in a crate.


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## sno-drifter

JimVT said:


> lack of spreader bars caused damage .they must have been hard to use.




The lifting loops at four places on the Tuckers were welded on at the end of the trip for lifting the cats onto the ship for the trip home. All the cats had the same crushing to the air ducts on the front side panels after the crossing. The spreaders helped some, mostly in the back.


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## DAVENET

VERY observant!  I had assumed those were always there from the factory, but obviously not when you look at most of the pictures above.


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## nikos

sno-drifter said:


> The lifting loops at four places on the Tuckers were welded on at the end of the trip for lifting the cats onto the ship for the trip home. All the cats had the same crushing to the air ducts on the front side panels after the crossing. The spreaders helped some, mostly in the back.



Thats better ok
Nikos


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## DAVENET

Posing:


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## DAVENET

A question for the TAE experts- County of Kent and "Rose" (shown below) from a later expedition had a very large 'box' on the left hand front hood cowl. This is only on the freighters w/ passenger accommodations. (See very first picture for reference). What got stuck in this box??

Also, Sno-Cat Able continued to put in a hard life on the ice for the New Zealand Antarctic Research Project at Scott Base after the TAE was complete. Would it be appropriate for those pics to go here, or a separate thread? Found a lot of old pics from a NZ digital storage site. That cat had a hard life!


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## Aaron Tucker

I just want some of the grousers off it


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## sno-drifter

Thanks for the photos DAVENET. The "Posing photo is Sno-Cat Able. The second is County of Kent with Rose painted on the door. You with the super powers of the interweb should be able to read the sign across the top of Kent to read "County of Kent". The lump on the left side is a gas fired engine heater. There is one on Haywire but not ugly as this one. Remember that Kent went to the ice a year before the other three and cold weather mods were done rather hurried and not as refined.

I vote to keep the future posts from the NZ Antarctic activities on this thread.


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## DAVENET

When they renamed it "Rose" they must have repainted the sign up top as well.  Can't make out what it says, but definitely different than the County of Kent stenciling below


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## MNoutdoors RIP

DAVENET said:


> When they renamed it "Rose" they must have repainted the sign up top as well.  Can't make out what it says, but definitely different than the County of Kent stenciling below



The first word appears to be "THE" the second word starts with SW maybe sweet?

THE SWEET ROSE?


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## DAVENET

Some pics from the NZ work after the TAE:


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## DAVENET

Precarious:


Note the slack in the tracks


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## DAVENET

Now in color:


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## DAVENET

One more:


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## sno-drifter

MNoutdoors said:


> The first word appears to be "THE" the second word starts with SW maybe sweet?
> 
> THE SWEET ROSE?



My guess is THE SNOCAT


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## sno-drifter

DAVENET said:


> A question for the TAE experts- County of Kent and "Rose" (shown below) from a later expedition had a very large 'box' on the left hand front hood cowl. This is only on the freighters w/ passenger accommodations. (See very first picture for reference). What got stuck in this box??
> 
> Also, Sno-Cat Able continued to put in a hard life on the ice for the New Zealand Antarctic Research Project at Scott Base after the TAE was complete. Would it be appropriate for those pics to go here, or a separate thread? Found a lot of old pics from a NZ digital storage site. That cat had a hard life!



You are right, the NZers ran the tracks off Able. She now has the newer triangle grousers. Your last color photo must be fairly early on with TAE as they properly used the spreader bars and the lifting eyes are not yet welded on. Non smashed air vents too.


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## Aaron Tucker

can you run the new triangle grousers with the older round ones ? I have just the round ones now and only have the triangle ones for back ups .


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## sno-drifter

aaron tucker said:


> can you run the new triangle grousers with the older round ones ? I have just the round ones now and only have the triangle ones for back ups .



It depends on which triangle grousers you have. There are at least tree kinds of grousers for the 700 series Sno-Cats.


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## DAVENET

*Re: Charles Bentley Obit*

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/25/...tley-87-pioneer-of-polar-science-is-dead.html


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## DAVENET

Also far left in this IGY survey pic


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## Sno-Surfer

Where are these Igy style sno cats now? Someone needs to get one of these in their collection.


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## NorthernRedneck

If a tucker and a thiokol hooked up and had a child I imagine that's what it would look like.


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## Aaron Tucker

Sno-Surfer said:


> Where are these Igy style sno cats now? Someone needs to get one of these in their collection.



oh you know who is always looking for an 800 series


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## sno-drifter

Sunday Dec. 31 at 9:00a.m. pst on the travel channel (channel 277 direct tv) is an interesting show on Shackleton's try to cross Antarctica ( Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition). He never set foot on the continent but had a heck of a time getting home. There are photos and film from the expedition Dec 1914 to May 1916. Worth looking at.


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## sno-drifter

Thanks for the post Mr. 4 track. How about we put the footage in this thread. I believe there are more videos of this trip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA4pUalceVE&feature=youtu.be


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## sno-drifter

Here is part 1 of 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ-HmwXBF84


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## sno-drifter

Part 2 of 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yRJB5nAhvE


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## sno-drifter

Part 3 of 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XASJLKoYyk0&t=23s


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## sno-drifter

Part 4 of 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e58Ct84GJLw


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## sno-drifter

Part 5 of 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkq7DNCly58&t=33s


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## sno-drifter

Here is a photo of TAE Sno-Cat Able after TAE and before "restoration" for the museum in New Zealand.


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## sno-drifter

THE PASSING OF A LEGEND. 

David L. Pratt passed away peacefully at his home in London March 13 2019. He is best remembered by the Sno-Cat community for his selection of the Model 743 Tucker Sno-Cat for use in the first crossing of Antarctica by the Commonwealth Trans Antarctic Expedition in 1957-58. He modified four Sno-Cats which were the only machines which made the full crossing. And he modified several other makes, a Muskeg tractor, several Weasels, and Ferguson tractors.Those who attended the first Cat's Meow at Timberline Lodge got to see Rock & Roll, the flagship of TAE which was modified by David. David was the master mind behind retrieving the cats from collapsed crevasses. Thirteen times. David and his other engineer, Roy Homard, overhauled engines, gearboxes, and completed all the repairs to keep the machinery moving at temperatures of -40 F and below. 

David also was a tank commander at Normandy WWII. He flew for the Royal Air Force as well. He was asked by the RAF to fly their flag on his machine during the crossing. He drove Sno-Cat "Able" , door code "A". You can identify his cat in the photos by the RAF blue flag with circles.


After CTAE, David developed infrastructure in many third world countries which changed their standard of living.

This is David in both photos assessing and implementing Sno-Cat retrieval.


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## Blackfoot Tucker

Sno-Drifter,

Thanks for posting that. Mr. Pratt was a fine example of what Tom Brokaw fittingly called "The Greatest Generation". I wish I had met him. I'm certain he had many great life experiences to share...

BTW, if any forum members haven't read it, Mr. Brokaw's book is an excellent read.


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## sno-drifter

sno-drifter said:


> THE PASSING OF A LEGEND.
> 
> David L. Pratt passed away peacefully at his home in London March 13 2019. He is best remembered by the Sno-Cat community for his selection of the Model 743 Tucker Sno-Cat for use in the first crossing of Antarctica by the Commonwealth Trans Antarctic Expedition in 1957-58. He modified four Sno-Cats which were the only machines which made the full crossing. And he modified several other makes, a Muskeg tractor, several Weasels, and Ferguson tractors. Those who attended the first Cat's Meow at Timberline Lodge got to see Rock & Roll, the flagship of TAE which was modified by David. David was the master mind behind retrieving the cats from collapsed crevasses. Thirteen times. David and his other engineer, Roy Homard, overhauled engines, gearboxes, and completed all the repairs to keep the machinery moving at temperatures of -40 F and below.
> 
> David also was a tank commander at Normandy WWII. He flew for the Royal Air Force as well. He was asked by the RAF to fly their flag on his machine during the crossing. He drove Sno-Cat "Able" , door code "A". You can identify his cat in the photos by the RAF blue flag with circles.
> 
> 
> After CTAE, David developed infrastructure in many third world countries which changed their standard of living.
> 
> This is David in both photos assessing and implementing Sno-Cat retrieval.


78 years ago today, David Pratt was in the first wave assault at Juno beach. He was a tank commander for the British. Later David flue for the Royal Air Force. He later was drafted by Sir Vivian Fuchs to select vehicles for TAE. He is the one who figured out how to extricate Sno-Cats from the crevasses, 13 times. David drove Sno-Cat Door code A, named Able.


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## Mother Tucker

sno-drifter said:


> Here is the story of County of Kent's last trip http://bobmckerrow.blogspot.com/2010/08/four-new-zealanders-have-died-in.html As noted above by Mr. Net, the Tucker pictured in this article is Able.
> 
> Here is what County of Kent looked like after Lt. Couzens dropped her into the 100' crevasse.
> 
> Second photo is how she looked  when she arrived in Antarctica in Jan 1956. This crate was home to eight who were left to build the winter over building for the crossing party which came down the following year. Note the PTO winch mounted at he rear of the cat, visible in both photos.


That's messed up.


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