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Alaska Cat Trains

Catless said:
As a degreed "rock-licker" (geologist) that went bad (turned into a hydrogeologist), I have worked from the southern tip of Peru to N. of the Arctic Circle helping "industry" extract minerals in a responsible manner.

"What our school system needs is a moment of science and reality"
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It's great to have a fellow rock rabbit on the board Catless! I like the quote, where did it come from?

You make good points about awareness of where resources come from. I don't think folks are very aware in this country by and large, and this causes many of the PR problems that the resource industries face. I was at an American Association of Petroleum Geologists conference a few years ago, and a keynote speaker illustrated the root of the problem in a very concise way. I wish I could remember his name so I could track down his exact words. Anyway, referring to a satellite photo of the USA at night (below) he said something like "The PR problem we face is largely because most of our resources are extracted here (he pointed to the vast dark area of the sparsely populated western Great Plains and intermountain west), but they are consumed here" (pointing to the brightly lit areas on the coasts and the midwest). Well said!
 

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Mtnmogs:

The quote was mine. It was of course adapted from "a moment of silence".

I'm not making fun of a moment of silence, but rather was trying to point out that a moment of SCIENCE is important as well........

It is difficult these days for folks to sort out the difference between being environmentally concerned and being environmentally AWARE. It's "hip" to be concerned about the environment, it's a different animal to understand the affects that a person's presence may have on this earth. It's all too easy to be an "enviroCRIT" in these times.

I own a sno-cat, I know owning it may be excessive, I understand the effects that my ownership may have on the environment.............That's different than blaming the ills of the world on big corporations/etc.

I could go on, and on, and, on but since this is a public forum I should leave it with this:

Thank you Lyndon/Mtnmogs for pointing out how much technology/environmental concern goes into keeping up with the pace and demands of the world these days.

Mtnmogs: Lets get together for a beer or a soda one of these days!
 
In answer to Bob S. question about the Antenna, it's telescoping and it tips down once it's collapsed. There is a generator and heater on board this unit. It is parked just outside my office. It appears to be a communications repeater. A Hagglund comes around every morning to check the equipment, but it usually remains unmanned.
 
Lyndon said:
A Hagglund box sitting on some old Tucker tracks with a generator & Antenna.
I'd like to have a Snow Camper like this!
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Hey, Lyndon, I did notice the use of Tucker tracks for the Hagglund. haha.. Good Choice for them to get out of where they are.:yum: From what we seen at the CO snow shoot, the Hagglunds did not do will in deep snow.
 
It's -23 this morning, snow's not melting. Spoke with one of the Goephysical Guy's this morning in the 'Chow Hall'. So here's the skinny on lthe "Vibe Trucks" that are pictured in Posts#6,8,9,10,28,29,73,74,75, & 76. They are built in Texas by IO (Input/Output) Corp. They weigh 90,000 lbs. The Tracks can be pulled off and replaced with tires. It takes a gang of 4 mechanics a full day to do the track to tire swap. The Track assemblies were built by IO as original equipment. This year the ocean only froze solid to the ocean floor about 1/4 to 1 mile out from the shore. Some years it freezes out 25 miles. Anyway they don't survey anywhere that there isn't solid Ice. Imagine that, the guy's don't want to drive the 45 Ton Vibe truck over thin ice! >
Also the Geophysical guy's converted all their Hagglunds from the original Mercedies 5 Cyl, 300 D engine to a 4 cyl detroit. He said they were more powerful, faster, and that parts didn't have to come from Mercedies and were cheaper and more readily available.
 
They are building a Ramp over the road to move the whole camp and picking up some spare parts including some replacement Tracks.
Cat Train 6 002.jpg
 
This last shot is of a Hagglung , it was on it's way somewhere and in the background is a 30 foot high wall of snow from clearing one of the drill sites.
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Good Morning, still no sign of spring, it's -59 out. The Snow Cat Circus is operating some 50 Tucker's, Hagglunds, Massey Furgeson, Nodwell & Foremost Track and wheeled rigs. We had a visitor last night, White, Furry, about 600 or 800 LBs, he crawled around on the operating Drill Platform, Security got all excited and went out with their shotguns, and various other non leathel deterents, He left with out incident. Cat Train 7 001.jpg
 
You can see some pretty big snow piles here, they will not completely dissappear until july or august.
Cat Train 7 002.jpg
 
This is a Side View of the Camp (2 Buildings on Right with pointy roofs), and the 'Process Area' where oil is seperated from sand, water and gas(Left half of picture) this series of pictures was all taken today.
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In a world of where we drive on "Ice Roads", at -59F, with 20 foot snow drifts, where one can only see snow clear to the Horizon it is hard to imagine that it's 'Spring' somewhere else. Prudhoe Bay, 350 Miles North of the Arctic Circle is flat and one has the sense of being in the middle of an ocean of snow. On a clear day one can see to the Brooks range some 130 Miles away. It's all white except little dots on the Horizon that have little lights twinkling on them that are Drill Rigs, Camps, and Processing facilities.
 
And here we are in Minnesota with 60 above and we saw the first Robin of the year ,Sand Hill Cranes have been back for over a week,lots of flocks of geese heading north and they say we may have a thunderstorm on Sunday.
almost 120 degree difference Wow...............
 
boggie said:
And here we are in Minnesota with 60 above and we saw the first Robin of the year ,Sand Hill Cranes have been back for over a week,lots of flocks of geese heading north and they say we may have a thunderstorm on Sunday.
almost 120 degree difference Wow...............
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Similar weather here. Roughly 55 degrees. We had rain last night and this morning. It is still overcast and pretty darn gloomy. No sign of leaves on the trees, but the grass is starting to turn green. Here are a couple camera-phone pictures of my yard (#1 -back fields, flooded from rain and #2 -daughter's play house behind the spruce tree down the hill from our house)
 

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Here they are cutting thru the gravel road bed to insert a small electrical cable as part of the Cat Train Geologic Survey.
Cat Train 8 003.jpg
 
Guess what this is? It's the Beaufort Sea looking north toward the real North Pole. It would be about an 800 mile drive, but from here it's frozen all the way there.
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Here are some "Well Houses" at a site right on the edge of the ocean where the previous picture was taken.
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This is where the Ice Road starts to go out to the exploritory drill rigg, Doyan 14, as is the next picture.
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This is a shot of where the Ice Road to the rig crosses a small frozen lake. Not much difference. It warmed up from -59 to just -34 today!
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Final shot for today, it's what unites us all,( Snow Cat enthusiast)! I passed no fewer than 30 operating machines today but most were too far away to get a good shot. This one is inspecting the insulation on the pipe.
Cat Train 8 012.jpg
 
GREAT JOB LYNDON!!!!!!!! You are an asset to FF!!!!! Thanks for all the GREAT pics and stories!!!!!! Keep up the good work!!!!!! Thanks again Mike....
 
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