Vehicles around town

I have been going now for 36 hours without sleep but don’t want to disappoint my adoring public, so I have created this divergence for you. Really, though, I don’t feel the lack of sleep that much because it has been bright as day the whole time. Or maybe it was the coffee….

There are some real interesting ways to get around town here. Some of the vehicles are from the original establishment of the base in the 50’s. They built them to last then. I’ll have pictures and descriptions.


All of these are picked up at Derelict Junction, a rather nondescript mudhole/bus stop by the dorms.


The Delta’s are odd all wheel drive vehicles that are kind of like articulated buses. Passengers ride in the box and bounce around. The wheels are big to avoid getting stuck in mud and snow. Still, they get stuck in warm weather like we have had recently (temps in the 40s). The snow is several feet deep, and turns to mush. And of course “McMuddo” lives up to its name in those times. The box is very cramped. The windows are small and usually fog up so badly or are so dirty that you can not see out. I almost got seasick in there my first ride out (serves me right for trying to write and ride), and others have gotten sick. There are sick bags in the box for such occasions. On the way out here for the flight I got to ride in the front seat, and the view is much better. You can see ice pressure ridges, where the Ross Ice Shelf is pushing up against Ross Island. The shelf is fed by a glacier which dumps a tremendous amount of ice in it, and it has to go to sea, but our little island is in the way.


Ivan the Terrabus – I have yet to ride on this guy but really want to. It looks much more comfortable. I love the name.



Vans– these get used when the temperatures are colder and the ground is frozen. I arrived too late to use those. Notice how large the tires are.


Other modes of transport:
Snowmobiles– as you saw earlier.


Tractors galore– earthmovers, forklifts etc all use treads, not tires, since tires would get mired in the muck. Note the trailer in the picture also has treads. There are some funky trucks that I can’t really describe except to say that they work well on ice and raise a lot of dust in town.


4 wheelers – the NSBF crew could not live without theirs. They have little sleds they haul stuff behind.

Planes and helicopters – The C130’s and LC130’s (in air) haul passengers and cargo (the L means it has skis AND wheels). They are generally operated by the “Kiwi,” aka New Zealand Air Force. I came in on a C130. The C17 Globemasters are operated by the US and haul both. I leave here on Dec 21 (weather permitting) on the first C17 flight out. There are also planes called Twin Otters (on ice in photo above), which go to field camps deep in Antarctica because they can take off and stop on a dime, and helicopters, for nearby drops.


Icebreakers – Sorry, no pictures. Haven’t seen one yet.