We just got our first significant snowfall in the mountains, and even down into hills around Eugene, so Old Man Winter is definitely knocking on the door. And in case you decide not to go for the Oshkosh Snow Thrower, the alternative is to travel over the snow. The America’s Miracle Museum in Polson Mt. we visited on the way to Glacier had a vast collection of snow machines of all sorts, which given their location is hardly surprising. So lets take a look at some of the options, as well as a few non-snow oddities that are everywhere in this eclectic collection.
This propeller driven one has a certain appeal. How do you brake? Throw it in reverse?
This Model A Ford was converted to a higher calling.
This one has the distinctive mountain goat logo of Glacier NP, which undoubtedly was a heavy user of snow cats.
I don’t know if there is an official snow-machine museum somewhere, but this place has a huge wall full of every possible make and model, from the earliest (on top) to the seventies. Amazing…who knew?
Like these with their reflective side stripes.
Here’s a real vintage thrower, the SNOGO, based on a Ford truck from the forties.
If snows not your thing, and would rather think about a nice warm summer day at the lake, here’s just part of their vintage outboard motor collection.
Or maybe you’re more into trains. Got them too. This Whitcomb is just right for a full-scale backyard layout.
Or if you’d rather just get away from it all, a little work on this Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star will have you winging it to Bora Bora in no time.
Wow, some interesting stuff. I’m guessing the Mercury snowmobile was made by OMC. The first snowmobile I drove was a ’79 John Deere. My folks had bought a cabin on a lake in ’93, and we got the John Deere and an ’89 Ski-Doo to ride on the frozen lake in the winter. It was a lot of fun, especially since I was thirteen and hadn’t even driven a car yet. You’d expect it to be green and yellow, but it was silver. We had a few more snowmobiles over the years, but they’re all gone now.
Here’s a link to what it looked like:
http://www.vintagesnowmobiles.50megs.com/1979_JOHN_DEERE_6.html
I don’t know who made the Mercury snowmobile, but I can guarantee you that it wasn’t OMC. OMC (who made Evinrude and Johnson outboard motors) and Kiekhaefer Corporation (the corporation who owned Mercury) were fierce competitors.
Mercury snowmobiles were made by Mercury Marine (Kiekhaefer) from ’68 to about ’74.
What a cool place I love the Model A very reminisent of the Fergy tractor conversions built for an Antarctic expedition in the Auckland T&T museum. Not much this place hasnt got covered.
was that the Fuch’s expedition across Antarctica with Hillary in the team?
I love snowcats, almost bought one to live in in Alaska instead of getting married. Alas it was not to be…
Wow! I thought I was the only one to have that thought. I had it all planned out and ready to go before I met my future ex-wife.
DAmned women! 🙂
I wouldn’t go that far.
Until they crush your dreams and force you to live the life of a cuckold…oh wait this is a car site isn’t it. NEVER MIND!
Love to get an older snowmobile…looks like I’ll be living/working in the country in Wisconsin; and I sold my Jeep a few years back. And…I can’t afford to buy and then feed and care for a 4×4 anymore. Something in me wonders…if a snowmobile might work as a cost-effective alternative on bad-weather days?
And…perhaps a set of casters to replace the skis in the summer. An end-of-the-world pavement’s-breaking-up take-the-trails-because-the-roads-aren’t-safe-from-carjackers transportation device. Wonder what kind of mileage I’d get on one?
Heck, they even work on water! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhnisnJWqS4
This place looks like the vehicular version of the ‘Island of Misfit toys’.
see that red strip on the fuselage of the P-80? I just found out what it meant a week or so ago at the BC aviation museum when talking to ex aircraft mechanic about the closely related T-33.
It is where the turbine start. Gee, now that I write that it becomes less clear which turbine (it is a centrifugal jet engine), derivative of the RR Derwent.
The T-33 is a deceptively beautiful airplane.
Nice Apache. I miss my ’59 but I couldn’t help but be jealous of the Series I that I occasionally saw in the neighborhood.
Wow cool cats . They would be a hit for the 2015 Snow Cat Jamboree this Jan 22nd ~ 25th in Leavenworth WA.
I liked that Model A tracked snowmobile. Would be a nice conversion project on an old AMT 1-25th.scale model. I think I got one somewhere in my stash. The propellor driven one? Another possibility.Reminiscent of a futuristic looking Soviet “Aerosan” propellor driven snow cruiser.
Just ran across this post by accident and appreciate the coverage of the museum I founded. We keep adding antique and odd snow machines.
If this is still active go to http://www.miracleofamericamuseum.org webpage and also our U Tube channel