A snow coach is a specialized passenger transport vehicle designed to operate over snow or ice, similar to a large, multi-passenger

snowcat A snowcat (a portmanteau of snow and caterpillar) is an enclosed-cab, truck-sized, fully tracked vehicle designed to travel over snow. Major manufacturers are PistenBully (Germany), Prinoth (Italy), and Tucker (United States). Snow groomer ...

equipped with bus-style seating. These vehicles may have multiple sets of massive, low-pressure tires, or they may have tracks. Snow coaches may seat ten or more passengers and are often used for sightseeing tours or over-snow transportation.

History

An early example of a snow coach was the Snow Bus built by Bombardier in Quebec, Canada. It was equipped with front skis and rear tracks and typically could seat 12 passengers. Alternatively, the front skis could be removed and replaced with front wheels. There are documented uses of the Bombardier Snow Bus as a school bus, for mail delivery, and as emergency vehicles. They were also used for tours and transportation in snowbound areas. In the early 1960s,

Thiokol Thiokol was an American corporation concerned initially with rubber and related chemicals, and later with rocket and missile propulsion systems. Its name is a portmanteau of the Greek words for sulfur () and glue (), an allusion to the company ...

produced the 601 series snowcats, often configured to carry ten passengers. While not a tour bus type snow coach, these found utility with the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

and private industry.

Terra Bus

The Terra Bus wheeled vehicle is one of the few snow-coach-type vehicles currently produced. It is an

all-wheel-drive An all-wheel drive vehicle (AWD vehicle) is one with a powertrain capable of providing power to all its wheels, whether full-time or on-demand. Types The most common forms of all-wheel drive are: ;1x1 : All unicycles Reflects one axle with ...

, three-axle, off-road

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

specially constructed for Arctic climates by the Canadian speciality vehicle manufacturer Foremost, based in Calgary. The Terra Bus can transport up to 56 passengers. The vehicle has six extra-large, low-pressure tires typically filled to 30 pounds per square inch (210 kPa). One Modified Terra Bus can be found transporting passengers at the Antarctic research station,

McMurdo Station McMurdo Station is an American Antarctic research station on the southern tip of Ross Island. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), a branch of the National Science Foundation. The station is ...

. Brewster Co. operates twenty-two unmodified Terra Buses for their Ice Explorer tour at the Columbia Icefield and Jasper National Park.

Specifications

Dimensions

*Length: *Height: *Weight: **Curb weight: 24.95 tonnes **Maximum gross vehicle weight: 29.94 tonnes (33 Tons)

Performance

*Engine: **Type: Detroit Diesel Series 50 **Power: 250 hp (187 kW) at 2100 rpm **Transmission: Clark 34600 Series Power Shift *Top speed: , on the Athabasca Glacier *Turning radius:

Operators

United States Antarctic Program The United States Antarctic Program (or USAP; formerly known as the United States Antarctic Research Program or USARP and the United States Antarctic Service or USAS) is an organization of the United States government which has a presence in the ...

*Brewster co. Tours

Uses

Snowcoaches are a popular mode of transportation for tourists in areas such as Yellowstone Park in the United States and the

Columbia Icefield The Columbia Icefield is the largest ice field in North America's Rocky Mountains. Located within the Canadian Rocky Mountains astride the Continental Divide along the border of British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, the ice field lies partly ...

Jasper National Park Jasper National Park, in Alberta, Canada, is the largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains, spanning . It was established as Jasper Forest Park in 1907, renamed as a national park in 1930, and declared a UNESCO world heritage site ...

, Canada. Snowcoaches can be outfitted with a rubber track or a ski system (replacing tires). Often called Mattracks, these rubber track systems can travel over thinner snow depths and even bare road patches without tearing up roadways. Metal-based ski systems can cause more damage or get stuck when travelling over snow-free patches. Subsequently, certain roads may be restricted to just Mattrack-equipped snow coaches based on road conditions.

Gallery

Image:EarlySnowCoach3961.JPG, A road coach conversion, known as a "Shake and Bake" Image:Shake N' Bake.jpg, A "Shake and Bake" Image:SnowMobileSnowys.jpg, Perisher, Australia Image:Snowcoach-01.jpg, Athabasca Glacier, Alberta, Canada

References

External links

{{Commons category, Terra Bus
Foremost Industries
Terra Bus Company Website

JVBs snowmobiles still in commercial use
Music video about a Terra bus
Tracked vehicles Specialized polar vehicles Snowmobiles Off-road vehicles Land transport in Antarctica Buses by type ja:雪上車