Winter weather. It’s snow joke.
On Christmas Day, I showed you one of the sleighs in our transport collection. Sorry about the singing, by the way. I hope it was in tune.
Sleighs were very important vehicles in heavy snow in many parts of the world, and continued to be used long after motor cars became popular. We’ve got a handful of sleighs and sledges in our stores, including two push-sleighs at opposite ends of the glamour spectrum:
Push sledge for a child, date unknown (Science Museum)
Ornamental Dutch push-sleigh (Science Museum / Science & Society)
That Dutch sleigh is quite a beauty, isn’t it. What a way to travel! However, maybe you want a bit more speed, a bit more power. Well, rail travel isn’t out of the question. Last time I was at our store in West London, I enountered this great Victorian model of an ice locomotive designed for use in Russia:
Model of an ice locomotive (Science Museum / Science & Society)
Sometimes, though, it’s time to wheel out the serious kit. If you’re planning a Trans-Antarctic Expedition, this Tucker Sno-Cat might be just the job:
Tucker Sno-Cat tracked vehicle, 1955 (Science Museum)
If cold-weather transport is up your street, I haven’t found much written about the history of snow and ice transport, but I did come across ‘Snow travel and transport’, by Walter Lorch (The Gawsworth Series, 1977). It’s got lots of great pictures and information, and I’m sure you could find a second-hand copy on that book website named after a big river in South America…
