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The land cruiser named Penguin It was built in 1939 by the
Pullman Standard Car Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Illinois. It left Chicago
on October 26, 1939 enroute to Boston where it was to be loaded on the ship North Star for its trip to Antartica. Traveling standard highways, the much celebrated cruiser was
plagued by problems during its entire journey. Accidents, equipment failures,
maneuvering & getting stuck running off the roadway were the primary difficulties.
It entered NY State on November 7th escorted by 8 NYS Troopers. It reached
Boston on November 13th , was loaded and left on its 2 month trip to the Great
Ice Barrier. The land trip took 17 days to complete. While off loading, the ships
ramp partially collapsed sending the cruiser crashing into the ice below. It took a
week to retrieve. It was found that the cruiser traveled better in reverse with its
longest trip of 92 miles driven entirely in reverse. Due to WWII, funding was
stopped and the exploration terminated. The cruiser was stored in an underground
ice garage. Subsequent expeditions in late 1940s & 1962 located the cruiser finding
it in excellent condition. Since then, speculation is that the cruiser is either
completely covered by ice or is at the bottom of the Southern Ocean.
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