Bombardiers helped open the North
Terry Halifax
Northern News Services
Hay River (Apr 06/01) - The first vehicles to ride the frozen ground North to Hay River are still very much alive, thanks to a good supply of spare parts and some ingenious mechanics.
J. Armand Bombardier used Henry Ford's Model T as a platform for a practical winter vehicle and produced the first B-7 snowmachine in 1937.
Nancy Cormier, documentation technician at the Musee J.A. Bombardier in Montreal said the inventor developed a bigger and more powerful snowmobile in 1941.
The B-12, a 12 passenger tracked vehicle, delivered letters, freight and even ice cream, Cormier said.
The Bombardiers were also used by doctors, surveyors, prospectors and various government agencies to travel to remote communities.
While the company no longer manufactures parts, it keeps a list of owners and collectors who exchange bits and pieces of the old bugs.
Verne Steinwand of Steinwand's Portable Welding in Hay River has been working on the bugs for about 15 years and has come to appreciate Bombardier's design.
"The guy who invented these things really knew what he was doing," he said.
Steinwand said he doesn't have a problem finding parts, since he mostly makes his own.
"They're kind of a hand-build machine anyway," he said. "It's just machined and welded, so everything can be built in a welding shop."
The machines came stocked with a Dodge 318 engine, but Steinwand has experimented with a few different powerplants including one he's just put a Ford 400 engine. He plans to fit one with an ice auger.
"You'll be able to drill a hole in the ice from the driver's seat," he grinned.
Other modifications include a front hatch to access the steering and a heavy-duty suspension. Steinwand said the winter fishermen appreciate the tracked eight-wheeled independent suspension, which can climb over a 12-inch snow drift without a bump.
"There's never been anything built quite like them," he said.
From Bombardier's humble beginnings in a small garage in Valcourt, the company has grown to a multi-national corporation that manufactures Skidoos and Seadoos, passenger trains and jet aircraft.
The company's shares are traded internationally on the Toronto, Brussels and Frankfurt stock exchanges.
