I am hoping you may be able to help me in the pursuit of interested steam buffs in the Dawson City area.
The Regional District of Mount Waddington is the owner of a Hornsby Steam Chain Tractor. This machine arrived in Dawson City in 1910 to haul coal from the Coal Creek mine to Dawson City for the Northern Light Power and Coal Co. After its use in the Klondike, the tractor arrived in Quatsino Sound in the 1920s to do logging.
The regional district loaned the crawler under legal agreement to attend a show in Alberta, in 2005; the machine was withheld after the contract period expired. The regional district had to take legal action about Jan. 2012, and at the end of Aug. 2012, the crawler was returned home.
The crawler has quite a history in its 100 years of life. If you know, or have any ideas on where to find any parties in the Yukon who would be interested in helping with its history or a possible re-construction of the tractor, that would surely be of help.
Below are some web pages that provide more information.
https://sites.google.com/site/friendsofthehornsbymammoth/
http://hornsbysteamcrawler.com
http://hornsbysteamcrawler.info
http://hornsbysteamcrawler.org
http://issuu.com/hornsbymammoth
Steve Carlisle
Coal Harbour, B.C.