S1E4 - The Above Ground Tour - Owning a Titan II Missile Silo
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ต.ค. 2024
- 09/18/2019 - Here is a tour of what is visible above ground at the site. I said in this video that it was taken in August but it was actually September. The utility room I couldn't think of the name of is called "Manhole J"
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So yeah..... we bought an LGM-25C Titan 2 missile silo. The site was on alert from 23 November 1963 - 20 June 1985. After decommissioning the Air Force and Army Corps of Engineers exploded the top of the Access Portal and Launch Silo in 1987. The Access Portal and Launch Control Center were opened again around 2012 but were reflooded and abandoned after a pump failure. Beginning in May 2019 we have begun the task of renovating the complex and bringing new life into it. Wont you join us in the Atomic Underground?
I was a crew commander stationed at D-MAFB, Tucson, AZ. We had serious water intrusion at most sites. Be careful as there were many hazardous and toxic substances on site, PCBs, NO4, asbestos, UDMH etc. There might be copper left since everything was grounded with stout copper straps.
8:45 What I would do is level that area up to the top of that, and build an unassuming-looking house or barn directly over it, and no one would even know what's underneath.
Go in the house, then through the 'basement door' and disappear.
Robert Morgan the area will definitely be leveled. Not sure how the house will go. It depends on what we do with the finished site
I suggest a garage / workshop that way you can pull in with a car with gear and use the frame to support an elevator / lift system
Mats engman I’d agree with that. It would also be the cheapest. That said, it might not matter much, if something happens everyone around him already knows what it is. I’m wondering how it can be secured when he’s not there so that if shit does hit the fan and he makes it back to his bunker he doesn’t find his neighbors already living there.
@@mcearl8073 landmines, or at least landmine signs 😉
Robert Morgan Yea that might work for a bit. Better yet though if were thinking rather crazy stuff I’d install a gas system that can be activated from outside and only with a key or something he has so if he shows up and there’s already people in it he can activate the gas system and put them to sleep or chase them out.
Is the plan to live here? You mentioned that the silo itself had a large column of water in it. Will you drain this as well? Circular bedrooms are cool. You could put the mother in law in the lowest one and if it floods oh well OR use her as the alarm that says to start pumping again.
More please. Also please film the actual work...I want to learn more about how to use pumps, unlock seized doors, setup electrical etc
I was a BMAT (Ballistic Missile Annalist Technician) (Mainly Guidance Systems) in Wichita Kansas for a few years. The theodolite was in the equipment area of the silo. Its job was to shine a beam of light through a window in the silo wall through a spring loaded door on the missile then through another window on the IMU (inertial measurement Unit) to provide a earth reference for the missile guidance system. The theodolite tube provided a way to align the theodolite celestially.
And a handy way to leak water into the silo. I lost a flashlight down that tube. Maybe someday I will get it back.
I believe the round concrete slab was a hardened antenna which would be used after a blast. It would poke up out of he hatch when activated.
Yes. Those I have in the blueprints. It would be nearly impossible to remove the grout without damaging the antenna silos so I will probably never do it. Plus they really have no use.
The first antenna you showed looked more like the hardened UHF antenna stand. The second antenna vault looked like the hardened HF antenna mast. I was in the HF/UHF shop in 308 comm squadron. Which site was this?
I'm curious you don't have to answer but? How many acres and how much did it cost. Kind of cool.
Thomas Burke About $4-500K
Seems a bit overpriced for a dirty hole in the ground. Your gonna have to spend at least that much to refurb it plus a decade to do it 0_o ...unless you hire an army of workers and machinery. And how much land do you even get? You got neighbors practically at your front door.
@@phiksit who cares bout the neighbors , they won’t harm u or even see u🤣
Are you going to buy new hatches for the escape hatch and the other hatches? It be easier than using old unreliable plywood that lets water in.
HF antenna would make a good fire pit base. Dig the slab out and level the ground around it to be a large 6 inch high table. That would become a nice hangout with or without a gazebo.
Just a thought, but a few goats would do a lot to help keep the grass down.
We have older and smaller Atlas silos here in Nebraska. The one closest to me was used as a landfill by the local trash hauler, such a waste.
Yes indeed. Especially when it could have been put to a much better purpose.
Yo Nick! If you ever open up the topside theodolite station please make a video!
We've all seen the end of the sighting tube at the auto colminator station in the missile museum but no one has shown the topside portion. Even Chuck Penson's book doesn't describe or show it. It would be much appreciated my dude!
The previous owner actually dropped his flashlight down there. I will try to open it back up for you
There are 12 atlas missile silos around me here in Oklahoma most are completely flooded but very cool history.
Are they available?
Must be in western Oklahoma
Am I the only one that first thought bout the water plant “concrete pit” would be an ideal fishing pond?!?
There is a great pond next door. I won’t eat the fish
Great tour, thanks! I love places like these. A snapshot from the past. BTW, sort of a tangent, but maybe interesting to missile buffs: the Quebec 01 Missile Alert Facility (a decommissioned Peacekeeper missile site, formerly Minuteman I/III) recently been opened to the public for tours. It's about 30 mins. drive north of Cheyenne, WY. I took one of the first tours this summer and it's a very cool to see. You can read about it here: wyoparks.wyo.gov/index.php/places-to-go/quebec-01 Looking forward to more videos of this site!
How much do properties like this go for? A very cool project
Great progress, looking forward to the next one.
What a beautiful day.
you could place a physical barrier inbetween the intake and outtake, so you'd increase the efficiency and at leastsomewhat reduce the amount of the air that just has been vented to be sucked in again.
Or at least turn the inlet for the intake the opposite direction of the exhaust.
I’m actually curious as to what that water reservoir looks like underground
Confused. Like a concrete pond I’m assuming.
Since I brought it up in another comment, untreated outside air and even humans breathing brings in alot of water. The concrete and steel walls stay colder then the air, so moisture condensates on them. The more air that you move, the more water you get. It could all be figured into a math equation to see how much water you produce a day.
An air intake/recirculator could actually provide drinking water in a desert environment.
Conversely, at least one silo in Arkansas had what looked like a drinking well and pump, way down the hill from it while it was still in service. Why ? That's a good question and I don't know if the "well house" is still there to go double check what it was.......
Realistically, how do you intend to raise the hundreds of thousands of dollars needed to get any real work done here? What is the long term goal or plan for the facility?
some people like Lamborghinis, others like missile silos
Right? Unless you have some serious cash to sink into it it’ll take way too long to get anywhere with it. Waste of life imo lol
Wtf is your problem trumpette? How about NONE OF YOUR BUSSINES?
@@moretrash4you jelly or what? Shut the f****** b****
I mean how do you know he dont already have it if he already bought silo
95degrees with 90% humidity and you don’t see a need for what could be one of the most over engineered swimming pools every made?
Haha yep
can you help me understand why these rust buckets (not all of them flooded) are WORTH 300k-1mil+ i don't get why they are this much and in such bad condition. The money alone to simply clean it is astronomical, but i have to admit one of these is on my bucket list to buy and convert into a home. Is there a better way to buy these that im not aware of???
I'd imagine it's quirk of the supply and demand for these types of sites. To someone just looking for a large plot of land to develop (either commercially or for private residence) having a massive underground silo inhibiting where and what you can build would likely be a deal breaker if not a reason to only offer a fraction of listed price. However, those that see sites like this as a feature rather than a flaw usually aren't just passively interested but rather gung ho restorationists and willing to pay a premium specifically for the inclusion of the silo. Now while this makes the demand for these sites incredibly small (relative to the demand for more typical scenic rural properties), the nature of these sites makes the supply is even smaller. Furthermore, as time progresses fewer and fewer of these sites are likely to become available as they eventually get acquired by owners with the will and means to restore them. This is because, short of turning it into a tourism based business, the investment is purely one of recreation and so the site will end up holding value to them in a way not tradeable on markets: sentimental value. Of course as individuals' economic situations shift some may find they need to sell their site, as sad as this makes them, but eventually these sites will get passed around enough until they get found by someone who has the means to hold onto them even through rough times and then they are effectively off the market, at least for a generation or two. It's similar to the reason that buying a model T Ford today would be expensive despite the minimal demand. It's a collector market. So ya, the objective demand is low, but price is driven by relative demand, not objective, namely the demand relative to the supply, a supply which is dwindling every year I'd imagine.
For 300k you could buy a remote piece of property and build a bad ass underground bunker lmao these ppl never heard of work smart not hard 😂
Maybe they come with a lot of surface land too which helps make it worthwhile. Price is relative too. Where I live near Sacramento even a small city lot to build a house on starts at 200k then another 400 k to build a small house. As mentioned above supply and demand. You can't just find these for sale on Craigslist.
I live in Sacramento and yes the silo is cheaper than a house here even in Del Paso Heights (the ghetto). I am on five acres in Arkansas. The supply for Titan II sites was 54. At least 2 have been rendered unusable (1 by a road and 1 by a church). 2 have had major fatal accidents so nobody wants them so that leaves just 50 that could even be opened.
Many have owners who won’t sell for any price even though they will never be opened.
Arizona sites are definitely the most valuable due to no water but they don’t have the cableway with would increase the value of Kansas and Arkansas sites. Time will tell what the return on my investment will be but I would imagine it will be well over 250%.
For 300k you can burry a shipping container or put in a culver Shelter. Yes it would be unknown but no thanks for me.
Hey man I’ve been searching for an answer but I can’t find any. Can you tell me the name of this silo? I would love to do some research on it!
All well water in this area should be tested 🙏🏽
Are you go in to restore the place as much as possible or What s the long term plan?
Looking good!
Harbor freight has a online website store to it or you can print out coupons for their store .
So you bought this to covert it to live on it but a house inside bunker?
$1000 says that when it comes time to start hauling in materials and other stuff you will want that silo opened up
Mike Winstanley Oh I agree with you would be great to be able to drive a truck down to the end a long cable way. The problem is that cost a lot more than $1000 you’re going to give me
Atomic Underground I don’t follow. How would you be able to drive a truck down even if the silo was open. I’d think if you’re hauling stuff in or out of the control room area that having the access portal open enough to rig an elevator of sorts down there would be closer than it would coming from the silo and it’s already opened up. Maybe I’m misunderstanding something though.
Mc Earl The top of the silo is blown off if you were to remove the cap And the material you could actually drive to the end of the cableway. This is in no way practical
Atomic Underground So you’d basically be excavating down to the tunnel that connects all 3 structures to accomplish that? Through concrete too I presume? That definitely doesn’t sound practical if that’s what he meant.
It would be nice to see the lower levels of the silo if you ever get to that point but it seems like a waste of time and money till the rest is completed. It’s already a really massive project getting the entry portal and control area to be useable. I thought for sure GT would finish his when I started watching his series but that seemed to fizzle out, I don’t know if he ran out of interest or money really, he said a few times he was waiting on funds but then he’d post a video where he bought giant club speakers and sound system and leather couches and stainless steel appliances and another video where he was making a joke about tacti-cool people where he put around 35k dollars worth of guns and optics on a vest so I don’t know if it was a money issue really. I’m not being critical of him, I’ve done the same type of thing, just on a much smaller level, I start a project and after a while lose interest and start spending money on things that interest me more while claiming to not have the money to finish the project. I guess it’s not that I didn’t have the money to finish it just didn’t have the money to finish it and buy all this other shit too. Lol
Mc Earl His is about 97% complete at this point. I can absolutely open and get into the silo but only for a sneak and peek for videos not to restore it. I figure I would need about $5000-$10,000 in order to make some content inside the silo. It’s just never going to be financially worth it to me personally
Super interesting, although it looks like a giant can of worms. Did the personnel use the escape hatch in the Damascus accident? These silos are important parts of Cold War history. History that is being ignored or forgotten by new generations.
Used a theodolite many (many) years ago to measure upper air winds (USAF).
How much land was included?
Which silo is this? Just found your channel very cool stuff. Are your plans to restore it for a home or like the air force days ?
That is crazy close to that house. In Tucson we Never had any sites that close to houses. One was close to a Stucky's. During a PTS operation sometimes the torch would blow out and oxidizer would carry on the wind. Not good for anyone downwind.
I bet that house wasn't there when the site was active. I grew up for a while north of Tucson, in Catalina. We road our horses fairly close to the site that was there. There were fences to keep people a fair distance away.
Those concrete pads are called "hardstands" for the fuel and oxidizer.
Rob Bob yeah I often mis identify them but you are correct
UDMH - Unsymmetrical Dimethyl Hydrazine was the fuel and Nitrogen Tetroxide was the oxidizer on a Titan 2 missile back in the day...and it carried a 10 megaton hydrogen bomb to be used against Soviet hardened targets. Gad - Armegeddon waiting to be unleashed
Dig the launch tube, then cast a rebar reinforced dome over it (after emptying it). Been nice if the Government hadn't gone to so much trouble and expense to mutilate these facilities. Yes, I know they were "required to" by a piss poor treaty they should never have agreed to.
1:29 but I thought the missile knows where it is because it knew where it is not?
But only if it knows where it was. Which it isn't.
Max Kopstein it can subtract where it wants to be from where it wasn’t to find out where it isn’t
Especially if they sell off the land I don't understand why they are blasting tunnels and sealing off areas of the complex.
I get decommissioning and removing certain components and equipment but why not leave it mostly intact?
Probably legal reasons.
"Let's walk around and see what else we can find"... um, nothing but grassy knolls everywhere. For now.
very cool - thanks!
don't they use acid to handle large bolders, couldn't you do that to the access hatch area you suggested as a gazebo
IMO, you should approach this task as if you're trying to eat an elephant. One bite at a time. So, debris, for example...one big chunk today (find a shitty, used, but working piece of equipment that allows you to move big lumps in your 'path').
This kind of job reminds me of the third restoration job our group took on. A former hospital house and adjacent lot. There was a ton of debris and junk that needed to be removed from what used to be the hospital's anti-air shelter (ww2 era). We focused on the house, bought a shitty back-hoe from a company we did business with, and as we went along, over a period of 2 years, we slowly removed the entire shelter one chunk at a time (here in Europe, it's not ok to build on top of old structures that have been collapsed for a long time unless you plan to pay a big sum of money to get a structural report et cetera).
At the end, the house was restored, the adjacent lot was cleaned and ripe for "estate" cultivation, and we sold the backhoe for twice the amount we paid for it, minus a splash of paint, and one pin replaced.
Seriously, if you intend to sit on this silo, take it slow, methodical, but don't approach a job on the site as if you have to do it, all today.
Make a hole in a week, remove on chunk in another, meanwhile clean the accessible parts, restore them to functional status, so on.
And most important, so long as it doesn't cut into your life span, do it cheap, don't blow the kitty on every toy you find, plan your actions.
Just my 2 cents, as i've seen similar situations where many have gasped when the pressure was too hard.
Im sure you might not want to release this info but when is your budget for this?
It varies based on how much overtime I can work. Some months I can't do anything and some I can go over 2-3k. This time of year work is slow so I have just been saving up for scrapping. That's why not a lot of videos.
i'm a excavation operator and former owner of my own excavation company if i can be of any assistance doing excavation for you in the future i would love to help at no charge for my skills but i would like a room to stay in during my stay with your project best wishes mike /TEXAS
Hi Mike, where in Texas? And email me! Email address is under business inquires on the channel about page
would love to see a ground penetrating radar survey of this place
also, idk whether i would want to restore it, or completely hide it and build a house on top of the entrance (obviously with secret passages leading down stairs)
Hey why not offer tours of the place? I wonder if people would help you volunteer to fix it.
People do come out and help. We don’t do tours yet because it’s not a safe place yet. At some point we will do tours. Restoring it is not possible but I keep history where I can.
Where are you pumping the water out to? Is there some low land nearby?
Most missile bases that were in Arkansas were on the high ground of the property. I am sure that this was done for several reasons. Here in N. Central area, it is very hilly, plus there are ditches down every road and to every pond and creek.
I am sure that the USA government had sense enough to avoid flooding of silos and most/alot of this moisture is from condensation of outside humid air,etc.
that could be a strong bunker
Was yours covered and you had to dig out?
Yes they all were
S9E43 - Placing Our First Titan II Missle - Owning A Titan II Missle Silo
Why did they just fill it all in and waste it?
where is the missle hatch
Your description says 2018,i think you meant 2019.
Good catch. I fixed it. +1 Karma
if you want you can go to youtube site 'death wears bunny slippers ' he bought a silo in Kansas and has done a lot of work
I thought DWBS is in Arkansas like this one.
You are correct. He is one of my closest silo neighbors. About 15 miles away!
@@atomicunderground9971 And thank-you, because you helped me confirm both sites. I "mapped" out all of the missile silos (from Atlas, Titian, and Minuteman) so finding it was somewhat simple, once I learned it was in Arkansas. As you want to keep the locations private, I will respect your wishes. (PS I also Subscribed)
@@KKEM641 oops my bad I thought in one of his vids he said he was in kansas
@@KKEM641 Stalker alert.
The crickets have become geiger counters lol
Surprised you did not put in GFCI outlets
BC5391 because they pop and kill lights and pumps at bad times
@@atomicunderground9971 after pumping out all that water the last thing you want is pump failure.
Charles Pickering Yeah the way I’ve designed everything it will be double if not triple redundant in the future. Right now if it flooded it wouldn’t be a huge deal and it would flood so slow that I would know about it
@@atomicunderground9971 Lol. Just wait till the electricity pops you :D
What is the link to the reddit AMA?
Aaaaa OPEN THE SILO
I bought one was bomb shelters I would refurbish it and put a house on it so nobody knew what I had.
There's another channel TH-cam where's national museum where the original equipment still works
Yes it’s the tian missile museum in green valley Arizona
@@atomicunderground9971 awesome the high gain antenna silos absolutely awesome
Black mesa is real then?
Why does the hose run to the top of the Dome room?
you know you could shore up the access hatch roof you have pour a few feet of concrete over it. it would come out good
How many sites do you own? You are a lucky guy.
Rob Bob just one and that is enough
The problem with this sort of thing is that the gov't can afford pumping costs, air conditioning and dehumidification; private citizens - not so much.
But the govt can afford war always.
I wonder how much it would cost to power all that with solar and batteries? I bet a bunker in the southwest would be pretty easy to power on solar alone due to not flooding often and the high amounts of sunlight year round
@@zachmiller9175 These things are deep no matter how dry the surface looks they are going to be flooded as you will reach the water table with these deep excavations.
@@martkbanjoboy8853 the ones in the desert that have been opened have been dry as far as I've seen?
@@zachmiller9175 Well subsurficial hydrogological surveys were advancing over time. It is possible they also began to incorporate drainage systems - which possibly might not have been required to have been decommissioned. Whether they decided to put in comprehensive drainage systems - that would depend on the sub surface conditions and how much $ the gov't had in the budget at any given time. I am out of the loop on that though. All the best!
if you have a tractor you could probably rake the road back up
Old cooking oil is ideal for roads like that and leaves no residue or run off. It breaks down where it's at. Grass won't grow for two years in that spot and stays clean.
Not sure the silo will be usable in any sense IF they followed the requirements. The decommissioning blueprints (and decomm photos) I have show that after the entire headworks is blasted, all concrete and rip-rap was to be back-filled into the tube, topped off with rip-rap and dirt in specific layers and covered. Each stage verified by satellite for treaty compliance. The original decomm prints on pdf are available if you want....
I have all the pictures of what they did. Level 1 is gone but level 2 and below are "fine". You are correct on my site #. Now go edit your comment. I only have a partial file on the decommissioning requirements. I have been looking for the full one. I "may" know someone who has seen inside a silo and can confirm that they are intact under the cap.
@@atomicunderground9971 Ok ...done! TY sir, I'll correct my DB. Man, that's great if you still have usable area in the silo. The hard part will be getting the water out and dealing with subsidence of fractured material overhead. Thankfully, they used chit-loads of rebar. More so than concrete! Go in and cut loose all the "widow-makers" with a cutting wheel.....
The prints I have are the USACOE LRAFB Titan II Dismantlement prints with 40 pages in pdf. Drawings are AF212-90-01 March 1986 and includes a site specific drawing for each of the 373rd Sq. sites only and the structural decomm prints for each section of the "typical" silo.
@@atomicunderground9971 why do you think knowing site number will lead to security issues? Wouldn't tax information be easy enough to hunt down? I promise I'm not stealing your pumps and extension cords. Lol. But just wondering.
@@SkinnerBeeMan I'd imagine it was more privacy and issues with the neighbors. No one wants dozens (or more?) of lookie-loos traipsing all over their property and annoying the neighbors with traffic and parking all over creation. IMHO, you don't buy a missile silo in a fairly remote area because you want lots of people hanging around your house lol
You need to lock things up so no one gets hurt.
Don’t trespass on private property usually helps do the trick.
Lol what a dumb comment ...... Stay off other peoples' property so you don't get hurt!
Doug Howting I agree. my property has a zero percent chance of hurting you and you have a zero percent chance of having my firearms pointed at you if you aren’t on my property. It’s a pretty simple concept that people in this country don’t seem to understand these days.
I want me my own missile silo
When you get it built out, do you plan to rent it for overnight stays? :D
Yes we do
Awesome! Some of my fellow crewmates and I have been talking about converging on Little Rock to see the 2024 Eclipse. It would be great to stay overnight there!
Atomic Underground - I’ll fly over from Australia to stay there when you’re done. 👍
@@atomicunderground9971 pencil me in for April 7 & April 8 of 2024. :D
Kevin O'Quinn let’s make it tentative
How in the hecc do you get cell reception beneath that much steel and EM shielding?
Nyan Hakase at the moment you don’t which is why no live video. Just going into the top level of the access portal you loose all coverage. Inside door 6 you are in a faraday cage. Death Wears Bunny Slippers GT is a networking guy so he can WiFi phone and internet the entire place. I was shocked I could get full bar LTE inside his silo.
@@atomicunderground9971 adding that stuff isn't too difficult, you can get external antennae and repeaters, but i didn't think you'd be installing hardware like that in the place's current state. I just saw that at least one video had a past chat where it looked like it was once live and i thought i saw you walk down two levels
Nyan Hakase no I did a livestream from my house not the silo
about 125 feet to the bottom
hope they aren't hypoglolic fuels they used for the rockets'
yes they are. and they are called hypergolic btw ;)
@@polviaortega3709 oops my bad. : /
@@custardthepipecat6584 hahaha. Hypergolics are easy to store for long periods, so they just had the fueld inside the rocket itself so it was ready to launch at any moment.
Impossible to do it with nowadays fuels since they require to be chilled to very low temps to store them.
How do the neighbors feel living next door to a decommissioned nuclear silo?
I guess better than living next to an active one^^
It was once all base and a secure area. They would have known that they were moving there, so it was their choice.
Just like the movie the Twilights Last Gleaming
6:06 PLEASE Put a better cover over that (Death)Holes
Labor of love...oh yeah, and war.😁
I want to play airsoft in somewhere like this
So slip and break something, drown, or get Tetanus? nice :D Place's a dump.
I'm assuming he meant after it's been cleaned up smartass.
@@KingdomOfDimensions Still a death trap. You can see the guy's no fucks given approach. Corner cutting. If he doesn't go bankrupt in the process, the place will probably look nice but just waiting to fall apart.
Open it up
Crunch crunch crunch crunch whole video crunch crunch crunch
Rattlesnake city!
Gotta Worry less about rattle snakes and more about black widow spiders because the nuclear missile bases were known for having massive amounts of widows.
Im pretty sure that "old" silos still have a russian nuclear warhead aimed at them.... great buy, jealous 👌
sorry you live in claifornia
I don’t anymore
vague, pity