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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:02:13 PM EDT
today I visited the Ronald Reagan Peace Through strength Missile Museum and the KVLY TV Tower, the second tallest man made structure in the world.
first posters beware, slow internet connection on my part so it might be a while until all of my pictures have been posted with explanations.
any misinformation is not intentional, things posted came from tour guides who have heard conflicting information from former missileers, considering the nature of the museum im sure that some information may be true and some may be what we are told is true. if I am wrong and you know it, let me know so I can edit captions and explanations accordingly. first stop Missile silo November - 33 an unmanned silo which contained a minuteman II, later a minuteman III nuclear missile.    Missile blast door:     |
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:02:34 PM EDT
[#1]
    Full size photos of informational signs: |
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:02:45 PM EDT
[#2]
just down the road was the Missile launch facility Oscar Zero. the location was responsible for 10 missiles and watching the next launch facility in order to take over their 10 missiles in the event they were destroyed.  Informational sign: Topside: when it was decommissioned in 1997 everything was left besides personal belongings. besides still classified parts and perishable foods the site seen in these pictures is supposedly as accurate as it was the day it closed down. all items are original to the building and nothing was added to the museum except for replica firearms and printed material that would have been in place had it not been removed due to classified status. typical bunk room, three beds and a closet with M16's locked and loaded    Sega Gennesis. my favorite...     Security station, main entrance: bullet catch for unloading weapons. only security officers were allowed to carry weapons topside, and missileers carried 38s down below visititors and visiting AF were disarmed.  watch guard's desk:   blast door and hall into the engine/generator room blast door weighs 13,000 lbs(?) required 80 pounds of force to begin closing, 10 pounds to maintain speed and each missileer must be able to close it in one try with no help. once shut they would then have to pump the red handle 250 times to seal the locking bolts into the frame.          |
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:03:01 PM EDT
[#3]
  the floor was suspended off the ground and held up by 4 hudraulic supports attached to the ceiling, I couldn't get a good picture of them  escape ladder:  up the elevator shaft  blast door to the launch room      lock bock containing keys and encrypted disks (containing launch codes?)    apparently being stuck in a hole for 24 hours at a time with out being allowed to sleep you get bored.... thus: paintings     one of the two launch keys and its launch switch  over 320 alerts, at 24hours each = 7,680 hours locked inside a big bunker.    escape hatch, the idea was that if you couldn't get out of the blast door after an attack, when the 9 weeks was up you would open that hatch and the sand filling the escape tunnel wold pour into the room and you could then get to the surface and figure out what was going on, the length of the shaft and where it led to was unknown to the museum, I'm assuming that the information regarding it is still classified.  the tour guide ended the underground portion with the 2 chilling thoughts: 1: odds are if there was an attack you would be trapped and die in the launch facility, the escape hatch is filled with sand that would be glass and most likely impossible to pass. 2: if you had to do your job, your family and everyone you love would be dead. if you hesitated when you needed to fire a missile the other missileer in the room had a 38 with your name on it. on the grounds a UHF antenna  an underground antenna that could be deployed after an attack  ventilation  |
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:03:04 PM EDT
[#4]
ibtp. come on!
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:03:14 PM EDT
[#5]
the last stop was the second tallest structure in the world, the KVLY tv tower. seeing it from 14 miles away it didn't look very tall, but as soon as I got up to it the mast was indeed massive, holding my little 5 watt Yaesu Ft-60, it made me feel completely inadequate. 2,063 feet to the top, (3,038 feet MSL) and there is an elevator up the center. the antenna is 113' tall and weighs 9,000 pounds. the structure weighs 864,500 pounds. The total length of guy wires is 40,125 feet In a 70 mile-per-hour wind, the beacon light on top of the KVLY tower will move approximately ten feet.        |
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:03:27 PM EDT
[#6]
(Insert Jeopardy theme music here) |
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:03:50 PM EDT
[#7]
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:05:04 PM EDT
[#8]
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:07:23 PM EDT
[#9]
this thread is like cooking a turkey, I will let it sit over night and check on it in the morning.....
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:07:49 PM EDT
[#10]
Well this thread doesn't deliver...
Couldn't upload the pictures, then post the thread? |
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:07:55 PM EDT
[#11]
Place holder for WTF
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:07:56 PM EDT
[#12]
What is going on
 |
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:09:47 PM EDT
[#13]
more like 28K walk in the park
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:11:41 PM EDT
[#14]
When did they start putting modems on Etch-A-Sketches?????
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:12:19 PM EDT
[#15]
You should just start a new thread insted of wasting bandwidth
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:13:11 PM EDT
[#16]
Wow, those pics are a nightmare for someone with the equivalent of a T1 line also - I can't see shit.
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:16:36 PM EDT
[#17]
Quoted:
this thread is like cooking a turkey, I will let it sit over night and check on it in the morning..... 
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:26:36 PM EDT
[#18]
Quoted:
Quoted:
this thread is like cooking a turkey, I will let it sit over night and check on it in the morning.....
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:35:31 PM EDT
[#19]
Ah, N33. Last time I saw that site was 16 Aug 1992; it was down for Rivet MILE modifications. That was my 155th alert and only my second at November.
Those are my old stomping grounds. I was a 2Lt on alert at the 321st Missile Wing from 1989-1994. ETA: Oscar Zero. Did 14 alerts there. (Most of my alerts were way north, from about Edmore to Park River north to the Canadian border.) |
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:37:49 PM EDT
[#20]
Tag
Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Posted: 9/4/2010 5:38:46 PM EDT
[#21]
Subscribed.
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Posted: 9/4/2010 6:17:40 PM EDT
[#22]
When did they turn that into a museum?
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Posted: 9/4/2010 6:18:26 PM EDT
[#23]
Quoted:
When did they turn that into a museum? They just opened about a year or so ago. |
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Posted: 9/4/2010 6:22:19 PM EDT
[#24]
Brings back memories from Malmstrom.
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Posted: 9/4/2010 6:24:45 PM EDT
[#25]
interesting
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Posted: 9/4/2010 6:24:56 PM EDT
[#26]
Quoted: I was going to say, I went through that area last summer and I didn't see any signs Quoted: When did they turn that into a museum? They just opened about a year or so ago. Here is a "Hot" site from Minot's side  These guys really don't have a sense of humor about taking pics, so I do the drive by thing with the camera on the door frame. The site above has a cool story with my involvement back when I was 16  |
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Posted: 9/4/2010 6:28:10 PM EDT
[#27]
Cool, so will this Reagan missile silo be used to shelter in place conservatives during the apocaylpse?
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Posted: 9/4/2010 6:35:01 PM EDT
[#28]
Quoted:
Quoted:
I was going to say, I went through that area last summer and I didn't see any signs
Quoted:
When did they turn that into a museum? They just opened about a year or so ago. Here is a "Hot" site from Minot's side http://i52.tinypic.com/r2rp8z.jpg These guys really don't have a sense of humor about taking pics, so I do the drive by thing with the camera on the door frame. The site above has a cool story with my involvement back when I was 16
The Hughes Net dish is a nice touch, super high tech. |
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Posted: 9/4/2010 6:36:14 PM EDT
[#29]
some really interesting photos there, thanks
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Posted: 9/4/2010 6:46:54 PM EDT
[#30]
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Posted: 9/4/2010 6:52:01 PM EDT
[#31]
Where is that? I toured a site like that when I was a kid @ Vandenburg AFB. Thanks for the Pic's pretty cool.
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Posted: 9/4/2010 7:47:01 PM EDT
[#32]
Pretty cool.
Driven by a couple of active sites. Bleh the museum is 3 hrs away from me. I'm too lazy to drive that far. |
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Posted: 9/4/2010 7:47:33 PM EDT
[#33]
Quoted: Grand Forks North Dakota Where is that? I toured a site like that when I was a kid @ Vandenburg AFB. Thanks for the Pic's pretty cool. |
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Posted: 9/4/2010 7:54:58 PM EDT
[#34]
Awesome photos and write-ups. Did you do those panorama shots in-camera, or stitch them together with software?
The interiors of the launch rooms are fascinating. |
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Posted: 9/4/2010 9:11:46 PM EDT
[#35]
Totally awesome!
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Posted: 9/4/2010 9:25:45 PM EDT
[#36]
I want to own that bunker.
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Posted: 9/4/2010 9:31:22 PM EDT
[#37]
Quoted:
Awesome photos and write-ups. Did you do those panorama shots in-camera, or stitch them together with software? The interiors of the launch rooms are fascinating. Stiched on my camera with its panoramic function Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Posted: 9/4/2010 9:42:20 PM EDT
[#38]
Great pics. Thanks!
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Posted: 9/4/2010 9:46:48 PM EDT
[#39]
LOL, I just took the exact same trip a few weeks ago.
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Posted: 9/5/2010 7:46:50 AM EDT
[#40]
Quoted: today I visited the Ronald Reagan Peace Through strength Missile Museum and the KVLY TV Tower, the second tallest man made structure in the world. first posters beware, slow internet connection on my part so it might be a while until all of my pictures have been posted with explanations. any misinformation is not intentional, things posted came from tour guides who have heard conflicting information from former missileers, considering the nature of the museum im sure that some information may be true and some may be what we are told is true. if I am wrong and you know it, let me know so I can edit captions and explanations accordingly. first stop Missile silo November - 33 an unmanned silo which contained a minuteman II, later a minuteman III nuclear missile. Missile blast door: Just some trivia. The blast door (more accurately called the Launcher Closure Door, or LCD) weighs 104.5 tons. It's shaped to act as a snow plow when it rolls, so any dirt/debris thrown on top of the site from a near miss gets pushed out of the way. That center rail it sits on is only about 10 yards long, but that door is moving at 55mph when it hits the end of the rail; after it clears the rail, it's on its own. They found that when they had first designed the system, the door worked TOO well, and was moving so fast that when it hit the chain link fence surrounding the site, the LCD didn't break through the fence, it pulled the fence right out of the ground and dragged it across the luanch tube right about the time the missile was supposed to launch. That's why all launch facilities have a break-away fence on the south side––two poles in each corner so the south side is a separate piece of fence. Those two pieces of metal sticking up right next to the seam of the LCD and the concrete pad are used to align and stabilize the transporter-erector when they emplace the missile. It's a big white semi-truck that carries the first three stages of the missile; they back it to the metal braces, then lift the entire trailer vertically to drop the missile into the launch tube. Pulling a missile is simply reversing the process. Pretty impressive engineering, to lift 60,000 pounds of explosive safely.  Most everything else topside on the LF is the same or similar to stuff in use at active sites, so I can't go into too much detail on the rest of it. |
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Posted: 9/5/2010 8:10:02 AM EDT
[#41]
Quoted: just down the road was the Missile launch facility Oscar Zero. the location was responsible for 10 missiles and watching the next launch facility in order to take over their 10 missiles in the event they were destroyed. Informational sign: Topside: when it was decommissioned in 1997 everything was left besides personal belongings. besides still classified parts and perishable foods the site seen in these pictures is supposedly as accurate as it was the day it closed down. all items are original to the building and nothing was added to the museum except for replica firearms and printed material that would have been in place had it not been removed due to classified status. typical bunk room, three beds and a closet with M16's locked and loaded Sega Gennesis. my favorite... Security station, main entrance: bullet catch for unloading weapons. only security officers were allowed to carry weapons topside, and missileers carried 38s down below visititors and visiting AF were disarmed. watch guard's desk: blast door and hall into the engine/generator room blast door weighs 13,000 lbs(?) required 80 pounds of force to begin closing, 10 pounds to maintain speed and each missileer must be able to close it in one try with no help. once shut they would then have to pump the red handle 250 times to seal the locking bolts into the frame. Missileers had .38s up until 1990; I brought hte last pair back from Echo in May. They were pieces of crap. S&W Mod 15s, blued, 4" barrel. The stayed out there for six months at a time, and when you signed for the alert, you signed for X number of mated reentry systems, two .38 pistols and 18 rounds of ammo for each. Lord help you if you lost a round! Rules were you had to have your .38 on your person when the blast door was open. They weren't there to shoot your crewpartner, because then you just became non-launch capable. They were there to defend the classified material (in particular, the launch and enable codes and the stuff in the red box) from anyone else coming in the capsule. Story time: We're giving a tour to a facility member's family––wife, kids, and parents. It's 1990, about six years after War Games came out, so the whole "TURN YOUR KEY, SIR!" thing is still fresh in everyone's mind. My commander is giving the tour, and I'm just standing out of the way when the dad kind of scoots over and asks me, "Would you really shoot your crew partner if he didn't turn his key?" "Nope. The only time I'd shoot him is to make the MREs last longer after the war." "So why do you carry a pistol?" "To shoot you." "REALLY?"  "Yep. If you make any threatening moves, I'll have to cap you." Him:  Me:  Him: Me: He took about three steps back, put his hands in his pockets, and didn't say a word to me for the rest of the tour. Blast doors––usually only took about 50-75 pumps. 250 meant there was a leak somewhere. Legend had it they were recycled backup hydraulic systems from B52D models; not sure, because those stayed airborne long after the sites were built (mid 1960s). Pumping the door open or shut was a deputy-coded function, because commanders by tradition don't do any work. #1 rule of blast doors––watch your step, you do NOT want to trip over something while it was moving. Required to keep one hand on the door at ALL TIMES while it was not fully open or closed. And yes, even the 90lb females on crew could open the door by themselves.
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Posted: 9/5/2010 8:22:22 AM EDT
[#42]
Thanks for sharing.
I may have been detained once by some SP's while checking out a Titan II missle base back in my younger years. |
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Posted: 9/5/2010 8:44:16 AM EDT
[#43]
Neat photos.
I work close to a 1575ft broadcast tower (we actually have the designs for it posted in our office), and maybe 20ish miles from several 2000ft towers. THey don't initially look large, but when you get closer they're just HUGE. |
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Posted: 9/5/2010 8:45:38 AM EDT
[#44]
thanks!
I have always been fascinated by nuke silos |
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Posted: 9/5/2010 10:08:35 AM EDT
[#45]
Horray North Dakota! You got a tourist this year!
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Posted: 9/5/2010 10:24:34 AM EDT
[#46]
My home away from home for about half the year.
Since are one of the safest MAFs in our Squadron to get to (No Gravel/Dirt roads) we get the majority of the visitors.
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Posted: 9/5/2010 10:27:37 AM EDT
[#47]
Quoted:
Quoted:
just down the road was the Missile launch facility Oscar Zero. the location was responsible for 10 missiles and watching the next launch facility in order to take over their 10 missiles in the event they were destroyed. Informational sign: Topside: when it was decommissioned in 1997 everything was left besides personal belongings. besides still classified parts and perishable foods the site seen in these pictures is supposedly as accurate as it was the day it closed down. all items are original to the building and nothing was added to the museum except for replica firearms and printed material that would have been in place had it not been removed due to classified status. typical bunk room, three beds and a closet with M16's locked and loaded Sega Gennesis. my favorite... Security station, main entrance: bullet catch for unloading weapons. only security officers were allowed to carry weapons topside, and missileers carried 38s down below visititors and visiting AF were disarmed. watch guard's desk: blast door and hall into the engine/generator room blast door weighs 13,000 lbs(?) required 80 pounds of force to begin closing, 10 pounds to maintain speed and each missileer must be able to close it in one try with no help. once shut they would then have to pump the red handle 250 times to seal the locking bolts into the frame. Missileers had .38s up until 1990; I brought hte last pair back from Echo in May. They were pieces of crap. S&W Mod 15s, blued, 4" barrel. The stayed out there for six months at a time, and when you signed for the alert, you signed for X number of mated reentry systems, two .38 pistols and 18 rounds of ammo for each. Lord help you if you lost a round! Rules were you had to have your .38 on your person when the blast door was open. They weren't there to shoot your crewpartner, because then you just became non-launch capable. They were there to defend the classified material (in particular, the launch and enable codes and the stuff in the red box) from anyone else coming in the capsule. Story time: We're giving a tour to a facility member's family––wife, kids, and parents. It's 1990, about six years after War Games came out, so the whole "TURN YOUR KEY, SIR!" thing is still fresh in everyone's mind. My commander is giving the tour, and I'm just standing out of the way when the dad kind of scoots over and asks me, "Would you really shoot your crew partner if he didn't turn his key?" "Nope. The only time I'd shoot him is to make the MREs last longer after the war." "So why do you carry a pistol?" "To shoot you." "REALLY?"
"Yep. If you make any threatening moves, I'll have to cap you." Him:
Me:
Him:
Me:
He took about three steps back, put his hands in his pockets, and didn't say a word to me for the rest of the tour. Blast doors––usually only took about 50-75 pumps. 250 meant there was a leak somewhere. Legend had it they were recycled backup hydraulic systems from B52D models; not sure, because those stayed airborne long after the sites were built (mid 1960s). Pumping the door open or shut was a deputy-coded function, because commanders by tradition don't do any work. #1 rule of blast doors––watch your step, you do NOT want to trip over something while it was moving. Required to keep one hand on the door at ALL TIMES while it was not fully open or closed. And yes, even the 90lb females on crew could open the door by themselves.Brings back fond memories. I remember when we had to watch the missileers changeover their pistols after the deputy had an ND and covered it up for almost 6 months. Some of those pistols were filthy, some even had corroded ammo in them. We had a new 2nd Lt. almost drop one at the clearing barrel when he was loading it. His hands were shaking so bad, I thought, "This guy is in charge of thermonuclear weapons and he's afraid of a .38!?" |
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Posted: 9/5/2010 10:32:23 AM EDT
[#48]
Quoted: Horray North Dakota! You got a tourist this year! not a tourist, I live here  |
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Posted: 9/5/2010 10:44:21 AM EDT
[#49]
Very cool! That is obviously in much better condition than the Soviet R-12 site I visited in Lithuania back in 06.
It was a good thing STALKER: Call of Pripyat had not been released, otherwise I would have been really freaked out. |
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Posted: 9/5/2010 10:57:33 AM EDT
[#50]
That's not far from where I live. I'll have to check it out.
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