Posted on 01/17/2020 6:23:44 AM PST by C19fan
A couple turned their unusual vision into a reality by converting a Cold War era nuclear missile silo into a vast 18,000-square-foot castle.
Their extraordinary creation 25 miles west of Topeka in Kansas is now on the market for $3.2 million (£2.5 million).
Underground missile silos are used for the storage and launching of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The structures typically store the weapons some metres below ground, for safety reasons.
This property housed an Atlas E intercontinental ballistic missile with a 4 megaton warhead in its protective underground cavern.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I’m a bit short, wonder what kind of loan I could get?
The question to ask is it still on/in the targeting grid.
No thanks.
Any confined facility, be it a bunker, ship, cave, tank or a silo like this is a death trap. Whether trapped by fire, or the enemy or whatever.
I used to work in the Minute Man ones and came to realize just to keep the crew alive there needs to be fresh air down there, a special sewage system that lifts it to the top, and much more. This silo likely has it, but it’s going to be expensive to operate, especially if the parts are antiques.
And let’s say someone buys it for that SHTF scenario. It’s then a trap. Ask Saddam, ask Hitler, ask the Japanese soldiers of WWII and the Afghan ones about their caves. You can’t because they were all trapped and wound up dead due to their lack of mobility.
Purchase candidates with $3.2 million to spare are typically going want something in a mild climate (think California or Florida), near a major city (think New York or San Fransicko) or world class skiing and/or other uber wealthy (think Davos or Vail). 25 miles west of Topeka, Kansas fills none o these requirements.
If it’s off the beaten path and people leave me alone then I would be a good prospect if I were uber wealthy.
Back in the Cuban missile crisis we were driving out in the country near Abilene, TX. I asked, “what’s that?” and my husband said, “that’s a missile ready to launch”. Didn’t even know a silo was there. Wonder if it’s abandoned or still active.
For that price they should’ve hired a decorator. The article describes it as homely (instead of homey) and they are right.
The only active landbased ICBMs are at Minot AFB, ND, Grand Forks AFB, ND, FE Warren AFB, WY, and Malmstrom AFB, MT.
“Come on in! Sit down and make yourself homely!”
I wonder if it takes two keys to get in the front door.
Nuclear missile silos are NEVER taken off a targeting grid.
Sounds like a lot of up and down stairs.
Wet.
Moldy.
Atlas sites have an emergency 4xit for just that purpose, and unlike a minuteman LCF, the control and crew quarters are more spread-out and not as far underground. Plus, the Atlas was stored horizontally and only rotated into launch position after being filled with fuel and oxidizer and pressurized with nitrogen because it’s thin aluminum skin could not support the weight otherwise. So the bulk of an Atlas site is a huge ground-level building with a roll-top roof that could probably hold 20 cars. That, and the underground buildings that contained pumps, tanks, etc., are prime for re-use.
These things are also the reason the Atlas ICBM was replaced with solid fuel missiles almost as soon as they were fully deployed.
As would I. But I’m not. And neither am I going to pass myself off as a chick so I can compete in women’s sports.
Yeah why not just buy a used car that used to be owned by the most hated gang member in town? Go cruise around in it
In your examples, all the people caught in their bunker were high value or military targets facing an organized, mobile enemy. In a SHTF scenario you are likely trying to keep relatively disorganized looters at bay or stay unnoticed by larger forces. In that case a bunker that provides lots of storage room and comfortable quarters in a low profile is valuable.
Camouflage the silo and/or put a reasonably defensible structure over it and you may have the perfect place to wait out troubles. Make friends with your neighbors to keep some semblance of community and you will be even better off. Whatever you do, don’t be like Hitler or Saddam and bite off more than you can chew as enemies.
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