Boomerjinks
Member
+301|6765|Denver, CO
Back in the middle of April I finally got my chance to do something I've been meaning to do for a looooong time. About 45 minutes east of Denver is a tiny town called Deer Trail, and in the middle of this rural area is an abandoned Titan 1 missile silo. Missile silos are kind of hot spots out here, all the cool kids tell you about them and all the really cool kids have been to them. There's one up near Greeley that is preserved and can be toured, there's another north of Fort Collins that is owned by a data storage company. For the most part they are kept under lock and key, buried and welded shut. But the Deer Trail silo is pretty accessible - if you can your car parked in a location that won't lead cops or residents to think you're UrbExing nearby, and if you can make it to the silo and down into the pit without your flashlights being seen or without tripping and breaking your goddamn leg, you're golden.

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LAJXBh3IYU8/TQCBlddN_OI/AAAAAAAABC4/ToAJ5ghNtgY/s1600/Missile_Silo_001.jpg

So you get there, you get your gloves and coats and stuff, you tell your friends to shut the fuck up, and you walk to where one of the underground rooms was excavated because it was leaking something into the ground. Do you see the vertical shaft in the middle of the picture above, that's the service elevator. The big hole is pretty much right next to that. The hole hasn't been filled in, so it's just a matter of walking down this little cliff and entering the metal tunnel that connects to the rest of the complex. You enter right between the elevator and the power house.

This is pretty much the first thing you see:
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/IMG_3191.jpg
This is where all the generators for powering the entire place were situated. Everything was mounted on springs on the floor, shock absorbers for obvious reasons. My pictures are pretty.... well they are super-novice. I just had a point-and-shoot and I used the flash so I could go home and see EVERYTHING that I could not see with the flashlight. I fully intend on revisiting and doing some more artful and realistic photography soon.

That said, you need to understand that, while exploring this place, I didn't see NEARLY as much as what is shown in the photos. It is darkness unlike anything you've ever experienced (unless you're a caver) and you only see what is right in front of you. Often, details will only be seen in your pictures, long after you've left.


Moving on, this is a large doorway that leads to the control center and tunnels connecting the silos themselves.
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo1.jpg

Shit, sorry, backtracking. This is the ceiling of the power house.
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo1a.jpg


The elevator shaft. Probably the "cleanest" part of the entire complex, as it was used as recently as 10 years ago to get all the final shit cleaned out.
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo1b.jpg

More connecting tunnels. These are sort of like KNEX junction pieces, joining several tunnels in one area. Diesel tanks and shit hanging from the ceiling. Who needs stalactites when you have rusty springs ready to stab you in the eyes?
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo1c.jpg

Another view of the junction.
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/IMG_3125.jpg

A burned couch. I don't know either. Could be original, or maybe someone was chilling down here?
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo1d.jpg


https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo1e.jpg

https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo1f.jpg

This is what the majority of the silo becomes. Floor grates have been pulled, so you have to walk on the ground and hop over the empty supports. Like rusty, nasty hurdles. Or you can walk along the beams and risk slipping.
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo1g.jpg

This is the part that REALLY SUCKS. Balancing acts over standing water. Not my favorite thing.
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo2.jpg

https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo3.jpg


See, this is what I was talking about earlier. I had no idea what was written on that wall because I couldn't see it. I was just trying to take a picture of my friend because she got herself stuck way out away from the walls and was having trouble moving her feet.
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo4.jpg

When the ground isn't covered in wreckage, or several feet of standing water, it's covered with this.
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo5.jpg
Imma frow up.

Words of welcome.
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo6.jpg

Behold, one of the actual silos! That's about a 40 foot drop to the water and there's probably 70 feet of silo under that. This is the part that gives me nightmares when I'm wide awake - the notion of falling into that water (probably some fuel and other liquids in there, god how many visitors have peed in there?) and having to be in the cold darkness for an hour or more as your friends work their way back to the surface to call for help.
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo7.jpg

Looking straight across the silo.
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo8.jpg

Doors at the top, weighing about 115 tons each.
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo9.jpg

The Titan 1 missile system was kind of.... silly. We spent so much time and money on these silos and they were only operational for 3 to 5 years in the early 60s. They were super-inefficient, too. The missiles could not be fired from the silos - rather, the silos housed enormous elevators that raised the missile to the surface.  The missiles couldn't be stored fueled, either. They had to be fueled, then raised, then fired. And only one could be fired and guided at a time. So these silos are much more massive than the Minuteman and Peacekeeper silos of the 70s and 80s.

This tunnel is supposed to be circular. But it's actually kind of oval-shaped. Because it's collapsing.
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo10.jpg

More giant, rusty doors.
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo11.jpg

https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/IMG_3176.jpg

The power house has a catwalk that runs the circumference of the dome, about 10 feet off the ground. This is the ladder/staircase that you use to get down to where the springs are.
https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo13.jpg

This is us leaving. The opening to the silo is pretty barren, allowing dirt and weeds to blow in. Right now is when you realize that there should be rabbits or coyotes or snakes or something living in this silo, but that there isn't. There are no signs of droppings and there were no sounds to be heard the entire time we were down there. And that's pretty fucked up.

https://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134/Boomerjinks/urbex/silo14.jpg
The trip was pretty safe, for the most part. There is no threat of radiation, there's tons of asbestos laying around but you don't have anything to worry about unless you go kicking through it or start doing lines of it or something. Radon? Yeah, probably a concern. The only danger you really have to worry about is tripping and falling on a rusty spike. Knocking your head on an exposed bolt or falling into water is going to make this a pretty awful experience.

So yeah. A pretty neat little trip, I think. I can't wait to go back and check out the antenna elevators and control center!
nukchebi0
Пушкин, наше всё
+387|6294|New Haven, CT
The picture of the silo filled with liquid (as you mentioned, it is likely more than water) is extremely haunting; it's interesting in general to see what happens to places once humans abandon them. Great post and thank you for sharing.

Last edited by nukchebi0 (2011-05-02 02:33:48)

globefish23
sophisticated slacker
+334|6294|Graz, Austria
Very nice images!
They remember me of those eerie images of Chernobyl/Pripyat and abandoned Detroit buildings.

Next time when you go there, you should definitely take some better camera and light equipment with you to make some properly lit, widescreen images. Maybe even some panorama compositions of the dome structures.

And also better safety equipment.
Cave/climbing helmets with attached headlamps, backup lightning/flares, sturdy gloves, climbing harness and ropes.
And most importantly, somebody on the outside that is informed about your whereabouts.

Seeing you running around there with only a ~4inch flashlight, with dark, abysmal pits and no ropes, is what would give me nightmares.
Macbeth
Banned
+2,444|5555

Exploring abandoned places is always fun. Great post.

Yeah I wouldn't stand too close to that.
Ultrafunkula
Hector: Ding, ding, ding, ding...
+1,975|6443|6 6 4 oh, I forget

Cool stuff. Was there a couple Mirelurks swimming around in the silo? I swear I could see them

I've been playing way too much New Vegas the last few weeks...
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,810|6076|eXtreme to the maX
Impressive!
Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй!
ghettoperson
Member
+1,943|6619

Very cool. A friend of mine is really into urban exploration, but the crowd he's with are all photographers so the photos they take are incredible. Is that all lit by your flash? I assume when you weren't taking photos it was almost pitch black, even with flashlights?
Benzin
Member
+576|5968

globefish23 wrote:

Very nice images!
They remember me of those eerie images of Chernobyl/Pripyat and abandoned Detroit buildings.

Next time when you go there, you should definitely take some better camera and light equipment with you to make some properly lit, widescreen images. Maybe even some panorama compositions of the dome structures.

And also better safety equipment.
Cave/climbing helmets with attached headlamps, backup lightning/flares, sturdy gloves, climbing harness and ropes.
And most importantly, somebody on the outside that is informed about your whereabouts.

Seeing you running around there with only a ~4inch flashlight, with dark, abysmal pits and no ropes, is what would give me nightmares.
+1 you guys definitely need more safety equipment and better flashlights with you the next time you go.

Maybe even bring a Geiger counter? Would be interesting to see what the background levels inside the silo are compared to the outside.
KuSTaV
noice
+947|6481|Gold Coast
This is the kinda stuff that reminds me of the threads back on Rotteneggs.com.

Cool stuff bro.
noice                                                                                                        https://static.bf2s.com/files/user/26774/awsmsanta.png
jord
Member
+2,382|6648|The North, beyond the wall.
Good post.
liquidat0r
wtf.
+2,223|6597|UK
So is this a nuclear missile launcher then?
max
Vela Incident
+1,652|6537|NYC / Hamburg

awesome!
once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of ' hot  xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, " give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404.
M.O.A.B
'Light 'em up!'
+1,220|6193|Escea

There's something about extensive subterranean military bases that's always intriguing. Like something out of Metal Gear
-CARNIFEX-[LOC]
Da Blooze
+111|6624
You say that radiation was not a threat, but that radon might have been a concern?

I wouldn't be too worried about a Geiger counter doing urbex, except if I was going to a missle silo (or some similar place)...

Regardless, that's a cool little real-world S.T.A.L.K.E.R-style experience.

Last edited by -CARNIFEX-[LOC] (2011-05-02 09:26:10)

https://static.bf2s.com/files/user/12516/Bitch%20Hunter%20Sig.jpg
Boomerjinks
Member
+301|6765|Denver, CO

ghettoperson wrote:

Is that all lit by your flash? I assume when you weren't taking photos it was almost pitch black, even with flashlights?
Yeah, again it was just a point-and-shoot, so it's all pretty mundane. You can find some awesome shots if you google Deer Trail Silo, though. The darkness didn't really bother me until I realized that it is always that dark down there, no matter what time it is. Obvious as it is, tt was a weird feeling, realizing that it would be just as dark during the day.

Radiation isn't a problem since the warheads were never serviced in the complex. Exposure to heapin' piles of asbestos and giant containers of lye is a fucked up possibility, though.

Last edited by Boomerjinks (2011-05-02 09:34:52)

Graphic-J
The Artist formerly known as GraphicArtist-J
+196|6096|So Cal
Oh crap.. Fallout 3 is Fo-Realz!
https://i44.tinypic.com/28vg66s.jpg
Poseidon
Fudgepack DeQueef
+3,253|6507|Long Island, New York
That's creepy as fuck. Nice pics.
Trotskygrad
бля
+354|5969|Vortex Ring State
I was thinking portal 2, lol


but yeah, bringing any other illumination sources next time (flares anyone?) might be interesting
-Whiteroom-
Pineapplewhat
+572|6629|BC, Canada
cool and creepy.
Ilocano
buuuurrrrrrppppp.......
+341|6637

Trotskygrad wrote:

I was thinking portal 2, lol


but yeah, bringing any other illumination sources next time (flares anyone?) might be interesting
Flares.  Yeah, something interesting like fire and smoke in confined and hard to maneuver spaces...
Trotskygrad
бля
+354|5969|Vortex Ring State

Ilocano wrote:

Trotskygrad wrote:

I was thinking portal 2, lol


but yeah, bringing any other illumination sources next time (flares anyone?) might be interesting
Flares.  Yeah, something interesting like fire and smoke in confined and hard to maneuver spaces...
flares are standard I believe for this sort of thing, only don't use them when you're in the possible presence of flammable gases
Ilocano
buuuurrrrrrppppp.......
+341|6637

Hand flares aren't that bright or illuminating.  Headlamps and LED lanterns.  I have a flashlight that functions as either directional or area effect.  Never used in a cave before, but plenty of times in third-world brown-out regions in complete darkness, and night fishing.
ghettoperson
Member
+1,943|6619

Trotskygrad wrote:

Ilocano wrote:

Trotskygrad wrote:

I was thinking portal 2, lol


but yeah, bringing any other illumination sources next time (flares anyone?) might be interesting
Flares.  Yeah, something interesting like fire and smoke in confined and hard to maneuver spaces...
flares are standard I believe for this sort of thing, only don't use them when you're in the possible presence of flammable gases
What are you basing this on, Indiana Jones movies?
presidentsheep
Back to the Fuhrer
+208|5931|Places 'n such

Last edited by presidentsheep (2011-05-02 13:32:52)

I'd type my pc specs out all fancy again but teh mods would remove it. Again.
Benzin
Member
+576|5968
Posted this thread on my Twitter account - it's gotten a lot of RTs

http://awesomescreenshot.com/04dcc08da

http://favstar.fm/users/AmericanAnDerTU

Last edited by CapnNismo (2011-05-02 13:58:04)

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