After 1998

Surface World

Well here we are, it’s 2007, it’s been ten years since I’ve owned this joint, and it’s all come down to this. I used to be able to look back and think how much was achieved, but now I’ve got to wonder. My only consolation is to remind myself that I visit the silo for just three weeks twice a year, and so in all honesty, I’ve achieved this in a total of ... sixty weeks. Hmm, still too long, and I haven’t even touched the silo yet. That being the case, all that’s left to do is to glorify the hell out of what’s been done to date: flog it to death in the hope that nobody notices what still needs doing. So ladies and gents.....

I‘m going to start the process from the gate, and like the previous pages, take you through the site like a walking tour. To boost my ego a little, I’ll also have a few Before & After images to better illustrate the changes that have occurred over the years.

This is the access road and boom gates. Indeed a beautiful site located smack in the middle of the Adirondacks. Unfortunately, one of my neighbours: a large logging concern, made a horrible mess of forrest, and then flicked it on with little regard for the devestation and consequences. Shame.

After eight years, I finally turned my attention to what was above ground. The only landscape feature of any significance was a small hill and rock face which you can see in the background. I decided to work with that, and so created a pond in front of it set it off.

Looking across to the ‘Temple Mount’. As you can see, I’ve still got to plant it.

As you can see, the doors are up. What you can’t see is an enclosure I had built over the Missile Well. This door is in quite good condition. The other has a serious problem due to the salvager’s first attempt to lift it. They lost control, and the door slammed back down. Hmmm.

Since the door was damaged, the winter ice continues to shatter the contrete. I really need to do something soon to stablalise it.

Utility shed at the end of the newly gravelled drive. Now eight years on, the forty White Pines are look’n fabulous!

Around the compound are clusters of towers, ventilation pipes, antenna arrays, and even a curious assembly that looks more like a common street-light, while unintentionally disguising its ominous function. Described in the Operations Manual as a Flash Sensor, the device was capable of detecting a nuclear flash from up to thirty miles of the Base. I painted it red and white in deference of Jeffrey Smart, a great Aussie painter.

Intake Vent

The light in the background is not original: it was found by Dennis in a scrap yard. It really couldn’t have been more perfect!

The Entrance Portal in ‘06 and before in ‘98 at the time of my 40th. That’s Terry Sissian trying to stay warm.

Martina the Goat: theGamma Goat. C.1970
See my link True Story.

I‘m amazed I didn’t head home after seeing this stairwell, and that’s after I cleaned it up. There were however, a few up-sides. Notice the lights? They are original, stainless steel frames and beautiful cut-glass lenses. After a hell of a lot of elbow grease, and linking the original wiring to the new circuits, we fired them up. Gorgeous! Notice also the sump at the bottom of the stair. It’s in constent use during the rainy season.

CLICK HERE to for INTERIOR ..............