11/20/2012
- Update! Plus an informal poll & the debut of the
Overpressure Archive
Just
in time for the holidays, the
Adventures of Groundskeeper Pete sails on in Part IX of the water-logged saga. This time around Walter and myself tackle
the cribwork at last. What will we see? Can we disembark without further loss of cameras?
This
update was rather large so I ended up splitting it into 2 parts. The good news is that the 2nd part is mostly done and that means another update will follow shortly-- instead of months
from now!
Titan I Epitaph Reader Survey
I
want to invite everyone who graces my site to offer their most valuable insights, suggestions and opinions in a reader survey in order to improve the site as well as to gain insight over whether I am fulfilling its intended purpose. Got something to say? Let me know about it. Sure, I wrote all the
questions up, but there is ample space to say whatever you would like about the web site so please take part and give me a piece of your mind!
I'm
not sure the survey will translate on its own so I apologize to those who do not read English and hope that you can still find a way to participate as your feedback is of great interest to me. In addition, I do not write surveys for a living (or a
hobby) so excuse any poor design you may encounter.
The
survey will close on Jan 1st, 2013, please take a few minutes to complete it. If there are enough respondents, I will post some data here on the responses for readers' perusal. All survey results are completely anonymous and will not be used in any fashion other than the stated
purposes of the survey as mentioned here. Click the following link to begin your own survey adventure:
Take the Titan I Epitaph Survey
And now, without further delay I would like to introduce the Overpressure
Archive. While there are not many photos there yet, it will be expanding indefinitely. Currently, there are mostly photos not featured on the site or anywhere else, so go browse around and see.
As
the archive expands, the search function will be useful for finding specific subjects. The search functionality is sadly not fully documented and so its full capabilities may or may not be known to me. So far, a simple one-word search is just that: type "antenna" and
pictures on the antenna tunnels and terminal from any Titan 1 sites in the archive will result. Multiple word searches can be performed using the "+" operator with no spaces. For example, typing "beale+silo" finds all the photos related to silos at the Beale 851st SMS.
You also have the option to subscribe, via the orange RSS icon to
receive updates to the archive as they become available, so you needn't check back at the site to see if anything has been added lately. This service has not been tested so let me know if it has issues please.
The
archive is a work in progress so it may change in appearance or
function as work continues. I hope that all the features
will work properly for everyone, but please
let me know if something is broken or otherwise in need of
refinement or remedy.
Visit the Overpressure Archive
That's it for now, but expect another update shortly after the holiday. Please take the survey and enjoy the photos.
11/01/2012- An Update is in the
Works! Stay Tuned!
September
saw continued work on the site with a new Adventures of
Groundskeeper Pete section in the works. I missed a really
interesting film reel on ebay entitled "Time of the Titans"
about the weapon system. It was perhaps 15-20 minutes long
and talked about the design and strengths of the system (presumably,
I have not seen it unfortunately). I had hoped to have it
transferred to digital and put it in an upcoming media library
planned for this site. I'd like to ask
that whomever had the winning bid please contact me and perhaps we
can work out some way to make it available for viewing by the
world at large. Contact me
please.
For
those impatient for the next update, I am close to having it
ready, but you may wonder: the section is titled "Adventures",
plural, but it has taken me 2 years to get this far with
just the first adventure. Are there really more
adventures?
Yes
there are!
In
2011 I traveled back to Washington state to meet up with Walter
and 3 guys from Great Britain who were kind enough to invite me
along on the Titan I portion of their tour of North American missile defense
installations. (video here: youtube
link) On my 2011 trip I visited Larson 568-C again and also
saw 568-A near Batum. The sights I saw at 568-A definitely
rivaled, and in some instances surpassed those at 568-C.
Those adventures will be following on the heels of the current one
so keep watching because I promise there are some really
interesting sights to see that I had never seen before.
An
Appeal (again)
It
has been over 10 years since work on this site began. I have
worked to expand and expound on the Titan I weapon system and work
to continue its growth over the past decade. I never sought
to make money or otherwise benefit from this project, rather to
offer it up as a resource to anyone with an interest, a question,
a curiosity or inquisitive nature on missile defense, urban
exploration, urban decay or military, missile or ballistic missile
history, and especially to those involved in its
development, design, manning and construction.
Whatever
may bring you to this site, it seeks to be as open and informative
as possible with no strings attached. I have worked to
collect, archive, collaborate and catalog as much information as I
can on the Titan I weapon system as I can to make this a library
for everyone. I expect nothing from the world at large
because this is NOT a commercial web site. I hesitate to
even try to underwrite its existence as that runs against the
grain of this web site's reason for being.
As
lofty as all that sounds, I am limited in my ability to pursue the
many and varied resources on this subject. There are at any
given time scores of photos, videos and items of historical
interest on sale on ebay and elsewhere. Testing, launch and
construction photos are a small part of the history of the Titan
I, but each is relevant in the vast mural of history behind the
enormous weapon system. I try to acquire what I can, but I
just can't do that much I'm afraid.
To
The Point
I
want to ask again that anyone with photos, video or other media
(documents or promotional materials) please offer up digital
copies for preservation here on this web site. You will be
given full credit for your work, contributions and for any
resources you can offer. I will happily link to your web
site, youtube page or what have you to give proper credit for your
work and expense. All I want is to be able to put more
pieces of this giant puzzle together for the world to see.
It is entirely clich� to say I can't do this entirely on my own,
but it is true. ANY help is appreciated! Thank
you. =)
More
Stuff In the Works
Along
with the long-overdue update, there will soon be a new resource
available on the site which will grow into a monster over time and
see more regular updates while offering more photos and resources
not presently available on the site:
A
searchable archive of photos of the Titan I system from all eras
of its lifespan-- development, testing, construction, operational
and post-operational along with training and any other relevant
images will soon make its debut here. This archive will
allow searching for specific subjects with a somewhat limited
search functionality, but makes it possible to find all photos
say, of the missile silos at Larson, or the power house at Lowry
725-A.
Not
only will the archive include ALL the photos on this site,
(eventually that is) but I will be including a host of photos
never seen here before like the ones posted in the last 2 updates
below. All of the images will be searchable, or can be
viewed in sequence or as a slideshow. New additions to the
archive can be received via RSS subscription so the new material
can be viewed immediately. Photos included in the gallery
will include many that have not been included in the site
and as a result cannot be found elsewhere and will make
those heretofore unseen photos available for everyone to see.
This
is a work in progress and I will be tweaking and refining how best
to caption the images for best search results. It will not
be a highly sophisticated photo database due to its simplicity,
but I think it will provide a great source of material on this
fascinating niche of defense history.

So
keep an eye open for the Overpressure
Archive, coming soon to the web!
07/02/2012
- Holiday
Update!!! The Adventures of Groundskeeper Pete
Part VIII now
online
Part
VIII dives right into the tepid, buoyant action as at long
last we take to the tunnels in our less-than-trusty vessel SS
Moistbottom.
Here's
another construction-era photo from Beale 851-A, this time looking
down silo #2 from the catwalk level. You can see part of the
launcher elevator motor platform to the left and across the
yawning abyss you can see the fuel cribbing and all around a
network of scaffolding, platforms and walkways temporarily
installed during construction. Notice that this silo has no
safety netting. Silos #1 and #3 on the same date, July 24th
1961 do have nets installed. Perhaps they were lowering
equipment down #2 later that day or something was being installed
that required the net's removal. If you were going to fall
down a silo that day, make it #1 or #3!

Historical
photos like these are part of the scanning I've been working to
complete. There are A LOT more of these and I plan to
include them in an image library here on the site as a reference
for all to use, peruse and enjoy. In the meantime, I will
post some here to share as I try to get my ass in gear on some of
my many, many projects. Enjoy!
For
those here in the US, have a reasonably-safe (if you enjoy setting
off fireworks) and fun 4th of July celebrating our transition from
tyrannical rule under colonialism to random oppression under
selective capitalism. *wink* Have a great 4th and try not to
burn off any eyebrows (your's or anyone else's!)!
05/30/2012
- Update in the
works! For now, please enjoy this construction photo
For
those of you who curse my name every Friday in the late afternoon
when it's too late to start another project but there is still 90
minutes of time to kill and you're browsing the web for something
interesting or cool to read or look at and once again I still
haven't made an update-- well, hang in there! Help is on the
way!

The
next Adventures of Groundskeeper Pete is underway along with other
projects ensuring that there will be updates on and on into the
unforeseeable future until long after I am dead so keep checking
back.
In
the meantime, please enjoy this construction photo from Beale
(851-A I believe) showing launcher #1 with scaffolding and
temporary work platforms and a couple union boys. You can't
see it in this photo, but there is a net below-- a wise measure
added for safety after a number of fatal falls at other
sites. Those nets would later end up saving multiple lives
over the remainder of the construction phase of the Titan I sites.
02/01/2012
- An update?!
Yes! The Adventures of Groundskeeper Pete - Part
VII now online
Still
the work continues! Perhaps slower than ever but still it
moves along. 2011 was a busy year, full of work and a bit of
adventure once again and saw a return to the watery world of Royal
City 568-C and a visit to 568-A and its relatively-dry silos and
exposed cribwork that laid bare fascinating details of their
structure that have been hidden away for so long.
Walter
and I once again returned to Washington and joined forces with 3
lads from Great Britain who had come to the U.S. on a
"nuclear tour" of former Cold War missile sites.
The nuclear tourists were kind enough to help us gain access and
make arrangements so we could ride along on the final leg of their
whirlwind tour of old missile sites. Our deep gratitude goes
out to them for the awesome sights we saw, made possible by their
gracious assistance. Thanks guys!
I've
received many letters from all over thanking me for my work on the
site-- some from folks who worked on the sites themselves, or
closely with the construction and other aspects of the operational
sites-- a great treat indeed. I am slow to respond to emails
most times, but I am always happy to hear from people who share an
interest, history or enjoy the site.
Keep
checking back, there is going to be lots more material in the
future as I keep plugging away. I hope I can update more
often if I don't get too busy or distracted (curse you Minecraft!).
Please
enjoy Part VII of the Adventures of
Groundskeeper Pete. More of that adventure will be
forthcoming along with more Titan I
Topside.