![]() We evacuated back into the sunlight, took a deep breath and coughed. Still attached to one heavy exit door, and covered with plastic, is a sheet of instructions for safely evacuating the building. Though its floors are dry, the strong scent of mold permeated through the building. Shreds of asbestos are strewn throughout – and asbestos fibers drift in the air. Large pieces of sheet rock have fallen onto the floors of what was one of W-26’s buildings housing offices, testing facilities, storage and a garage. 216, has also suffered from heavy water damage. Rust, mold and peeling paint mix with dozens of non-working electrical outlets, switches, overhead fluorescent light fixtures, and control panels. On either side of the large room are exits to other small rooms and alcoves, and additional steel ladders. Next to the ladder is a large centrifugal fan, its yellow steel mesh arm covers some of the equipment. On either side of the platform are submerged, narrow stairs.Īt the far end of the platform, a steel ladder leads to an iron-raised hatch on the surface, welded and chained shut. An apparatus at both ends indicates where the platform lifted, and mechanical works might be buried in the liquid-filled space beneath the platform. The area where the magazine once operated sits in water, parallel steel rails border a concrete platform. Other sites around the country were, similarly, deactivated and closed. During the Cuban Missile Crisis guards were doubled, we carried gas masks and weapons while on-duty.In November 1968, W-26 was deactivated and all its missiles were removed. 'We also had interesting testing when the Air Force came onsite and we were tested on detecting and practice-firing on their bombers as they did a practice bombing attack on Philadelphia. But before you let that price scare you off, listen to what you get The Titan 1C facility was built in the early 1960s at a cost of 170,000,000 (1960's dollars). I really enjoyed it and over the years we had a number of 'Blazing Skies' (battle station) drills from various command organizations. I am not really sure what the town is known for, but I do know that if you've ever wanted an old missile silo, it's your place The Titan 1 Missile Silo is for sale for 4.2 million. He wrote: 'The site looked a lot better when I was stationed there from 1962 to 1965. One commenter on Richard's site was Jim Cullen, who explained that he was stationed at PH-58. Being stationed in a rural South Jersey town must have also left little for these young men to do when off duty.' These soldiers were carrying out an important but probably monotonous duty watching the skies for Russian bombers that, thankfully, never came. Once home to the most prolific LSD manufacturer in the United States, William Leonard Pickard, the unremarkable concrete exterior of this former Cold War-era Atlas E missile silo belies the. Constructed as a medium-range warhead capable of delivering a massive nuclear bomb, the missile marked a sea change in the. He writes: 'As I walked around PH-58 I could imagine what it was like to be stationed here. In 1959, the Soviet Union began construction of the R-12 (Dvina) Missile. On his website he describes what it was like to walk around the site. He told MailOnline Travel: 'They confirmed that some of the missiles were nuclear. New Jersey-based photographer Richard Lewis has explored and photographed PH-58 and spoken to veterans who worked there. The Hercules missiles were 41ft, had a range of 90 miles, a flight ceiling of 150,000ft and a maximum speed of 2,707mph. In the 1960s the Nike Ajax missiles were replaced by 24 Nike Hercules (MIM-14) missiles, which could carry either a high-explosive warhead or a tactical nuclear warhead. They were 32ft long, had a range of 30 miles and flew at up to 70,000ft at 1,710mph. An information plaque erected in Woolwich Township informs passers-by that PH-58 – one of over 200 such sites in America - initially operated 30 Nike Ajax (MIM-3) missiles, which each carried three high-explosive warheads. ![]()
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