High Plains Modelers: Atlas Missile Silo Tour

On the 15^th, members of HPM toured a relic of Cold War history located west of Greeley in Weld County. One of the few remaining Atlas nuclear missile silos from the ‘60’s has been preserved as a combination museum and records storage facility for the City of Greeley and Weld County.

Gary, Pablo, Marty, Randy, Marc, George, Jeff, Michael, Chip, and Chris spent around two hours inside the “coffin silo”, so named because the missile lies in its bunker in a horizontal orientation before it is raised, fueled, and fired. In addition to the missile bay, we also viewed storage and support areas, as well as the former Launch Control Center, where the crew lived, ate, and slept as well as standing a 24 hour watch ready at a moment’s notice to unleash hell. A small display on civil defense equipment and supplies rounded out the tour. Uniquely, this silo survived a direct hit by the Windsor tornado in 2008, sustaining only surface structure damage.

The Atlas missile program was operational from 1961 to 1964. “Squadrons” of 27 missiles each were located throughout Northern Colorado and Wyoming, with four Atlas sites being located in Weld County. 82 feet tall and 10 feet in diameter, the Atlas missile weighed just over 18,000lbs empty. When filled with fuel, the missile’s gross weight was 267,000lbs, which meant that 99% of its weight was fuel. The skin of the missile was so thin that it would not support its own empty weight and would collapse if not supported. The rocket generated more thrust horsepower than Niagara Falls, and burned more fuel in its first 20 seconds of flight than a DC-7 airliner flying from New York to Los Angeles. The Atlas ICBM was preceded by the Titan series of ballistic missile, and succeeded by the Minuteman I, II, and III. Many Minuteman silos remain on active duty today.

Check out the pics!