This was a routine trip to see relatives in Glenwood, Iowa, over the long Thanksgiving weekend. Some people would make the drive from Denver in one day by sticking to the Interstate, but as you may know I'm not one to waste research opportunities! So I added a day on each end of the trip to allow some sightseeing. Most of my targets on this journey were original Carnegie library buildings, which I won't include in this report but you can see them on my Civil Architecture page if you're interested. But I made sure to include a few airfields and other military sites. These were places I hadn't seen before because they are a bit, well off the beaten path. So as we drove it seemed the towns kept getting smaller and smaller. In a few towns, the 100-year old Carnegie library was the grandest building in town.
Tuesday, 24 Nov 2009
We departed Denver at 0530. The first stop of the day was McCook, Nebraska, about 270 miles away.
McCook AAFld NE I had made advance arrangements to meet Mr. Dale Cotton at the airfield. Dale heads up the McCook Army Air Base Historical Society. The society owns three of the five extant W.W.II hangars at the airfield, and has goals of restoring those hangars as well as acquiring a B-29 bomber for display. The society also holds annual reunions and open houses. For more information, contact the society at McCook Army Airbase Historical Society, P.O. Box B-29, McCook NE 69001-1082.
(Hangar)
(Hangar)
(Foundation)
(Another hangar)
(Another hangar)
(Front view of another hangar)
(Parking ramp)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Building)
(Building)
(Building)
(Building)
(Building and chimneys in engineer area)
(Building and vault portion of Norden bombsight storage and maintenance building)
(Vault portion of Norden bombsight storage and maintenance building)
(Vault portion of Norden bombsight storage and maintenance building)
(Large hangar)
(Large hangar)
Atlanta POW Camp NE This one was a surprise -- we just happened to see a sign on our way into Atlanta, and a historical marker on our way out of town. One brick chimney was visible in the distance, as was a concrete tower that originally held a water tank.
(General view and historical marker)
(Historical marker)
(Chimney)
We stopped for the night in Hastings, Nebraska, after covering 428 miles in 12.5 hours.
Wednesday, 25 Nov 2009
We made a liesurely 0730 departure, heading east. This was mostly a Carnegie library day, with one airfield I hadn't seen on previous trips.
Bruning AAFld NE One hangar still stands at this W.W.II bomber training base, and the partially-collapsed remnants of two other hangars are visible. Also still standing are the concrete tower that formerly held a water storage tank, and a Norden bombsight storage vault.
(Hangar)
(Hangar)
(Hangar)
(Hangar)
(Hangar)
(Hangar remains)
(Hangar remains)
(Hangar remains)
(Hangar remains)
(Hangar remains)
(Hangar remains)
(Tower that used to support a water storage tank)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Oil and dope storage building)
(Oil and dope storage building)
(Oil and dope storage building, and hangar remains)
This was a shorter day. We made it to Offutt AFB NE (2568, SGBP), in 9.5 hours, covering 323 miles. Offutt lodging would be "home base" for the next two days of family festivities. Friday evening we stayed in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Saturday, 28 Nov 2009
This was a "normal" 0600 departure. We headed north on the Interstate to Sioux City, before heading back into Nebraska.
Sioux City AFS IA Located on the property of the former Army Air Base, this was direction center DC-22 in the SAGE system.
(SAGE "blockhouse" building)
Sioux City AAB IA (1474, VSSB) Some remnants of the W.W.II airfield remain, as do several buildings from the 1950s ADC alert mission. Unfortunately for tourists, much of the airfield is still in active use by the Air National Guard including the Strobel & Salzman fighter alert hangar.
(W.W.II hangar)
(Building)
(ADC fighter readiness shelter)
(ADC fighter readiness shelter)
(Both ADC fighter readiness shelters)
(ADC fuels building)
(ADC fuels building)
(ADC fuels building)
(Obsolete USAF sign)
(Elevated water storage tank)
(W.W.II chapel)
(W.W.II chapel)
(W.W.II chapel)
(W.W.II chapel)
(W.W.II chapel and housing area)
(Housing area)
Ainsworth Comms Site GWEN 663 NE (ACXN) The tower and equipment shelters are gone, but I was able to find the concrete pads from the shelters, and the concrete base for the former 299' tower.
(Equipment shelter pads)
(Equipment shelter pad area)
(Tower base area)
(Tower base area)
(Tower base)
(View from equipment shelter area to tower base area)
Ainsworth AAFld NE Another W.W.II bomber training base, with one extant hanger and a Norden bombsight storage vault.
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Norden bombsight storage vault)
(Hangar)
(Hangar)
(Hangar)
(Hangar)
(Historical marker)
North Platte, Nebraska, was our stop for the night. We covered 477 miles in 11.0 hours.
Sunday, 29 Nov 2009
We hit the road at 0800, heading west.
Sioux Army Depot NE This ammunition storage depot was built during W.W.II and was finally closed in 1967. I was pleased to find the first examples I have seen of the Corbetta "beehive" ammunition storage magazine. The Corbetta was a wartime departure from the traditional vaulted arch "igloo" storage magazine, used because its round design required less concrete for the equivalent amount of storage than the standard igloo magazine.
(General view)
(General view)
(Fire station)
(Fire station)
(Historical marker)
(Building)
(Building)
(Building)
(Building)
(Building)
(Building)
(Building)
(Building)
(Building)
(Warehouse)
(Warehouse)
(Warehouse)
(Warehouse)
(Warehouse)
(Warehouse)
(Railroad crane)
(Railroad crane)
(Power plant)
(Power plant)
(Elevated water storage tank)
(Corbetta magazine)
(Corbetta magazine)
(Corbetta magazine)
(Corbetta magazine)
(Corbetta magazine)
(Corbetta magazine)
(Corbetta magazine entryway)
(Corbetta magazine ventilator)
(Corbetta magazines)
(Corbetta magazines)
(Corbetta magazines)
(Corbetta magazines)
(Corbetta magazines)
(Corbetta magazine interior)
(Corbetta magazine interior)
(Corbetta magazine interior)
(Corbetta magazine interior)
(Corbetta magazine interior)
(Corbetta magazine interior)
(Corbetta magazine interior)
(Corbetta magazine interior)
(Personnel shelter)
(Personnel shelter)
(Personnel shelter)
(Personnel shelter interior)
(Personnel shelter interior)
(Corbetta magazines and personnel shelters)
(Corbetta magazines and personnel shelters)
(Corbetta magazines and personnel shelters)
Four small parcels of the depot were transferred to the USAF in 1962 for a Minuteman Launch Control Facility and three Minuteman Launch Facilities, which are still active. I saw but didn't photograph Francis E. Warren AF Missile Site G-01 NE (9204, GHTU) and Francis E. Warren AF Missile Site G-02 NE (9205, GHTV).
We made it back to my place in 7.5 hours, driving 360 miles. Total mileage for the trip was 1,705 (includes 117 miles in the Offutt AFB vicinity).
