Hidden 150 feet below ground in the Kansas City area.....

[JoeBlow]

When does subtropolis get switched? day or night?

How far do the rail spurs go into the tunnels?

Finally, who switches the industrial park nex door?

[MP173]

There is also a similar type distribution center system south of Quincy, Il near a town called Marblehead, Il.

For the Kansas City facility there is a Utube video taken by a trucker going underground to make a delivery.

Ed

[BaltACD]

mudchicken

National Archives has a facility in SubTropolis along with BNSF. UP has a facility in another salt cave further north. Hopefully UP and BNSF do not go PSR stupid and throw some of that stuff out*, but rather make some of it more accessable.

* Both railroads pitched materials they should not have let go of during the 1990's mergers. It takes an act of god to retreive materials out of either site. Could have stopped several lawsuits with access to materials stored in the caves. Even their own lawyers are prevented from accessing some of the material stored there. 

Railroads apply more security to property and use agreements than just about anything I know of.  

When the department I was a part of had issues concerning the lease for the building we were operating a office out of - we could not get a copy of the lease, we had to 'sight unseen' identify the specific articles of the lease we needed to see.  How can specific articles of a lease be evaluated on their own without understanding how those articles work in concert with the other articles of the lease.  CSX in the early 80's, Lord only knows what it is like these days.

[mudchicken]

National Archives has a facility in SubTropolis along with BNSF. UP has a facility in another salt cave further north. Hopefully UP and BNSF do not go PSR stupid and throw some of that stuff out*, but rather make some of it more accessable.

* Both railroads pitched materials they should not have let go of during the 1990's mergers. It takes an act of god to retreive materials out of either site. Could have stopped several lawsuits with access to materials stored in the caves. Even their own lawyers are prevented from accessing some of the material stored there. 

[CMStPnP]

Convicted One

Seems like an underground aquifer could be unleashed via an earthquake and cracks in the wall would lead to some mighty soggy regrets.

The caves are above the water table and local river levels it seems from the triple track mainline view.    The tracks are at cave entrance level and the caves only descend slightly from there.     It is more like they are inside a bluff then underground......I think.

[Convicted One]

So this is what they meant when they said that Lamar Hunt had gone underground?

SubTropolis

It's a neat idea, I'm sure that it works very well for many uses. Probably worth a trip to KC just to see this.

But I  would have serious reservations with their claims of being "earthquake proof". How could you be certain?

Seems like an underground aquifer could be unleashed via an earthquake and cracks in the wall would lead to some mighty soggy regrets.

[rdamon]

Those limestone caves are all over KC.  They used to store the "Lick and Stick" Postage stamps in a large one by the MO River.

[diningcar]

I believe this is adjacent to the BNSF westward main lines toward emporia and Topeka. 

[CMStPnP]

So this is called sub-tropolis, it is a large former salt mine / limestone deposit that was turned in to a very large underground business center.   And to answer what maybe your first question, no it is not nuclear war proof due to the massive ventilation system that exchanges air with the outside.    A lot of companies have their disaster recovery site here though from headquarters around the country.    Also pertainent to TRAINS Discussion Forum, it is served by a Webtec shortline and yes there are railroad spur lines that serve these caves as well as you can see from the locomotive underground with the WAMX reporting marks.    There are quite a few manufacturing businesses in this former mine that depend on rail service (pretty cool....huh??......where do you see that elsewhere in the country?).

If I had to guess because I do not know for certain but I think the servicing railroad is Kansas City Terminal Railway?     Just a guess.   Someone that lives there might know better.    I saw the three track main running through or next to the complex  which is probably a collection of UP and BNSF railroad mains.    Anyway, enjoy the videos....

Entering the complex (long video showing railroad access):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiPFYjvhvK8

Short marketing video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1YDufouqbY