Angeles National Forest - Trip Report

[teotwaki]

You can even find it on google earth...

try Wiki-Mapia http://wikimapia.org/5807572/Marquardt-Company-s-Remote-Rocket-Engine-Test-Facility

 

[teotwaki]

additional historical info

August 3
At its new Magic Mountain, Calif., facility, the Marquardt Corporation began development firings on the LEM reaction control system. By using successively more advanced components, the testing program would gradually build toward a complete prototype. Early in September, MSC's Propulsion and Power Division (PPD) reported that Marquardt had suspended testing temporarily because of problems with monitoring equipment (which, the Division grumbled, could have been checked out before the testing started). Two weeks later, PPD reported that contamination of the thrust chamber had forced Marquardt to halt these developmental firings again. Finally, by mid-October, problems with manufacturing and acceptance checking of the thrust chambers at the company's manufacturing plant portended a twenty-week slippage in delivery of the chambers to the Magic Mountain site.

MSC, "ASPO Weekly Management Report, July 30-August 6, 1964"; "ASPO Weekly Management Report, August 27-September 3, 1964"; "ASPO Weekly Management Report, September 10-17, 1964"; "ASPO Weekly Management Report, October 8-15, 1964."

 

[adventureduo]

That's strange Jim, because everything i found referenced Nike-Ajax missiles. I actually visited the site you posted and it was named as one of the Nike sites. Did you see the video clip on the report? It actually tells about the water towers being use of cooling concrete.
Now im thoroughly confused.


Anyhow its a cool spot that's for sure.

 

[teotwaki]

That's strange Jim, because everything i found referenced Nike-Ajax missiles. I actually visited the site you posted and it was named as one of the Nike sites. Did you see the video clip on the report? It actually tells about the water towers being use of cooling concrete.
Now im thoroughly confused.


Anyhow its a cool spot that's for sure.

Hi Dave,

It is a very cool spot. I went to the Magic Mountain location in your pictures a number of times in the 80's. Nike missles do not use water cooled exhaust vents. If you look at pictures of missles raised for launch they are being held on the launch platform that comes up out of the underground bunker.

If you go through a lot of the information you'll see that the spot at Magic Mtn. with the vent tube is not part of the Nike defense system.

Also see these videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOFfdq5m5V0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unq5...E8A8502A6&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbWnu3TnEv0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Phf...E8A8502A6&index=5&playnext=2&playnext_from=PL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zicRtAaZb0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiiXxC9n8xE&NR=1

 

[adventureduo]

Jim, thanks for the info... i'll pull the report and correct info. I appreciate it.

 

[teotwaki]

Jim, thanks for the info... i'll pull the report and correct info. I appreciate it.

We should set up a "Nike Tour" of the portions of the bases that are still around! So many of them have been destroyed, converted or simply buried that we are losing a fascinating page of Cold War history.

 

[lt1fire]

Now you are making me homesick. I used to live right off of sand canyon and the 14. Then I moved to charlotte and finding cool "ghost town" like features is very, very hard.
I have been to the Nike site, at least that is what I thought it was but now i'm not so sure, and the dam but I had never heard about the mine.

I used to hike and climb vasquez rocks on a weekly basis.