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Zayante Tunnel2024 Nov 10
In the 1880s, the Southern Pacific Railroad was built from Oakland to Santa Cruz. To reach through the Santa Cruz Mountains, tunnels were dug. One particular tunnel, a short 250-foot span in Zayante, isn't terribly remarkable. Except that, because it was bored through solid granite, when the railroad closed in 1940, the tunnel was deemed stable and sturdy, and the railroad left it open and intact.
And that way it stayed for twelve years, until, in the Cold War's escalating paranoia, a document retention interest purchased it and turned it into the Western States Atomic Vault Company – an underground vault not for people, but for documents. Eventually purchased by Iron Mountain, the facility is no longer in use, but this is a recent development, with day-to-day operation ending only in 2017.
In the 1880s, the Southern Pacific Railroad was built from Oakland to Santa Cruz. To reach through the Santa Cruz Mountains, tunnels were dug. One particular tunnel, a short 250-foot span in Zayante, isn't terribly remarkable. Except that, because it was bored through solid granite, when the railroad closed in 1940, the tunnel was deemed stable and sturdy, and the railroad left it open and intact.
And that way it stayed for twelve years, until, in the Cold War's escalating paranoia, a document retention interest purchased it and turned it into the Western States Atomic Vault Company – an underground vault not for people, but for documents. Eventually purchased by Iron Mountain, the facility is no longer in use, but this is a recent development, with day-to-day operation ending only in 2017.