Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

lochlainn t1_j7ix60v wrote

I chaperoned one of my kids' field trips there last year.

It's impressively large, and if you're into industrial goings-on, it's pretty interesting.

Short feature list: Extremely seismically and temperature stable, miles and miles of roads, railroad access, server farms out the ass, a strategic national cheese stockpile, and millions of eggs, plus a lot of unmarked buildings holding everything from paper records to the Ark of the Covenant, for all that anybody knows.

Oh, and they have to rent one part, the land under 65 is owned by the government, and the facility is on both sides of the highway.

TL;DR: Underground warehouses, if you're into that.

39

formiscontent t1_j7iz4dk wrote

So for the record, the cheese is still there? Did you get to see it?

6

lochlainn t1_j7izyvj wrote

No, we got to see the organic eggs. There were only a couple million of them. The facility could hold tens of millions, IRRC.

You haven't lived until you've seen the equipment to stack pallets of eggs on racks 30ft high.

I don't think they let the public into the cheese repository. You have to go downwind of the Kraft plant to verify the actual existence of said cheese.

10

pjcanfield8 t1_j7j6x9m wrote

You’re making the logistics/storage/transport nut inside me go crazy right now lol. I know the underground has become a recent national fascination but I’ve been so fixated on it ever since I moved here a decade ago. Plus I got to run on top of it for 4 years in a row for cross country meets that were hosted by Springfield Catholic. The stupid cheese cave just has such a special place in my heart lmao

6

lochlainn t1_j7j9v7q wrote

Join the Secret society deep in the heart of the Kraft bureaucracy, and one day, you too may be able to throw back the doors of the holiest of holies, the might cheese vault!

Seriously though, working cold storage sucks balls and they probably frown on taking a sample.

Or they have a cheese fountain in the breakroom, I dunno, I'm not a prophet.

7

lochlainn t1_j7j9yxb wrote

Edit: and yeah, I get that logistics/transport thing. So many moving parts and people in so many different places.

3

pjcanfield8 t1_j7je1bd wrote

Exactly you get what I mean. I know at the the end of the day it’s all just boxes and numbers being shifted around but it’s still amazing to me that humans have managed to utilize technology and computers to the fullest in the 21st century to move millions of boxes from one city to the other other side their country in under 24 hours with a pretty high rate of accuracy. The rapid rise of consumption and globalization that ties in with that is a bit unnerving (just due to the shear amount of CO2 emitted from cargo ships and planes let alone the manufacturing process). But at the end of the day like I said, it’s just cool that as a species we’ve come together to collaborate on these colossal boats or complex logistics chains to make everyday life happen. Really what it comes down to is that It’s the people I love not the billionaires reaping the profits off the backs of all our hard work. Sorry for the tangent.

4

Low_Tourist t1_j7olkwo wrote

Our company imports some goods from China, and we generally use air freight. Once it gets loaded, it arrives from the factory to our offices in about 72 hours. It's nuts.

1

Creepingdeath444 t1_j7jryxi wrote

If you want to go down there and just drive around, you can. Go down the Kearney entrance, there is an intercom right before you go in, hit the button. Security is going to answer, they usually just say something like "Underground Security" or "which building are you going to?". It really doesn't matter what the guard says, just say "Going to building 9" (you can use other buildings too, but that is just the building I go to the most so I say that) and they'll open the gate.

You obviously can't go inside any of the warehouses, but you can sort of just drive around down there if you want. Going later in the afternoon is probably easier because there is less trucks down there so there is less you have to watch out for. It's pretty cool to just look at imo.

0

pjcanfield8 t1_j7kuwpc wrote

Oh no shit? I figured you had to have some proof that you have business/reason to be down there. I didn’t realize security was the lax, I might just have to check it out myself

1

Creepingdeath444 t1_j7kx12f wrote

Nah, they're pretty chill. I go down there at least 2-3x a week for work stuff. I've never had to give a reason for going down there past "going to building [x]". Hell, you may get lucky and they might just buzz you in without ever saying anything.

2

EyeOk389 t1_j7j34ri wrote

I've seen it. A warehouse full of cardboard cylinders filled wit cheese. Some have "Jarome" written on them. I would tell my brother to get "Jarome Cheese".... good times

3