Re: Trinity atomic test video with D&RGW #478?

Thanks for reminding me, Don, that you and I were youthful contempories in Los Alamos.

And thank you for firmly estabishing a timeline as regards the fate of the Chili Line. There still seems to be a rumor running around that the line played a role in Los Alamos. It was long gone by the time the city was established, as you pointed out. And you are right, building a line from the Rio Grande river crossing at Otowi up to "The Hill" would have been a daunting task for resulting minimal gain.

And another urban myth which once again needs to be stamped down in its grave is that Los Alamos was a "bomb factory". It never was, except for the first two A bombs, plus perhaps some unknown experimental weapons which we probably never know about.

The point is, as Don pointed out, different aspects of bomb design and production were based in widely separated parts of the country, such as Oak Ridge, the Y12 plant, Hanford, WA, and later on Rocky Flats, CO, and prolly one or two more I can't remember. The Pantex plant in Amarillo, TX as well as Sandia Laboratory in Albuquerque were the primary facilities for assembling weapons.

What I, and Don, were alluding to, is that Los Alamos was a research and development site, and not a "factory" per se, even though it is often referred to as such. It's R&D function was a major reason why so many illuminati of the time were at Los Alamos at one time or another. As a snot noses high school kid then, I had the very distinct experience of meeting some of them, although I wasn't appreciative of who I was meeting. All I knew is that they were brainy and important.

But coming back to the origin of this discussion, at no time did the Chili Line any involvement with the goings on on the "Hill". I hope we don't have to go through this discussion again.

BTW, if you are interested in this subject I highly recommend you pick up a copy of "109 East Palace Avenue", authored by Ellen Bradbury who is the daughter of one of the Los Alamos lab directors - Dr. Norris Bradbury. She was also heavily involved in the establishment of the museum in Los Alamos. It's a sobering place to visit.

The book is centered around the life and times of Dorothy McKibben who headed the office at - surprisingly - 109 East Palace Avenue in Santa Fe - just off the Plaza. In her position she coordinated all of the important visitors to Los Alamos, which officially didn't exist. But rumors abounded, including a serious explanation that Los Alamos was building windshield wipers for submarines.

I could go on and on about that era, but I will leave it that now that I am in my dotage, I count myself to be very fortunate to have been in on the tail end of those heady times. Don, since you were there also, you can probably add some of your experiences.

CJ