On Thursday 9 June, Greg Jennings, Tim Tyler, and I went back to Angel Island to take a look inside the "C" Section underground Nike magazine. We didn't know what we would find as this magazine was said to have been welded shut sometime in the 1970's. 
Roy McNamee with State Parks was kind enough to provide a generator and a grinder to open one of the escape hatches on the magazine. Roy ground off the weld securing the escape hatch in a couple of minutes and the door gently popped open. These magazines don't have stairs, the only way in and out is through the escape hatches and ladders. We then went down the ladder into the magazine.
I was surprised to see the elevator platform was positioned below the floor level, but otherwise, things looked pretty clean and complete inside this magazine. The elevator platform is very rusty. There doesn't appear to be any standing water in the sump. The floor was wet from water leaking from the elevator doors above. The drains on the elevator doors are all clogged up allowing water to leak into the magazine. The concrete curb surrounding the elevator doors is serving to keep the water in, rather than keep the water out, as designed.
The hydraulic lines to the elevator door openers and the locking bar mechanisms have been severed but most of the hose lines are still in place. The pumping units look to be complete and all of the elevator relays are still in place and look to be in reasonable condition. The ventilator fan motors and fan assemblies have been removed from all three magazines. "C" Section still has the master elevator operating switch on the wall and the elevator switches on the elevator, however, the elevator switch is falling apart.
The Panel Room has been stripped, the locking bar indicators lights are sort of there, the blower motor switch is there, but the blower, plenum and platform are gone. The escape hatch from the Panel Room is rusted shut. The escape hatch ladder is in place. The blast doors and door handles are still there. The doors move freely. The door to the Panel Room corridor has a small window in the door, and the door locks from the inside. The panic bar is there, but the door closer is hanging down from the top of the door.
The emergency shower heads are still in place in the magazine. Oddly, there's no drain underneath these showers. The big red square beside the shower head is where a fire extinguisher used to hang from the wall. There is almost no graffiti in this magazine.
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