Farm road trip and a government operation most of us have never heard of.

Today, January 14, 2025 I and a friend of my sons made a trip 90 miles to the west to Columbus Nebraska to pick up some items I had purchased at an online auction from Behlen Manufacturing. This is the 2nd trip to Columbus in the last 12 months to pick up equipment.

Columbus Nebraskais the county seat of Platte County, Nebraska, situated at the confluence of the Loup and Platte rivers roughly 85 miles (137 km) west-northwest of Omaha and 75 miles (121 km) northwest of Lincoln by road, near the county's southern edge. With an estimated population of 24,464 as of 2024, it is the 10th-most populous city in Nebraska.

Their is nothing like a road trip to pick up a farm auction haul of goodies, these are one of the many bonuses of farming. Its really not working in what most of us think. Its a time to drive and look at the country side. A time to relax and just take the scenery, a time to think or conversate if their are two of you, a time to slow down , leaving the the hustle of the town job or farming in the rear view mirror, no hurry, a time for great conversation, good coffee and possibly some tourism along the way. These types of trips I never hurry on, if I want to do a side trip I do it as the rest of the time I am too busy. Many times these these pickups end up being a mental challenge to get everything in one load. This was just such a case. Its took some planning once the Behlen yardman started loading as to what we wanted when, where and how. Over all the only change we made was the stock tanks. We had thought that stand them up and against the headache rack and strapping them would be best, as the were 10 foot diameter and 8 foot is maximum legal. We ended up just setting them flat and being oversize. It was only a foot on each side and it was the easiest most secure way to haul them. The steel coil was 2000 lbs and to have it on one side was not optimal but it was the only way we could get everything on the trailer. The gates hung over the back end a little over 2 feet.

Behlen Manufacturing is on the east side of Columbus, south side of Nebraska Highway 30, or in its time known as the Lincoln Highway.

We had a 33 foot goose neck trailer, by the time we had it loaded their was no room left. 13 Farm gates, a 2000 pound coil of steel, 8 livestock tanks and two racks of bent steel pipe. Behlen has these auction from time to time. It all scratch and dent stuff or things they no longer use. Behlen bundles a bunch of like items together so you may get more than you need, not that I’ve ever done that. I always find a use for the extras, things I needed but just did not know that at the time of purchase. Just like any auction some goes fairly reasonable and others goes for higher. I try to stay away from the higher priced …

Some of the stuff will be resold as I can make a few bucks, others we will weld together and make round bale feeders, The coil of steel will be used on the bottoms of the feeders and be used on our stock trailer that we have had since 1980 that needs some lovin. Just alot of projects for 2025. So it will be a extremely busy year for us.

The most interesting thing beside the conversation during this drive was the stop at the exit gate of Behlen. Behlen has on display a building of theirs that was built in 1954-1955 and participated in Operation Cue.

https://www.nebraskastudies.org/en/1950-1974/civil-defense/witnessing-an-atomic-blast/

Operation Cue was a atomic bomb test, that was a subset of Operation Teapot, that civilians were invited to in May of 1955. It was a test of various buildings and systems such as communication towers to document their survivability to a nuclear blast. It was one of the few atomic bomb tests that civilians were a part of. It took place in Yucca Flats, Nevada.

https://time.com/3675016/nevada-a-bomb-test/https://time.com/3675016/nevada-a-bomb-test/

This link has a series of pictures from the blast.

This was quite an elaborate test. They set up communication equipment, towers, even down to mannequins and household appliances to see what the results would be.

This photo is a close up of the one on top, showing that the legs were melted away on the mannequin in the background.

The blast was about twice as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb, but hundreds of times less powerful than hydrogen "Superbombs." After the explosion, the troops, who had been stationed in tanks around two miles from the blast and in trenches around three miles away, began simulating military operations. Melba and the other civilian observers went back to the barracks they had been staying in, called "Survival City." They ate lunch — all part of an experiment in what it would take to fly and truck in enough food for thousands of people after an atomic explosion. The restaurant association and private food companies, including Omaha hotel owner E. C. "Gene" Eppley, donated food to the test.

First hand account by Melba Scott

"So we were out there, but they didn’t call it [off], and we kept thinking they were going to and they didn’t. But when they did the countdown, I guess maybe that was the first realization, from the ten — to the nine. . . . I was wearing the goggles and the helmet and the coveralls. . . . I was standing up [about six miles away from the explosion], because the shock wave almost knocked us over — you needed to brace yourself. It was considerable. . . . [Afterward] what I remember is the silence. It was like — it was so awesome. It was so much more than anybody could ever imagine, that you just weren’t able — everybody kind of retreated into themselves. It was so quiet. . . . You just can’t look into the bowels of Hell and not be changed."

https://archive.org/details/Operatio1955

This is a really interesting video about Operation Cue, it is actual footage of Operation Cue. June Collins a reporter that participated. I found it well worth the 15 minutes it took to watch.

Two types of building survived total destruction. A concrete poured build and this metal building manufactured by Behlen. No the wood frame structures most of us live in were obliterated.

The pictures below are of the building Behlen has at their gate. Anyone can drive into the area where this building is on display. You can walk around it, go in it, take pictures. To me it is an amazing part of Behlens and American history. I was born in 1959 - 14 years after the end of WW2. We think WW2 is a long way back in history. It is, but many of us were born shortly after WW2 and were affected by the worrisome time for our parents after that, them having lived through it and in some cases fought in it. It was a turbulent time, threat of nuclear destruction, Cuban missile crisis, assassination of several US leaders including JFK. It was also a time of great change for individuals and the country. Individuals along with the country moved from a agricultural society to a world power house in manufacturing and ag producer. This change helped fuel companies like Behlen.

The below pictures are one I took onsite.

Behlen provided two building for the test. Both survived. Behlen has one and the other one is on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln east campus.

Behlen has a interesting history, some is in the link below.

https://history.nebraska.gov/when-behlen-manufacturing-in-columbus-tested-shed-with-atomic-bomb/

The two pictures above faced the blast, As you can see their is damage to the roof and walls. Of course the doors and windows were bloen out but otherwise when you consider the test its in pretty darn good shape. Its 70 years old, quite a testament to the design and integrity of Behlens building system. As you can see with the Nebraska Historical Society picture, the other building did not fair as well.

Once you consider these buildings were 6800 feet away - over 1 mile ( Na mile is 5280 feet) the destruction is amazing. These were small bombs compared to today’s multiple megaton bombs aimed at us and our enemies. Just the wind blast is devastating, then throw the radiation is on top and you start to understand adm comprehend what could be if WW3 takes place.

This is the view of the building facing away from the blast. No damage.

You can even see the difference inside, pretty amazing.

https://history.nebraska.gov/collection_section/walter-dietrich-behlen-1905-1994-rg1595-am/

Each of these tractors weigh 4850lbs. to hang 16 of them from the roof is amazing.

The 50’s 60’s and even the 70’s were a time of unprecedented advancement and changes for the USA and the world. Sure since the 90’s we’ve had the computer age. While the computer age was and is a great leap in technological advancement. I find the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s much more interesting.

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