Salt Mine Express ($4)
Ceiling fall - the museum is constantly monitored for the possibility
of a portion of the ceiling falling and dangerous areas are roped off.
This
large ceiling fall is part of the dark tour. Smaller projections are
knocked down before they can fall.
Everything that has been brought into the salt mine over the years
has stayed in the mine - these "artifacts" date back for decades.
Before or after the rides in Hutchinson's Strataca
Underground Salt Museum, visitors are free to tour the museum galleries
on their own. The galleries feature exhibits devoted to mining, along with
several videos. Many visitors spend most of their time in the exhibits
devoted to Underground Vaults & Storage. Because of the security,
low cost and constant climate (68 degrees and 45% relative humidity) UVS
provides secure storage for many companies.
Those companies include all but one of the major motion
picture studios and the caves store props and original film negatives for
movies as diverse as "The Wizard of Oz," "Gone With The Wind," "Ben Hur,"
and "Star Wars." A small selection of the movie props is on display.
Because a big part of what they are selling is the high
security, Underground Vaults & Storage was originally opposed to the
new museum, but that has obviously changed.
The main museum gallery has mining equipment displays and videos of
the equipment in operation
This 42 inch gauge railroad operated in the salt mine from 1923 until
1983 when the company abandoned the system in
favor of a conveyor belt line. This DC electric engine was purchased
from the Independent Salt Company at Kanopolis
and was a backup engine for times when the larger main engine was in
use.
Roger Tener, Pat Knuth and Kansastravel.org webmaster Keith Stokes
taking advantage of a photo opportunity
in the galleries at Strataca Underground Salt Museum
Display of props from the Men in Black Movies
In addition to reels of film and videotapes, Underground Vaults &
Storage clients store art, costumes and props like the chocolate
bars from Charlie and the Chocolate factory
Noisy Cricket chrome pistol from the the movie Men in Black
Movie costumes: Mr. Freeze costume worn by Arnold Schwarzenegger &
Batman costume worn by George Clooney in
Batman and Robin, and Jean Girard Racing Suit worn by Sacha
Baron Cohen in Talladega Nights.
The Strataca gift shop has many T-shirts with clever messages
Waiting for the double deck elevator
to return to the surface
Hutchinson Salt Company surface operation
Eight Wonders of Kansas
 In
2007, the Kansas Sampler Foundation selected the Kansas Underground
Salt Museum as one of the Eight Wonders of
Kansas.
Other sites selected
as the Eight Wonders of Kansas included the Cathedral
of the Plains,
Kansas Cosmosphere,
Monument
& Castle Rocks, Tallgrass
Prairie National Preserve and the Eisenhower
Presidential Library.
Page
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Discovery
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Hutchinson Restaurant & Attraction
Guide
Strataca
Underground Salt Museum web site
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