Man Who Buried 42 Buses Finally Let Cameras Inside

Going Underground

Bruce Beach had fled his home decades ago, traveling across the Canadian border to begin his colossal project. When he began amassing a huge collection of old school buses, the locals thought he was truly mad.

You see, Bruce needed the school buses for their reinforced steel roofs. He had a plan. Once he had the buses, he began to dig.

Bruce Beach

Bruce Beach is 83 years old, yet he’s managed to build one of the most bizarre structures in North America. Hidden beneath the snow and ice in a rural part of Ontario, Canada, lies one of the greatest modern mysteries the world has seen.

Although the authorities are trying to put an end to Bruce’s vision, terrible fear and a great sense of purpose drive him on.

Hidden

The extent of the structure Bruce has created can’t be seen from above ground, and nobody has managed to get inside, either.

The massive pit with its tunnels and labyrinths snake deep below the earth. But the fear that compelled him to bury 42 buses didn’t creep up on Bruce, it hit him in a terrible wave back in 1970.

Too Much To Bear

Bruce is from Winfield, Kansas. But when he was becoming a young man, he experienced something that changed him forever.

The sense of menace that prevailed around the Vietnam war was followed by the Cold War. Growing up in the most turbulent time in American history took a terrible toll on Bruce’s young mind.

Drastic Measures

The tense atmosphere was too much for Bruce to bear. With the fear of war bearing down on him like an ax above his head, he packed up his things, took his family, and fled to Canada.

There, he would go on to undertake the mission that would make him a legend. Just what did he think he was doing?

A Refuge

Bruce didn’t choose a random place to erect his project – he worked methodically by setting up his base in his wife Jean’s Canadian hometown, Horning’s Mills. It was a small, rural village two hours away from Toronto, and from prying eyes.

Convinced that doom was around every corner, he decided to do something about it.

Old School Buses

From 1980 to 1985, Bruce collected retired school buses. His plan was to get his hands on as many as possible. He paid around $300 for each one and had them sent directly to his hime address.

In those five years, he managed to collect 42 old school buses. And, although it had been costly, the buses formed an integral part of his plan.

Taking Shape

Now that Bruce had all the buses he needed, he arranged them strategically side by side. Then, he dismantled them and connected them all to one another.

On a 12.5-acre piece of land near his home, he dug out a massive 14-foot pit in the ground and buried the buses. What was he doing?

Sealing It Shut

Once the school buses were buried in 14 feet of dirt, Bruce filled the pit in with two feet of solid concrete. He wanted to make sure they never saw the light of day again.

He opened each bus so that they formed a massive underground labyrinth – creating one of the largest underground structures in North America.

Ark Two

When Bruce was done, the underground shelter took up a staggering 10,000 square feet. It’s name? Ark Two. The underground maze can fit 500 people inside its protective walls.

Bruce built the shelter and fully expected that people would need to use it. But who would be allowed inside the labyrinth underground? And for what purpose?

Right Of Admission

Bruce decided early on exactly who would be allowed inside Ark Two. People carrying infectious diseases are out.

But even if the people who wanted to populate the shelter appeared healthy, Bruce was afraid they would contaminate his Ark, so he decided to build a decontamination chamber. And he did this for a very specific reason.

Protection

You see, Bruce is a “prepper.” He’s convinced that the apocalypse is imminent and has done everything to prepare for it. While some believe the end is near due to religious beliefs, others have different reasons to believe the world will be coming to an end soon.

Preppers prepare for everything from the zombie apocalypse to a global pandemic.

Nobody Gets In

As for reporters and other curiosity seekers, Ark Two is almost completely off-limits. Bruce is, understandably, wary of prying eyes. Most members of the press who have tried to report on Ark Two have been deemed unworthy of the privilege by Bruce.

Those who have managed to get a rare peek inside have only been allowed to do so after performing a task of Bruce’s devising – like chopping firewood or doing other chores for the benefit of the Ark.

Problems With The Law

The local government is not happy about Ark Two. In their eyes, it’s a health and safety hazard. They would like nothing more than to see it destroyed.

Because Ark Two was built without the proper permits, the local government has spent more than $250,000 to try and shut it down. The local fire department, however, takes a more direct approach.

Closed

Instead of waging legal battles, the Ontario fire department has sent in the fire brigade to physically cordon off and close Ark Two.

They’ve sealed the entrances twice, but Bruce has found a way to get it open again every time. But how does Bruce’s family feel about the whole situation? Do they support him?

Wasn’t Always Like This

It may be hard to believe that Bruce’s family would be on board with such an… extreme hobby. But there are good reasons for what Bruce has been doing, and only his family would understand.

Believe it or not, Bruce didn’t use to be so eccentric or fixated on saving humanity. He used to be a family man.

A Family Man

Bruce used to be a young guy with a lot of ambition. At the age of 25, he married the woman of his dreams. He thought that nothing could make him happier.

That was until he stumbled onto a dark secret that got him into prepping in the first place. This secret place would put a strain on his relationship with his family.

Bruce’s Old Discovery

Bruce loved to hike old forest trails in his twenties. He loved finding mysterious things that people had forgotten about. He set out early one morning to explore a forest near his hometown.

After walking for an hour, Bruce found himself staring at something he never expected to see. He was looking at a set of metal poles sticking right out of the ground. What were they doing there?

Finding A Way In

He walked around the area until he found something that confirmed his suspicions. He found a dark concrete hole that jutted out of the ground at a strange angle. There were overgrown vines surrounding it and making it hard to see.

Bruce knew he had found something special. He ran toward the entrance and saw a set of stairs that led down into the earth. But things would take a drastic turn.

Going In

Bruce noticed that the gate inside the hole was hanging open. Whatever lock used to keep it shut had rusted off decades ago. As Bruce descended the stairs, darkness surrounded him. He thanked his stars he had a flashlight.

He was getting deeper into the complex. But what he would find would send a shiver down his spine.

Strange Signs

Bruce walked for what felt forever until he found that the concrete walls split into two different paths. Bruce was more curious than he should have been. The prospect of getting lost hadn’t even occurred to him.

He then saw a plastic bag from a supermarket. What was this doing here? Bruce didn’t like it.

Hearing Noises

After walking for another ten minutes, Bruce started hearing strange sounds. He heard a hissing noise that sounded almost like a person. He really hoped that it was the sound of old pipes.

As the corridor started getting wider and the echoes got worse, Bruce could swear that he heard the sound of someone laughing. Then he started to hear the dripping sound of pipes.

Getting Deeper

The place got even weirder when Bruce saw weird markings on the walls. Every 100 yards, there was some kind of marker showing how deep he was going. If only it weren’t in a foreign language, he would understand it.

Bruce had now had enough of the strange place. He hoped that it would end soon. All he wanted was a dead end so he could turn around, but it only got deeper and deeper.

A Door

Eventually, Bruce got to a strange-looking door. It was barely hanging onto its hinges. It was like something with immense strength had ripped it off its hinges. He saw Cyrillic writing on the wall but couldn’t understand it.

Bruce started to think about the old horror stories that had always circled around the internet. What was further if he continued along this path?

A Terrible Smell

As Bruce kept walking, the smell of decay started to get worse and worse. He was approaching something truly terrifying that he had never seen before in his life.

Bruce’s morbid curiosity only intensified as he kept walking forwards. His mind was racing with the possibilities of what would come next.

Darkness

Now Bruce was in another corridor, but as he walked forward, he slipped into foot-high stagnant water. He shouted loudly as he fell. He then looked down the passage ahead and saw the silhouette of something strange.

He rubbed his eyes and looked ahead. But this time, whatever he saw was gone. Was his mind playing tricks on him?

Flooded

The room he was in now was knee-high, deep in water. He looked at the walls that he hadn’t given much thought to before and noticed they were made out of something strange. They looked like they were lead-lined.

He watched the water lap at his calves as his flashlight reflected the murky pool below. The air felt heavy here.

The Complex

The place that Bruce had found was an underground complex from the 1930s. It was clearly built at the height of World War II as some kind of naval facility. It was underground so that no one could find it.

But Bruce had discovered a nearly century-old secret. This is what sparked his prepping and strained his relationships.

Sparking A Passion

After leaving the complex, Bruce was a different man. He started obsessing over prepping for the worst. Seeing the derelict facility that was part of a bygone era made him think of how things would be for his home one day.

Over the next 50 years, he prepared himself for anything. The buses would end up being his Magnum Opus.

His Wife Passed Away

After his wife passed away, Bruce went over the edge. He went into full prep mode and built the bus bunker in only a couple of years. That’s what made it even worse when the government tried to shut it down.

It’s still an ongoing battle between Bruce and the government. Who knows who will end up on top at the end?

In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.