mobilene

Wait. If it's a State ROW marker, then... didn't that road at one time have to be a state road? I think it's still evidence of a former alignment of IL 10.

I kind of figured the map was following the Dayton Cutoff. I thought it had to be an error on the map's part to call it US 40. This caused me to trace current US 40 through that part of Ohio. There are several reroutings, sad to see.

Denny, what a great writeup, esp. of the PP-OO sections. It was awesome to see what happened to the road and bridge in Danville. I have got to make this trip one day. jim

This is marvelous, Keep. I already got lost following an alignment of US 40 through Ohio (through Dayton?!!!). I think Zoomify is a fine solution for displaying the maps. jim

What a fascinating resource! jim

Rick, is there anything back there on that section of 40 that people might need to get to? I'm curious about why the road is barricaded only on one side. jim

That's wonderful, Keep! The Zoomify approach seems to work fine... it's pretty fast and the resolution is excellent. I can absolutely make use of this, and will be glad for the resource as I plan my trips. You are giving a very generous gift to the road-loving community. Of course, my own collection is growing... I just got a 1925 Rand McNally Auto Trails Map of Indiana today, and it's in fine nick. Your map has piqued my curiosity as it shows SR 10 between about Paxton and Vincennes as complete, while my 1925 map shows it as under construction. Alex, Indiana renumbered all of its state roads when the federal numbering system came in. SR 3 did indeed become US 40 and SR 1 became SR 31, while SR 22 became SR 37 and SR 15 (Dixie Highway between Indy and Rochester) became variously US 421, SR 29, and SR 25. Anyway, yes, a 1927 map serves as a decoder ring. jim

Welcome! When I researched my US 36 in Indiana trips this year, I stumbled across your site and was not only excited to learn about the road, but that an alignment more or less followed US 36 west to Illinois. I wrote it up here. On the last page of that set, there's a link to a page that shows the drive from Chrisman, IL back to about Montezuma on the PP-OO. So thanks to your page, I got a whole lot of exploring pleasure! Thanks! jim

Fabulous photos. Thanks for the link. It's amazing how well the bridges have held up.

How was the show? Did you win the valve cover derby? I ended up busier than I thought I would be (what else is new) on Saturday and so we couldn't make it. jim

How late does it run? Is there a cost to get in? I might bring my sons.

:) You realize that my dad, a random nickname generator, called me mobilene sometimes, after Mobiloil and Mobilgas? That's where I get the nick from.

Alex, I'm with you on not over-restoring. I'm a big believer that cars should be driven. I don't see the point in owning one otherwise! That's the thing I like about the Royce collection here in Indy -- the mechanic/curator drives every car from time to time, even the Stanley Steamer they have.

I, too, like old cars to be restored, not heavily modified. A wealthy man named Royce who lives out in AZ, I think, keeps his small collection here in Indy, and I got to see it once. He appears to favor originality as much as possible. It was tres cool. jim

Thanks for the link, Pat. I'd never seen the Oklahoma site before. That Alt. 69 shield looks cut from the same cloth as the 6/35 shields I saw. Tracy, I looked at the Indiana page on the link you shared. Does it say something about me that I can tell you exactly where three or four of those photos were taken? jim

Love the Tucker photos. I suffer from lack of optical image stabilization. I lost a couple photos on my most recent trip to camera shake.

Does a wino want a case of Thunderbird? YES! I would LOVE to see the info on the 1920's "new" sign standards!

Those cutouts sure look shiny and new. One way to tell is to drive through there at night -- if they reflect like a beacon in the night, they're pretty new. But it's not Indiana's style to go against standards. I think the cutout shields look great. Only thing that might enhance them is to add the thin borderline near the edges. The borderline-less style is usually affixed to Big Green Signs on the Interstate. Speaking of green signs, sign colors have meaning, and green means "guide," just as yellow means "warning" and orange means "work zone." Whether you know it or not, your subconscious knows what kind of info is on a sign just because of its color before your conscious can even read the thing. I agree that these white on green signs are not the most legible, but they could have done things to help that, notably increasing the font size and switching to mixed case. jim

On my way home from the US 31 trip I did a little exploring through corn country. I was on US 6 in LaPorte County when I came upon these directional signs at the intersection with US 35. I have never seen cutout shields in Indiana! What's especially interesting is that the directional signs (North, South, etc.) use the modern big-cap, small-cap style. I wonder how old these shields are. Westbound on 6: Eastbound on 6: I headed south on 35 from here, and then followed a bunch of state highways until I joined the Dixie Highway in Logansport. I followed that the rest of the way home. jim

Whatever you see, it will be great if you share photos! jim

Wait... pardon the question from the Midwesterner, but how did those bridges end up under Lake Shasta in the first place? jim

How neat to have your grandfather's memoir. Not many people have anything like that. And that cut is something else. I can't imagine what it must have been like trying to get from south to north, or vice versa, even with it.

I just did an eBay search on "auto trails" and got 20+ hits for old auto trails maps, with no wading through junk entries. I tried "Rand McNally map" and got 2 pages of results, meaning some wading, but found several interesting items.

Alex, that must have been some trip through Peru then, given what awaited at the destination. 70 to Effingham is a crashing bore of a snooze, set against a sleep-inducing backdrop, so I'm not surprised your alternate route was better. Denny, it looked to us like that was the old road bed. It was weird, and I wish I got a pic of it now, but the road used to curve to meet the old bridge. The road went straight over the new bridge. Maybe there was an earlier bridge on the new bridge's site. The camera still works; the Indy photo above was taken with it broken like that and I didn't even notice yet. I just like my things to stay nice. It's like the transport on one side of the lens got disconnected in the impact. I guess the lesson learned is to WATCH where I'm GOING when I have the camera in my hand. jim

I sure hope they get Scenic Byway status. I want to come out there and drive that road one day.