Alex Burr - hester_nec

I was afraid that was going to happen. I can download the pictures and post them in the Gallery. Hudsonly, Alex Burr

Morning one and all, Some of our Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club members have been traveling lately - you want to talk about doing it "back-in-the-day"!!!!! For those of you who like the wind in your hair this is the way to travel: Hi all: Last Thursday I took the 1919 On a 350Mi. round trip on Az. Route 66. (See pics in my "1919 Hudson" photo file folder) I averaged 60 MPH on the I-40 and varied from 45 to 65MPH on Route 66 due to 65MPH head winds and blinding rain and snow. Over all it was a great trip. The Hudson never faltered including the two hours of night driving, the lights worked very well. (The car is 100% stock) Mike... Pictures here (hope this link works): http://groups.yahoo....758273/pic/list Yes, this road trip was done in a 1919 Hudson!!!! I love the "45 to 65 mph on Route 66 due to head winds" bit. LOL And if you think road tripping in a 91 year old car is a fluke, here's another one, route and area not given. Recently took my original '17 7 pass. J on a 250 mile loop, shreaded the touring car top for the 2nd time in as many years, but still managed to dodge the lighting bolts. These cars go and go and go, yeah now for the truth - ignition got wet in a torential down pour at full trottle due to a hood hold down on the passenger side not being connected I knew I was running on an odd number of cylinders across a high ridge when the ridge ended it was down a hill into a hole and then dead silence on the incline out. Finally had a reason to get the umbrella out. . . the weather passed the ignition dried quickly and back to full throttle. I was accused at a fuel stop by some harley riders of having exceeding the 65 mile per hour speed limit considerably. Iron pistons all the way. So when you're tooling down old 66, or 40, or 30 or wherever give a thought to this current day travelers doing it the fun way!!! Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN

It probably refers to the fact that during inclement weather they sanded the clay surface. I've raced on wet red clay tracks, back in the day, and I'm gonna tell you it is slippery like you wouldn't believe. Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN

NOW look what I went and started - well, I still got the tie to my Coast Guard uniform around here somewhere. Be the only part of my uniform that still fits. Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN

Been following your, as usual, great trip report. You do put us in the passenger seat with you. Regarding your name badge alias - Denry Gibson. Verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry Interrrrrrrrrrrresting. Now lets see how many of our sharp eyed readers know what THAT means!!! LOL Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN http://www.freewebs.com/yankeetraveller/

Regarding the methods used in making maps. Strip maps, especially those produced to be published in books - such at the AAA tour books, Automobile Blue Books, etc - were aimed at getting the traveler from A to B. Most strip maps are really to small to show every deviation in the road bed. For that you need larger scale maps such as produced by topographical maps. That said, some of todays map programs, such as Delorme in their state by state books and Streets and Trips, do a pretty fair job of telling it like it was. Of course the problem with trying to decipher an 80 year old map today is the fact that over the years the old highways have been straightened, moved and widened in the interests of safety. A good example of this is U S 51 here in the Memphis area. I have traced out much of the 1926 era R-O-W - and, baby, going north it ain't even close to where it is today - both in reality and on the strip map from a 1926 Automobile Blue Book. In those area's where yesterday and today do overlap there are things to look for that will tell you what you are looking at. One of the ways, if they haven't replaced the bridge railings, is to look for an old style bridge railing. There are a couple of these between Memphis and Millington, 20 miles to the north. Today's alignment is 4-lane divided - there are a couple places were one side features the old 1930's style bridge railings; the other lanes going in the other direction don't. Another indicator is, and this has been mentioned before, is a lonely, mostly overgrown, alignment that veers off from the current roadway complete with telephone poles and wires. That's a pretty good indicator of where the old road went before. Hope this clears some of the fog away. Alex Burr Memphis, TN http://www.freewebs....ankeetraveller/

Found this over on Yahoo - I know some of our roadies have driven some of these roads. http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-34833822 Featured are, Acadia Byway in Maine, Great Rivers Scenic Route in Illinois (this one covers more than just Illinois), Route 706 in Washington, and more. Safe traveling everybody. Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN

This site is amazing. Back in 2001 I drove thru Aberdeen, Mobridge and west on into Miles City on my way to a Hudson club national meet in Seattle - and I thought I was just driving on old U S 12!!!! Didn't realize the history of the road back then. I suspect it was about as well populated back in the teens, 20's etc as it was in 2001. Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN

Oh, Darn!!! Now I got to figure out what to do with it and how to do it!!! Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN

Great shots - I'd like to point out the gentleman in the suit and tie. I don't know if he was on a business trip, but I doubt it. Different time, different dress code. People dressed when they went out, be it business or travel. I can remember my dad, on our trips from Maine to Ohio wearing a suit and tie - in the middle of the summer. Yes, he might take off the jacket and loosen the tie, but if we stopped somewhere, be it a diner for a meal or to check into a cabin for the night, but tie was fixed and the jacket back on. Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN

Another year old and deeper in debt - oh, hell, have a great birthday anyway and many more to come. Alex Burr Memphis, TN

By Motor to the Golden Gate is a great read. It's amazing what these early motorists accomplished, simply because they didn't know it couldn't be done. LOL The true American spirit of adventure. I also have, somewhere around here, the book about the 1919 Army transcontinental truck romp across the U S. The current interstate system was born from that little jaunt. Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN

Sometimes off-the-wall is better. We are a diverse group - I for one would not expect professional style production (ie, Houghton Mifflin, William Morrow, et al) - I would enjoy having a self-published book on my shelf that contained writings by, and for, my fellow road travelers. I can go to one of the on-line .com's (Alibris, Amazon) or my local book stores and buy pretty much anything I'd like to read (tho these days I'm trying to "read-out" the library). No, I'd love to have a little book, such you propose, and it would be something I'd point out to people who came by to visit as something special. I do hope you will pursue this - and I hope, if and when, I have a little spare cash (I'll get it somewhere) to purchase a copy. Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN

Yeah, there's a Blog link under the picture at the top of this page. I started one yesterday. Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN

Hello. Tho I am new to this media, blogging, I am not new to American Road. I've been around since the beginning. I do have a road trip web site, but decided to give this blog a try to post my rather infrequent road trips in the Memphis, TN, area. Being nearly 73 years old I'm old enough to remember the good old days of 2-lane road travel. Indeed, I went with my folks in the late 40's and early 50's on several trips from southern Maine to the Dayton, Ohio, area to visit friends and relatives. I look back and think, good old days?? Hot summer days on the road in a 10 year old Chrysler with no AC?? Motels that were more cabin than motel and usually not air conditioned?? Greasy spoon diners - tho most were pretty good. But, it was still exiting for a 10 year old to see what was around the corner. Kids miss so much today on vacation trips on the interstate. And there's not much new around the corner - or down the road, either. Got a Mickey D's in your home town - you'll find many along the road - along with BurgerKing, Wendy's, shopping malls with the same stores. No, kids today miss a lot. Back in 1953 I was crazy enough to go to the west coast, from Maine, with a buddy of mine, on 20 to the mid-west where we picked up 66 to California. Then 101, more or less north to Oregon and Washington, then home to Maine, mostly on 20, but some on 30, 6 and 2. We were celebrating the big transition from child-hood to adult-hood - getting our drivers licenses. At the time, in Maine, you could get a license at 15 - Maine was largely rural and farm land so 15 year olds were expected to drive the family farm equipment, trucks, etc. Can you imagine two 15 year olds driving across country today?? Probably wouldn't get out of the state, to start with. So, I'll probably be posting more on my new blog as time goes by. Won't be every day, won't be ever week. We'll try to find something to add at least inside a six month window. Happy, and safe, travels everybody.

Going just a bit further over the past 30+ years I've put together a 300 page book, General Information Book for Hudson Built Automobiles. At least it's 300 pp now - the first one I put together around 1984 ran about 175 pages. It done got fat over the years - which is what computer access will do to you. Now, this effort of mine ain't never gonna make the New York Times best seller list - probably won't ever get out of the basement. The old adage "you got to spend money to make money" is one factor against me. I don't have money to make money with!!! Besides I'd hate to have to change my tax bracket - I get all my with-holding back now so why tempt fate. Anyway, what happens with this is every so often I go on the Hudson forum and nudge people that I do have something to sell out here. I usually do this when I can try and generate sympathy for my cause - like the cat's got to go to the vet and I need a few bucks so buy my book - (actually such things as "I need a few bucks to get to the National meet" - where I might sell a few copies - or "I need some help here paying my dues" help a lot). Point I'm getting to is I got (1) a scanner that one of these days is going to self destruct from over use; (2) a good OCR program (Optical Character Recognition for those of you who don't have a clue what OCR means); and, best of all, an HP Laser Jet 1018 laser printer. Only drawback to this little jewel is toner cartridges are, if you buy "off-the-shelf" around $65, last time I looked. Ah, but there is a little jewel out there called InkJetSuperstore.com who are more than willing to send me rebuilt cartridges for $21 each. Good for at least 1600, 1700 pages, but you can get a little over 2000 if you play with it. So with a laser printer, some 96/24 ink jet/laser paper from Wally World I can print off a 300 pp copy in about 45 min to an hour. Just as an aside, an ink jet printer takes about 2 days and 5 or 6 cartridges - at about $25 a pop for them things. So there's a thought for you. It's about as cheap as you can get. As for binding, I put my production in a 3-ring notebook simply because I got one of them old (weighs a ton) 3 hold punches and 1" binders at Wally World can be had for a tad under $2 once in a great while. A sprial binding would be even better - but I don't have the equipment for that. Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN

I could contribute one of the stories on my freewebs.com/yankeetravller about trips around the Memphis/Delta area. Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN

I have the original in my collection - the lead car appears to be a 1936 or 1937 Packard (from the shape of the grille). Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN

Great lead, Denny - thanks. One advantage traveling by bicycle is you can really get onto the old alignments where you couldn't go by car - like where the road was washed out. Try hauling your SUV over that by hand!!! LOL Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN

End the suspense - start at the top and work down!!!!!!!!!! Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN

Milton took over the show around 1948 - previously it had been a radio show in the 30's and 40's with Edd Wynne as the "fire chief". He gave way to Fred Allen and eventually Berle took it over when it went to TV. That was the golden era of TV. Berle, Sid Cesar and Imogine Coca with their show - it was also the golden age of comedy. Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN

Dave, I'll bet you stayed up all night thinking up that post!!!! LOL Alex B Memphis, TN

As you say the place has frozen in time. Not many of those these days. Most tourists have a driving need to be entertained. Suggest they come to a place like this and simply curl up in a corner with a good book and they'll think you insane. I think it is insecurity. They have to have something of the familiar, like a MacD or Burger King - some symbol they can recognize - or they are totally lost. They have to have crowds and crowds of people, so they can complain about how crowded it it. Places like this are still about, but now you have to search for them. Great write-up - I'm ready to head for Florida. Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN

The red wheels were a factory color. The November 1950 Hudson Service Merchandiser, a house publication, lists several synthetic wheel enamels for 1951 Hudsons, among them a color called Vincennes Red. The body color looks to be a 1952 combo - Boston Ivory over Ebony Black ( also available in 1951) Steve, welcome to the wacky world of Hudsons - glad to see your interest in the marque. Drop an email to our Hudson-Essex-Terraplane club magazine editor Sam Jackson @ hetfortyqtpi@earthlink.net (drop the het) and ask for a complimentary copy of the magazine, The WTN. I've been a member of the HET club long enough to wear a 40 year pin with pride. Hudsonly, Alex Burr Memphis, TN