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Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

hutchman

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Posts posted by hutchman

  1. This thing makes me feel like kid.  I'm 5 min or so away from some beautiful scenery and don't take advantage of it enough.   The wet  season is upon us and they close  most FS Roads 12-1, so I need to make the most of it over the next  month!

    Maybe do some  cold weather camping before it gets too  bad.

  2. Update on the Jeep.....

    20181020_113641-X2.jpg

    It now rides on real Load Range E, 33" tires.  It has a new front bumper, a new 9000# winch, a set of factory take off LED foglights, and factory Rubicon tock rails.  It is becoming a fully functional  backroads touring vehicle.  My back is also better.

    Some images from  recently in the hills around La Grande, Or.

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    Can't see much in this one, but the trail goes over and through the rocks above.  I missed the line slightly and hit the frame HARD!

    20181004_164108-X2.jpg

    So I'm having some fun with the Jeep and when the back is healed, there are going to be ROAD TRIPS!.  Planning on going to "The Henry Ford" next fall to feed my love of the automobile and interest in history!

  3. Restored Shell Station in Mt. Olive IL on Rt 66....but I don't remember which alignment....one of the older alignments for certain.

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    Someting tells me this  ramp has been here a while!

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    Old Motel/Restaurant sign that has been repurposed.....at least once!  Located on one of the later alignments north of Litchfield,  IL.

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    And look what else we found......

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    I've been by this place for yEARS and never saw this.  I have no idea when it was put there or for what reason,  but it is just off I55 along 66 and hidden by the trees.

    Not a building,  but an old brick road from an early RT 66 alignment  south of Chatham, IL.

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    And here  is a very interesting tidbit....not about the highway, but rather something to see in Springfield, Il.

    Fleetwood Lindley rests here.

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    Just who was  Fleetwood Lindley?

    Fleetwood Lindley  was born on April 4, 1887 and died on February 1, 1963. He was a florist by trade and led a mostly unremarkable life.  He was also President of the Board of Directors for Oak Ridge Cemetary where both he and President Lincoln are buried.

    But, they have more in common than just being buried within a few hundred yards of each other…..Fleetwood Lindley, was the last man alive to have seen the face of Abraham Lincoln.

    A little explanation is in order methinks!

    Fleetwood’s Father, Joseph Perry Lindley, was a member of the Lincoln Guard of Honor.  This group was formed following the attempted theft of Lincoln’s body from the original tomb in November of 1876.  During the reconstruction of the tomb in 1900-1901, it was planned to bury Lincoln’s casket in a steel cage 10 feet underground and cover it with concrete to prevent any more attemps at stealing the body.  The casket would be sealed away for eternity.

    On the  morning of September 26, 1901, Fleetwood’s teacher gave him a note from his father stating he should get on his bicycle and ride out to the tomb as fast as he could to witness an historic event….and that he did. The Guard had decided to open the casket one last time to ensure that the body inside was indeed Lincoln.  Fleetwood made it to the tomb in time to see the casket opened.  I’ll let his works speak for him:

    “Yes, his face was chalky white. His clothes were mildewed. And I was allowed to hold one of  the leather straps as we lowered the casket for the concrete to be poured. I was not scared at the time but I slept with Lincoln for the next six months.”

    “His face was chalky white….”  As spooky as that sounds, it was apparently caused by attempts to lighten his face during the trip from Washington to Sprinfield.  There was no doubt who it was however. It was the unmistakable face of Abraham Lincoln.

    Strangly, Fleetwood Lindley retold this story to Life magazine on January 29, 1963, but he would never see the article published.  Fleetwood Lindley passed away on February 1, 1963…a mere three days after the interview.

    We visited both Abraham Lincoln and Fleewood Lindley during our time in Oak Ridge Cemetary.

    This was copied from my blog entry about the Lincoln Tomb and Fleetwood Lindley.

    • Like 1
  4. I have a new Jeep Wrangler JL sitting in my shop.  I have owned Jeeps for most of the last 30 years and really don't like being without one.  We had a 2017 JK  Unlimited 4 door with everything but leather.  It was great for getting groceries or hauling the grandkids, but there was something lacking in the soul department - it just did not speak to me.

    My wife bought a new high gas mileage DD, so she had quit driving the Jeep.  I decided to get rid of it as we really do not need 3 new cars, but she reminded me that when Jeepless, I am usually looking to by one.....and she was right.  So I did the logical thing, at least for me, and bought a base model 2 door.  The only options are AC and limited slip.  Yep, soft top, manual transmission, and roll up windows.  How the heck is a guy supposed to survive with something like this?

    Very well I'm here to tell you!

    The base Wranglers now come with CC, PS, PB, AM/FM, and a tilt/telescoping steering column.  The softtop is the quietest softtop I've ever had on a Jeep....nearly as quiet as the last one was with a hardtop.  And so far I'm averaging 22 mpg.  I've never been able to get over 17 mpg with a Jeep before.

    So all-in-all, I'm very pleased with it.

    The new red one and the old black one on trade  day.

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    Might be the perfect touring vehicle......for me at least!

    • Like 1
  5. As seems to  happen in life, things have changed.  Due to health issues from my back, we have sold our travel trailer.  I cannot deal with the setup any more.

    I had mentioned that I wanted a period correct vehicle for some of my travels, well that vehicle has become a new Jeep Wrangler.  There is more to this story, but that's for another thrrad.

    Our trip along the Lincoln Highway has morphed into seeing a few sites of the highway along the trip to IL rather than concentrating on the highway itself.  Probably going to follow RT 66 on the way back west, but that is not for certain yet.

    So we shall see how this trip unfolds.

  6. Thanks for the comments!  This was a great adventure for us that we both have good memories of.  Sadly, Johnathon is not on a good path and I fear he is going to have some real life issues.

    As far as books go, I have read and studied a few, but the two real standouts for me were both written by Gregory Franzwa.  "Maps of the Oregon Trail," and "The Oregon Trail  Revisited," go hand in hand and they are my go to books for OT information

  7. So for anyone around curious about the OT,  I dug up my old unfinished thread from 10 years ago.  Hard to believe it has been that long.

    https://www.americanroadmagazine.com/forum/topic/868-my-oregon-trail-odyssey/?tab=comments#comment-18805

    And......some other info:

    Ezra Meeker traveled with his family to OR as a boy in 1852.  Later in his life, he became convinced that people were forgetting the effort and sacrifices of the settlers who went west on the OT.  He made several trips back to WA DC, including one on which he flew in an airplane, to promote the preservation and memory of the Trail.  He also marked the Trail with markers, some of which exist today.

    This one is located right along the side of old Rt 30 at Emigrant Springs State Park.

     

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    It is just off the pavement in the ditch between the Park Entrance and campground.

    This one is located on "B" Ave. in La Grande on the west side of town in the bushes in someone's front yard.  "B" Ave runs right on top of the actual Trail.

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    There is another  in plain view in Hunnington, but I do not have a picture of it.  It is located in plain sight on the main street, but when looking for it, I could not find it.  One day, I was driving through town,  and there it was.  When I was looking, I could not see it......whodathunk?

    Here is a link to that great bastion of interweb knowledge, Wikipedia, for more of the story of Ezra Meeker:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Meeker

    Dave, that's quite  a story about the swamp!

     

  8. Today, I took the time to take a short ride that has been on my mind for several years....I left I84 and followed  the old US 30 alignment  through the Blue Mtns of NE Oregon.   I'd  driven some parts, but never fron Exit 248 to Mission.

    After leaving the slab, I traversed the remaining 2 lane sections of Hwy 30 and passed through  the forrests of the Blues, the old "towns" of Kamela and Meacham, past the Meeker Marker at Emigrant Springs State Park, andstopped at the scenic overlook between Deadman Pass and Meacham.   It was terribly smokey and hazy today, so I did not spend much time there nor did I take any pictures.

    I continued westward through the Deadman Pass interchande to follow the hwy and noticed someting interesting...  Just west of the westbound rest area is a set of OT swailes or ruts.  They have been visible if you knew where to look, but tough to see if you did not.  It appears they have done some logging there and have cleaned out a lot of undergrowth.  I did notstop tol look, but they should be much easier to see now!  I just hope they did not destroy them in the process.  I will stop there later this week if I have time.

    Continuing on, I passed from the forested  area into the much drier area west of Deadman Pass.  The  old highway here runs quite a bit east of the slab and this is the part I had never been on...  What a treat it is!  The road takes a much more meandering route down the hill with some great opportunities for pulling off the highway and some much different vistas than those from the slab.  This road is a "hidden gem" for those seeking a more laid back route through the Blues.

    I really enjoyed this little trip and believe it will inspire me to take more of these little day trips in this area.

  9. Dave,

     

    I was through Hunnington last weekend and I "discovered" the Meeker Marker that I could not find last year. If you are traveling west through town, there is a small public triangle of park land on the left as the road bends to the north and heads out of town. The Meeker Marker is located in that small triangle. Franzwa states it is located in a "public" park in Hunnington and if you search the main park across from the restaurant like I did, you will never find it!

     

    FWIW........

  10. Hey Dave, it has been a while. As far as brakes went......Henry didn't put hydraulics on Fords until '38......I think. I know the 36s did not have them and the 38s did. Not too sure about 37 but if I was bettin' I would say not until '38.

     

    Chevys had them much earlier.

     

    Seems kind of chancy today producing a car with a V8 that would go 100 mph and equipping it with mechanical brakes! Must not have been much product liability issues in those days!

  11. This is a quote taken from countryroadsmagazine.com...........

     

    "In 1966, Congress passed the Safety of Life at Sea Act, which forbade wooden ships from carrying more than fifty overnight passengers for reasons of fire safety. The Delta Queen, which has a steel hull but a wooden superstructure, can hold 174 passengers. SOLAS was intended to prevent tragedies at sea, but, because of the language, unintentionally applied to inland riverboats like the Delta Queen, too. Consequently, Congress voted six times over the next forty-plus years to excuse the Delta Queen from meeting all of the SOLAS requirements.

     

    But that Congressional cooperation ran aground last year. Rep. James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, refused to let the exemption—which is due to expire later this year—come up for a vote. Oberstar cited safety concerns. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, has also opposed the exemption. Without an exemption, the boat is doomed to be docked. The Delta Queen’s parent company, Majestic America Line, has announced that 2008 will be the grand old lady’s farewell tour.

     

    .....Some supporters say the Delta Queen’s real problem is politics—not safety. In 2006, the Delta Queen was sold to a new owner, Majestic America Line, which replaced the boat’s union crew with a non-union one. According to The New York Times, lawyers for the cruise line have suggested the jilted Seafarers International Union influenced the congressman’s decision. But Rep. Oberstar has maintained that passenger safety, not union pressure, is his only motivation for blocking the Delta Queen’s exemption. “To say that I would negotiate a deal to put peoples’ lives at risk in return for a contract for a union is not only unethical, it’s immoral,” he told the Times. The seafarer’s union also issued a statement denying any influence and blasting “the continued smearing of our names, along with those of Senator Inouye and Congressman Oberstar.”

     

     

    Makes for some interesting questions.......

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