usroadman

Thank you. It was my wife's idea originally to take pictures, which is why there's less consistency in the early routes (before I knew her) as I had to go back and fill in the blanks. The engineer in me needed a system, so a picture with a sign every hour or so.

I started driving our US Highways end to end back in 1988, and since the mid-90s have tried to take a picture of the highway, preferably with a highway marker, about every hour. It makes for a relatively short "ride down the road". I've made it up to US 52 so far. For anyone interested you can view the photos in a few places. I have slideshows uploaded to youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqjFSbaE2a9-9R5jcKfskyd11UdN6Wmbu They're accessible through my website here: http://roadandrailpictures.com/select.htm Also on Flickr here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/roadandrailpictures/collections/72157631716015702/ Hope you enjoy.

Thanks everyone for your comments. And thanks Dave for your suggestions. My attempt at using youtube to show the photos is fairly recent so I'm still learning. I still also have the pictures on Flickr, and I still update my very retro website, but it seems these days youtube gets a lot more traffic so I figured I'd give it a try. (I know most of us on here are by definition retro, but good to show the millennials the beauty of our American roads too.) I was watching a similar video by someone else that had even shorter times, and that was my feeling too, that I couldn't focus. It was harder to tell with my own since I already know what the pictures look like. I was also trying to decide whether to include an audio track. At the moment I have it silent, but they allow you to add a ton of free ones so was considering trying that. I'll try lengthening them too, but I think that requires a re-upload so might take a little while. I'll also add a topic for the full playlist. Thanks for the suggestion. Bob

Completed US 52 over the summer, South Carolina to North Dakota. Slideshow on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmplaAqNnek

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed both the road and the pictures.

Did the annual US highway drive over the summer, this year on US 51. I finally got the photos from the drive uploaded. http://www.roadandrailpictures.com/us51links.htm

Good job. Hope you can make it up there in the Spring.

Interesting website. Nice to see 20 getting some love. It's still my wife's favorite US route (we've done up through US 51). Inner cities usually aren't too bad as long as you don't need to stop (needing to use a bathroom when you're sitting in traffic in a city is the worst). They're usually only a few miles and they go pretty fast, especially if you can time it so you hit them before rush hour in the morning when there's no traffic. I find the 20 miles of suburban strip malls with a (red) traffic light every quarter mile more draining, and much less interesting than the inner city. Anyway, hope you get to drive it some day.

I got my US 50 drive in last August, Ocean City to Sacramento. Took me a while to upload the pictures, then couldn't get the forum to work, but got that all taken care of now. Pictures are on Flickr, linked from http://www.roadandrailpictures.com/us50links.htm

I thought of this topic while driving US 50 over the last couple of weeks. Somewhere way below US 50 on the right hand side (heading west) was a dam with a road crossing it, and I remember trying to see if the road looked like it was open to the public. It looked like it was. Of course now I've forgotten the location. It was mountainous, so probably either West Virginia, Colorado, or California. I think I found it. A bit west of Gunnison, Colorado, and yes, Google claims it's a state highway crossing the dam.

Nice that he let you cross it, even if no pictures. As an update to my earlier post a few years ago about NYC closing the roads across their dams after 9/11/01. About a year ago, for the first time in almost 20 years, I headed to the Kensico Dam at the northern end of the Bronx River Parkway. While the plaza at the base of the dam is a county park, I expected access to the actual structure to be heavily restricted now. I was pleasantly surprised that not only was I still allowed to walk across the top of the dam (which I must say is A LOT nicer with no cars), but there weren't even any restrictions on photography. (I have strong opinions on whether governments in the US can legally restrict photography in public places, but I don't need to go into that here.) My reason for visiting was finally, after 20 years of procrastination, getting a website up about the construction of the dam (pretty fascinating stuff) and the village that had been behind it. oldkensico.com if anyone's interested in learning about it. As a side note (not for this topic, but since I'm already here), I begin the drive along US 50, Ocean City to Sacramento, this weekend. I'm sure some of it is still two-lane.

Frozen custard is much better than frozen precipitation. Unfortunate that you got stuck for a few days and had to change your plans, but definitely the right choice. Those roads can start to get mighty lonely even in good weather. I wouldn't want to attempt in bad weather.

Looks like fun. Looking forward to seeing more.

Another summer and another US highway clinched, this time US 49. It was a pretty short route, covering just 2 states. Through Arkansas we rode through a lot of farms, including a lot of rice fields. We also saw a really nasty tractor-trailer and apparently train accident aftermath. One truck on its side on the road near the crossing (looked like he had tried to make the turn with a bit too much speed), and another one with its trailer sliced in half and the cab pretty beat up a couple hundred feet down the tracks and lots of debris. This was my only second visit to Arkansas, and first visit in a car (the other time was on a train in June). Mississippi completed the trip with farms north of Jackson and forests to the south, ending at the water in Gulfport. Pictures of the route can be found here: http://www.roadandrailpictures.com/us49links.htm Here's hoping to move up to US 50 next summer.

Glad to help. Enjoy! Let us know how it goes.