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

Us 40/nr In Western Indiana


mobilene
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  • 2 weeks later...

 

Jim,

 

The new additions to the blog are great, although these old eyes need bigger map images.

 

I wrote a whole page about the Walnut Creek bridge restoration, but decided that I am probably the only person around who wishes they had left it alone, so I’m not including it.

 

Where did you find the Goodrich map? They did many “diagrammatical” maps, and I have one of San Diego County that is as detailed as the one you cite, but I haven’t seen a lot of them.

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

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I wrote a whole page about the Walnut Creek bridge restoration, but decided that I am probably the only person around who wishes they had left it alone, so I’m not including it.

 

I have to admit, I've been ambivalent about the restoration, too. When I wrote the blog post, I was okay with it, but when I came upon the restored bridge, I was a bit disappointed. The old, decrepit bridge had more character!

 

Where did you find the Goodrich map? They did many “diagrammatical” maps, and I have one of San Diego County that is as detailed as the one you cite, but I haven’t seen a lot of them.

 

It was reproduced in a book called "Overland by Auto in 1913," a true story of a family who traveled from California, down the coast and then across the country to central Indiana, in 1913. It took something like eighty days, and in some places there were no roads. The Goodrich strip map was part of an actual road guide they purchased along the trip. The book said that the Indiana portion of the trip was probably the most civilized driving they encountered.

 

I've attached a scan of the strip map, without the current-map overlay.

 

1913goodrichNR.jpg

 

jim

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I have to admit, I've been ambivalent about the restoration, too. When I wrote the blog post, I was okay with it, but when I came upon the restored bridge, I was a bit disappointed. The old, decrepit bridge had more character!

 

 

 

It was reproduced in a book called "Overland by Auto in 1913," a true story of a family who traveled from California, down the coast and then across the country to central Indiana, in 1913. It took something like eighty days, and in some places there were no roads. The Goodrich strip map was part of an actual road guide they purchased along the trip. The book said that the Indiana portion of the trip was probably the most civilized driving they encountered.

 

I've attached a scan of the strip map, without the current-map overlay.

 

1913goodrichNR.jpg

 

jim

 

Jim,

 

You probably know that the G’s on the Goodrich maps mark where they had placed direction signs. Now all we have to do is find one!

 

I guess I need to develop some rational view about restoration. Even my own wife doesn’t share my view. She even prefers the restored and recreated! It’s a tough call, or maybe “to each his own,” and I appreciate your ambivalence.

 

Walking or riding over the original bricks in the original roadbed, knowing that a 100 years ago someone else was riding or walking along the same surface, has meaning for me, and I know it does for you. But for someone who doesn’t have a mental image of the place a hundred years ago, maybe a reproduction is OK.

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

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I think I've figured out my issues with the bridge.

 

It's not that they restored it. It's that they replaced the deck and railings. Even though the railings look identical -- and when the concrete turns gray with time, you may not be able to tell they're not original -- they replaced so much of the bridge that it doesn't seem like the same bridge anymore. But what they did is far, far better than tearing it down. The other 1920s concrete-arch bridges I've written about from this trip are not protected, and in the most recent Indiana bridge inventory (from last year) were not judged to be historically significant enough to make the cut. So when those bridges become unsafe, they will certainly be demolished. Those roads get so little traffic -- 10 cars a day, the latest bridge inspections estimate -- that I would be surprised if the county even replaces them. I wouldn't be surprised if they just dead-end the road at the bridges.

 

jim

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

 

Jim,

 

I enjoyed the signs a lot! The discussion about the Clabber Girl billboard was interesting. Clabber is raw milk that has soured and thickened, so a clabber girl must be a girl who…….you won’t hear it from me! :rolleyes:

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

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Well, whatever a Clabber Girl is, it's Terre Haute's claim to fame! It's also pretty much the only brand of baking powder you can buy in a 75-mile radius.

 

Jim,

 

Yah, we grew up on Clabber Girl, and never asked what a "clabber" was. In fact I never thought about it until it was raised on your blog.

 

And that was a terrific billboard, complete with the great border and clock!

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

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  • 3 months later...

I know I blogged about my Indy-to-Illinois trip as I went along, but my blog didn't share every last detail. So I wrote one of my usual obsessively complete road trip reports for my personal site. Follow the NR across western Indiana in excruciating detail here:

 

http://jimgrey.net/Roads/NationalRoadWeste...diana/index.htm

 

jim

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