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

Deja-view: Sideling Hill Creek, West Of Hancock, Md


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sideling-hill-west1_deja.jpg

The original photo is circa 1930

 

~ Steve

 

Love these "before and after" photos. Looks like about the only thing that hasn't changed are the guard rails. Somehow the road in the newer photo seems wider than the original. Or maybe it's the double lines making it appear larger.

 

Thanks for the pics.

 

Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

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Love these "before and after" photos. Looks like about the only thing that hasn't changed are the guard rails. Somehow the road in the newer photo seems wider than the original. Or maybe it's the double lines making it appear larger.

 

Thanks for the pics.

 

Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

 

Alex,

 

I agree! Steve's "deja views" are first rate.

 

I have noticed the same effect you do, where the road seems bigger (wider) in Steve's picture. I think it is probably because the original was taken with a wider angle lens than Steve was using. It also tends to "compress" objects as you go into the distance. I'm guessing that he would need about a 24mm to replicate the old image....but who cares, his shots are great!

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

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I think the concrete shoulders make the old road look narrower. In the modern road you can't distinguish the road surface from the shoulder, so it all looks wider, especially as it recedes.

 

Mark,

 

You are no doubt absolutely correct about shoulders.

 

Since several of us take what Steve has now established as "Deja Views" (love it, so much better than "then and nows"), I do want to reiterate the lens focal length thing. Note the bridge in Steve's pictures. In the old picture the far end of the bridge is narrower, even though the near side of the bridge is the same width in both photos ( I measured it to be sure), and the bridge appears longer (less compressed). The older photo was taken with a wider angle lens than Steve was using.

 

I did a bunch of Deja Views of old roads in Northern California ten or so years ago, to match shots Jervie Eastman did for real photo post cards in the 30's and 40's. I had the same "problem" and eventually bought a camera with a 24mm wide angle lens, which incidentally is a pretty good focal length for old road shots.

 

We just have to be impressed with Steve's work. All the National Road fans better be careful or it will become more popular than 66.....then what?

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road

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More popular than 66?!!? I can think of a whole bunch of small Indiana and Illinois towns that would benefit from that...

 

I recently "upgraded" to a Canon PowerShot S80 digicam with a 28mm lens -- and let me tell you, wide angle is the way to go for road photography. My previous camera, a Kodak EasyShare Z730, had a 33mm lens, which was on the wide side, but those extra 5 mm on the S80 really help.

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Dave,

I don't think we have to worry about seeing a show with two cool twenty-somethings tooling the National Road in vintage 60's Corvette.

But then again, a tricked Conestoga... That could be the ticket. :D

 

~ Steve

 

Here's another photo from Hixson Road. I'm in the process of adding more photos to the Sideling Hill to Hancock Photo Library.

 

hixson-road1_lrg.jpg

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Dave,

I don't think we have to worry about seeing a show with two cool twenty-somethings tooling the National Road in vintage 60's Corvette.

But then again, a tricked Conestoga... That could be the ticket. :D

 

~ Steve

 

Here's another photo from Hixson Road. I'm in the process of adding more photos to the Sideling Hill to Hancock Photo Library.

 

hixson-road1_lrg.jpg

 

Oh, Yah, a chopped Conestoga with dual pipes. The cottages shot is great. So much good stuff!

 

I spotted a set of old cottages on the Old Spanish Trail near the Hillman bridge in Florida a bit ago. You are inspiring me to do some more posts from that drive!

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

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