Old Route 66

[Okie'sKid]

 

Before posting this I did a bit of a search and couldn't find a thread on Route 66. Not finding one, I decided to start one. Sorry I'm not better prepared to do this right now. I don't even know fer sher how many Route 66 stations I have logged.

 

So far I've counted coup on brass in 5 of the 8 states Route 66 crosses. I know of other benchmarkers who have found some as well. I'm sure many others have, too. (Foxtrot Xray, does your new gliff or avitar or whatever, indicate you live along Route 66?) Why don't some of you share some stories from your hunting adventures along the Mother Road?

 

For now, I'll just share one of my favorite finds. There's nothing special about the mark, but I liked the general location. It's located near Sanders, AZ (my last name--Sanders not AZ) near the intersection of US 66 and US 666. The station was monumented and last recovered prior to the renumbering of the Devil's Highway. (That's a whole other story.)

 

Now that I think about it, it was kinda cool to bag BAGDAD with KayakBird this spring. BTW, Bagdad is just a few miles from Siberia.

 

Cheers,

John

Edited April 24, 2010 by Okie'sKid

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

We have gotten several along parts of the Old Mother Road.

The thing is to "Cruise along reading the Burma Shave signs" - Yup, we were doing that. When all of a sudden we both spotted a witness sign and a pink circle next to it. John brakes and we do a turn around to go get us a "true Route 66 Drive-By"! I actually took 3 pictures out of my passenger window.

They turned out really good. Then John got out to get the close-up with the GPSr shot.

 

FR0706 F 487 This mark is nothing special otherwise, just a great Drive-By along Route 66.

 

The one that is one of my favorites is the mark that a lot of people have logged already, it is the one at the Rail Road Station in Flagstaff, AZ. It is set vertically in the station wall. I love vertical settings, as there are not that many around here. I forget what # that is, I will ask John when he gets home from work. Or, does anyone else know which one I am talking about and help me out by posting a link?

 

Shirley~

 

OK, John got home and it is FQ0230 E 3. 23 finds, including Okie'sKid and Kayak Bird.

 

Ooo and also the one in Williams, AZ. It is also set vertically. FR0076 Y 2. It is not a popular, only 8 finds.

Edited April 24, 2010 by 2oldfarts (the rockhounders)

[kayakbird]

Hard for me to pick just one best Route 66 mark, but this one EV0852

has a lot going for it - about in the middle of a mostly random two week wander with Okie'sKid, good desert weather,

a few flowers blooming, a 1906 (date verified by Special Pub #18) chiseled mark in an abandoned RR masonry stone structure

 

 

my birthday, and something about the camera angle makes it look protruding.

 

DATASHEET does not mention the Mother Road. but that is how we got there. kayakbird

[southpawaz]

A couple more train station disks along the Route are in Kingman (FS0570) and Holbrook (ES0020).

 

I've also done a few scattered marks along 66 east of Kingman and east of Seligman. Lots there, didn't have time to do an all out run when I was there, though. The rainstorm in the distance of this photo cut short my search on one of the trips. Also visible is one of the reintroduced Burma Shave signs along the Route:

 

Edited April 28, 2010 by southpawaz

[Okie'sKid]

Bobby, thanx for posting and mentioning Burma Shave signs. Make's me wish I hadn't given my copy of the book away.

 

Here's another one along Route 66.

 

 

Cheers!!

[foxtrot_xray]

I, actually, do not live along old US66. (Unfortunately.) I'm just a road geek with deep interest in old alignments - in any road, not necessarily limited to US66. Half a million miles under my belt since 1998, I do pretty well and just can't hold still.

 

I have specifically tried to stay away from US66 in general, as over the last 4 years I've been planning a trip along the road from Missouri to AZ, and didn't want to spoil it. (.. Yes, that's 4 years, riding the old alignment wherever possible, even if it's out of the way, like through El Paso, NM) I don't know what it is, but there's a nice rhythmic homely feeling when you're on 50+ year old concrete and those seams go under your tires every 15 feet.

 

The few I have found along the alignment aren't pretty or interesting, they were quick stops as I was heading down the roadbed. The neatest was in an old school in Conway, TX (east of Amarillo), which I now see I never got around to logging. Funny, down the route to the west, before the curve NW, I found a newer one, an iron rod. Thought it was interesting juxtaposition along the old road.

 

I changed my avatar because my car died last month. I have to save up for a new one, and having that avatar keeps me focused on the goal.

[+bearbrew]

The section of old Hwy 66 west of Sapulpa, Ok. was known as The Ozark Trail before the name was changed to Hwy 66. There is an old RR trestle crossing the old highway with marker #FJ0012 on top of the west headwall, north side of the tracks. The marker is dated 1934.

If you are traveling old Hwy 66 in this area you can take a short break and photograph another piece of American history.

[+tomfuller & Quill]

I don't log many of my BM finds but I have found geocaches along old Rt. 66 in Illinois (Chicago) and between Barstow and Victorville CA. If you travel the old road through Yermo, CA be sure to stop in at Peggy Sue's Diner.

The cache that I remember was at the intersection of Jackson Blvd. and Michigan Ave. and was named One end of Route 66.

[Okie'sKid]

I don't log many of my BM finds but I have found geocaches along old Rt. 66 in Illinois (Chicago) and between Barstow and Victorville CA. If you travel the old road through Yermo, CA be sure to stop in at Peggy Sue's Diner.

The cache that I remember was at the intersection of Jackson Blvd. and Michigan Ave. and was named One end of Route 66.

 

Thanx fer the diner tip!!

[+bearbrew]

For anyone interested in Old Route 66 alignments, this site may be of interest. Unfortunately this article only covers Route 66 from Kansas to Texas.

After finding this site I will be out looking for more "finds" along the way. So far I have photographed a few of the mentioned sites and this was before I read the article.

 

http://www.okhistory.org/shpo/thematic/rt66roadbed.pdf

 

Good luck in your finds,

 

bearbrew

[foxtrot_xray]

For anyone interested in Old Route 66 alignments, this site may be of interest. Unfortunately this article only covers Route 66 from Kansas to Texas.

After finding this site I will be out looking for more "finds" along the way. So far I have photographed a few of the mentioned sites and this was before I read the article.

 

http://www.okhistory.org/shpo/thematic/rt66roadbed.pdf

 

Good luck in your finds,

 

bearbrew

Fan-TASTIC article. I'm keeping that one, thanks!

 

I find it interesting that they even mention the "sidewalk" paving. I doubt many here know what that is, even.

 

As a roadgeek, I love finding and riding old alignments, and drove the original gravel-path between Glenrio TX and San Jon, NM. The neat thing is is that in one place you can see whrer the old alignment was changed due to a bridge washout, making it the 'old old' alignment. There's even a station right north of there that hasn't been recovered since it was set in '34, and I wish I was into Benchmarking back then, I would have tried for it.

Edited May 19, 2010 by foxtrot_xray

[68-eldo]

What would be a great addition to the Route Documentation Project would be Lat. Lon for each of the numbered points.

[foxtrot_xray]

What would be a great addition to the Route Documentation Project would be Lat. Lon for each of the numbered points.

I thought about loading the maps into XMap - however, on further study of them I found more than a few inconsistencies and errors that wouldn't have helped. :/

[68-eldo]

I started to look up all those points in Google Earth. #1 is a railroad crossing that seems to cross at an angle, but the map shows it perpendicular. #2 & #3 are a park that I can not see even in street view. #4 is a concrete culvert for an un-named stream I could not find.

 

However Google Earth Community shows a “Rainbow Bridge” in that same area but is not on the maps.

 

It may take more than I am willing to do right now.

[foxtrot_xray]

It may take more than I am willing to do right now.

 

.. I decided to take it on. Have been working on it all week so far, and am only up to map #26 (of 62). Once finished, will have to go back and add some skipped annotations as well, and get color coordinating down. At the moment, tho, I've been having a blast. For example, here's a screenshot from Downtown Tulsa:

 

The green line, not shown here but south of downtown was the last location. The dark blue line was the oldest route through downtown, the cyan line was the middle route through downtown. The magenta dashed line was an unverified alignment reported on a 1926 AAA Map. The blue dashed line just means that the roads have all changed, and that's where they WERE at..

 

Not shown here are the POI's listed in the document, nor any other POIs from the web. Those will be added later. Also plan on adding benchmarks that are either along the ROW, and/or mention US66 within earshot.

 

-Mike.

Edited May 27, 2010 by foxtrot_xray

[AZcachemeister]

Spending 11 days driving a U-Haul from Pittsburgh to Phoenix next month.

We will be jinking around in WV, KY, IN, IL, TN, AR, and MO (to maximize states visited... )...and will probably hook up with 66 somewhere in western MO/KS/eastern OK. It would be nice to perhaps recover an old RT66 mark that has been neglected over the years.

[foxtrot_xray]

Spending 11 days driving a U-Haul from Pittsburgh to Phoenix next month.

We will be jinking around in WV, KY, IN, IL, TN, AR, and MO (to maximize states visited... )...and will probably hook up with 66 somewhere in western MO/KS/eastern OK. It would be nice to perhaps recover an old RT66 mark that has been neglected over the years.

Ooh, have fun. I'm nearing the point where I can get my new car, and going over the map to this detail is driving (pun intended) crazy. I won't have my map finished by then, probably, but if I do, I'll forward what I have if interested.

 

--Mike

[Okie'sKid]

Spending 11 days driving a U-Haul from Pittsburgh to Phoenix next month.

We will be jinking around in WV, KY, IN, IL, TN, AR, and MO (to maximize states visited... )...and will probably hook up with 66 somewhere in western MO/KS/eastern OK. It would be nice to perhaps recover an old RT66 mark that has been neglected over the years.

 

You'll hit two of the three state's I haven't driven at least some of Route 66 in. I'm missing IL, MO, KS. If you feel like a stop in Sanders, AZ, you can pick up the station at the intersection of US66 and US666 (if you don't already have it in the bag).

 

Don't forget Winona. Heh, heh, heh!

 

Cheers,

John

[+wvhillbilly59]

Spending 11 days driving a U-Haul from Pittsburgh to Phoenix next month.

We will be jinking around in WV, KY, IN, IL, TN, AR, and MO (to maximize states visited... )...and will probably hook up with 66 somewhere in western MO/KS/eastern OK. It would be nice to perhaps recover an old RT66 mark that has been neglected over the years.

 

You'll hit two of the three state's I haven't driven at least some of Route 66 in. I'm missing IL, MO, KS. If you feel like a stop in Sanders, AZ, you can pick up the station at the intersection of US66 and US666 (if you don't already have it in the bag).

 

Don't forget Winona. Heh, heh, heh!

 

Cheers,

John

[+wvhillbilly59]

Spending 11 days driving a U-Haul from Pittsburgh to Phoenix next month.

We will be jinking around in WV, KY, IN, IL, TN, AR, and MO (to maximize states visited... )...and will probably hook up with 66 somewhere in western MO/KS/eastern OK. It would be nice to perhaps recover an old RT66 mark that has been neglected over the years.

 

You'll hit two of the three state's I haven't driven at least some of Route 66 in. I'm missing IL, MO, KS. If you feel like a stop in Sanders, AZ, you can pick up the station at the intersection of US66 and US666 (if you don't already have it in the bag).

 

Don't forget Winona. Heh, heh, heh!

 

Cheers,

John

 

I haven't been on here for so long that I've even forgotten how to reply. Anyways, I have a bunch of benchmarks in Illinois along Route 66 and will post some info on them as soon as I can. Probably be a couple weeks but I have probaby 15 or 20 between Springfield, Illinois, and Chicago. Mostly in between those areas.