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Unusual Distance Signs


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I've always found it interesting and fascinating to find distance signs which are abnormally large. Sometimes driving on highways I see signs that tell me I'm thousands of miles to a destination. This typically occurs where a road or highway begins, indicating the distance to its terminus. I've always enjoyed seeing these unusual distance signs. By that I mean distances that exceed 1000 miles (1600 km). I've attached a photo that I took as an example. I think this would make an interesting category, as I do enjoy finding these from time to time. I see some potential, but wanted to run it by the community before developing a group. Thoughts? Comments?IMG_0837.thumb.JPG.fbbbc965f9876410f371bfcb2a1f96f6.JPG

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Most European countries are too small to measure 1600 km from North to South or East to West - the exceptions would be Sweden, Norway and Finland. Therefore it would be *very*, *very* difficult to find a road sign with this large distance on it in a country in Europe. Also freeways connecting the european neighbor countries would not have these large numbers, since the cities mentioned on the signs are in most cases less than 500 km away. So I'm not really happy with it.

 

Besides - taking pictures out of a driving car (which is what you have to do in most cases if you want to photograph a sign on the freeway) even when the photographer is not the driver is a no-go for me.

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I agree that signs like this are very interesting.  I do understand FamilieFrohne's concerns regarding the prevlance in smaller countries and taking pictures while driving.  I wonder if there are other examples that are not just on highways.  I'm pretty sure I've seen signs on the Appalachian Trail that list very long distances.  Perhaps other hiking trails have similar signs.  I believe I've also seen signs in tourist locations that might state far off distances to other cities.  Bluesnote, do you have any other examples you could share?

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I thought that the intention to this new category should be distance signs near by a road (or trail) - so the picture of the Appalachian trail would fit. But I think that distance arrow signs which are pointing in multiple directions (even with the mentioned large distances) are better placed in the Direction and Distance Arrows category - otherwise you'll get a lot of cross postings in both categories.

 

 

An Example of an unusual distance is below. The picture was shot in a vacation long before we started with Waymarking - so we do not have surrounding pictures :(

Tipperary.jpg

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9 hours ago, jonathanatpsu said:

I agree that signs like this are very interesting.  I do understand FamilieFrohne's concerns regarding the prevlance in smaller countries and taking pictures while driving.  I wonder if there are other examples that are not just on highways.  I'm pretty sure I've seen signs on the Appalachian Trail that list very long distances.  Perhaps other hiking trails have similar signs.  I believe I've also seen signs in tourist locations that might state far off distances to other cities.  Bluesnote, do you have any other examples you could share?

Ah, good point! I had not thought of that.  Your comment jogged my memory. During a recent trip to West Virginia I stopped by at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Center, a sorta rest stop for hikers. Inside, I did find some distance signs that are not highway signs. Here's an example:

IMG_9238.JPG

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19 hours ago, jonathanatpsu said:

I agree that signs like this are very interesting. 

 

For me, something is "interesting", if I would go out of my way (even if it is just a few meters) to see it. When I come to an area that I have never visited before and check all the waymarks there, would I plan to go there to see it or not? When I visit a city like Paris, France I would definitely visit the Eiffel Tower and if I visit a cemetery, I would probably go to an interesting Occupational/Hobby Grave Stone, but would I go to see a sign that's telling me that I'm 1000 miles away from a certain city? Probably not. If I coincidentally see something like that (and somebody else is driving the car), would I be fast enough to grab my camera and take a photo of it? Or would I drive the same highway again to take a photo of it? I doubt that also. Most likely I would try to make one posting and one visit and forget that category.

 

I was also not very interested in f.e. the Advertising Columns, but there are some interesting shapes, some combined with a bicycle repair station, some combined with a telephone, some rotating ones etc. So I changed my mind on that category, but I doubt that long distance signs will ever get my interest. Just my personal opinion of course.

Edited by PISA-caching
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27 minutes ago, fi67 said:

Except that you don't require multiple signs, this is almost a duplicate of the Direction and Distance Arrows category.

 

Certainly not different enough to get my support.

I don't think this is a duplicate of the direction and distance category. The examples I provided are not the same as what would be accepted in that category. If I submitted these examples into that category, they would almost certainly get declined. That isn't to say that there could be some overlap, but again this category could be more restrictive on only allowing distances, not both distances with directions.

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Sorry Adam, but I just can't get excited about this proposal.

It's just a road sign, either over a highway or to the side of a local road or street.

It pretty much always has a green background with white lettering.

Before it and after it I see a dozen, a hundred or a thousand exactly like it on my trip.

The fact that it may have an extraordinarily large number on it will very likely completely escape my attention.

 

I'll just try to keep my attention on the road, and that #%*hole ahead.

Keith

 

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Once I read through your description, it made me wonder if I’m remembering correctly or just making something up: did I see a very-long-distance sign at the beginning of Rte. 1 in Key West with the mileage to Maine? (That was a long while ago…and certainly fuzzy brained, what with it being a pub crawl excursion in the middle of a cruise…) 

 

I’m inclined to agree with the others’ hesitation about its sufficiency for a new/world-wide category. That said: YOU dig the concept and it’d be a cool personal series to pursue. I might just be on the lookout now, too. Thanks for sharing. 

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