No way that setup was used for the entire route. Most of the bridges along the route wouldn't clear a 22' tall rig. Still crazy, though! The railroad overpass @ 3:20 is pictured in the new re-release of "Hot Rod". The motel/diner/gas station with the car hauler @ ~4:15 is also pictured in the re-release. Pretty neat seeing how it looked back in the early 60's.
Hog Trough Roads, I remember them well in the late 70s in your neck of the woods. I think there still are a couple bits here and there.
Awesome post! Still love driving long stretches of the Lincoln Highway! Love seeing a lot of the old buildings but its sad to see many of them gone or in serious disrepair.
The curbs were called "Safety Curbs" some engineers idea to keep the narrow tires of the 20's and 30's on the road----I guess hydro-planing wasn't such a issue with them.
Great video-did you notice how many 2 door cars were out there? Or how slow the old trucks really were? I think I saw one import in the whole thing. The individuality of the cars' designs really do stand out when you see them all in their natural habitat.
I wish I could jump through the computer screen and be back in time and not have to deal with all the b/s today,before doing it I would cash in my IRA and other bank accounts and have fun buying stuff alot cheaper.
As I said earlier .. And, I have been up and down many roads in Iowa large and small , there are areas where the "roads" still look like that No, there isn't 50's cars and 20 cent gas but, you can get the old town feel still Atlantic comes to mind , it has that kind of feel to it. Glad everyone enjoyed the trip down memory lane
Watching that video reminded me of the trips to grampas property in Michigan back in the 60s,mostly 2 lane roads through all of the towns.
Boy that whole film took me back. They still had those 'Safety Curbs' everywhere when I started driving. The old '56 Belair on bias ply tires. They were killers. And it wasn't just hydroplaning. There were cuts in the curb for drainage but people would catch their tires on these cuts. In the process of correcting invariably they'd swing into oncoming traffic causing a head-on. There was a jog in the highway just north of us that was always the scene of a head on crash. It was due to those curb cuts. Lost lots of friends. I can still see the carnage.
Highway 30 across Nebraska still has some great things to see also. Lots of fading tourist courts and old gas station buildings.
This film really takes me back to those family outings when I was a kid. Anybody know where you can down load it? I would have been about 4 when it was made but things looked pretty much the same on many roads around here into the 70's. I learned to drive on roads just like that. No steel belted radials and no ABS, in fact disc brakes were still fairly scarce. You "drove" the car you didn't just sit behind the wheel and daydream, if you didn't pay attention you paid for it. I grew up on US 67 as well in NW Illinois and in fact I still live on US 67 about 2 blocks from the old homestead which is long gone. Never heard it referred to as that though. Our stretch was one of the main truck routes out of the Quad Cities before they opened I-74 and semis went by the house 24 Hrs. a day. When I-74 opened the semis stopped coming through at night and we couldn't sleep! It was too quiet, we soon adjusted though LOL.
I have seen 67 called that a few times in pictures and in print. I don't know if it was an official title or not. My aunt and uncle live in Bettendorf,and my parents and grandma took 67 all the way up there a few years ago. So they've been right by your place. They've four-laned and relocated 67 in parts of Arkansas,but you can still drive the old road where ever they have. It's still on the original route down in our part of the state for the most part. I've heard my Mom and uncles and grandparents talk about how people would show up at their house after car trouble or a wreck!
Big Dad - Actually scarylarry posted it last year in his 1959 Lincoln Highway video thread ... but no apologies necessary ... I for one am really glad you posted this (very cool) video again ... thanks for sharing!
Most of Iowa's Old Highway 30 is still driveable, it's just not called "30" anymore. I'd hazard to guess that 75% of the original route is bypassed. No more passing through the small towns. I was at the IDOT's Materials Engineering building yesterday, and in a display case they had the last chunk of highway curb removed from Hwy 30. But darned if I can remember the date it was removed. I think it was in the 60's.
It would be cool to see that route shot today, then set up in a split screen with the original. It would take some work to constantly fine tune the timing of the new shoot to match but would make for some really cool side by side viewing.
Brought back lots of memories You have the original Starbucks going into Nevada. Always got their pork tenderlion and shake. Just past Starbucks, on the other side of Hunter Oil (@ the 5 minute mark in the film) was the home of Ostrich Motors. People would always show up when Gary was getting ready for the weekend with burnouts in the parking lot. You could hear that Hemi all over town.
cool film. Anyone else notice that it must have been shot in very late 1959 or maybe 1960? There were a few 1960 Chevy trucks and cars I noticed.
Found one more Here is a picture of my current project. I lusted over it all though high school 65-67. I couldn't believe it just sat there besides the building. Finally I was able to purchase the 1930 Fargo from Chuck Ostrich in 74. The picture was taken right after it was loaded at the dealership for the trip to FL. The state of Iowa had passed a law that made the wholesaler get the car inspected. If it was sold out of state it didn't need it.
They sure have! Most of 67 from Monmouth to Macomb, IL. is 4 lane now as well bypassing several small towns.
That was kool. Did anyone else notice the 29 cents per gal. gas at about 5:00? That almost put a tear in my eye!
My next door neighbor drove for Watson Bros. trucking in the 50's running from Omaha to Iowa City. I remember the stories about Iowa's narrow roads and the stories about trucks actually knocking rear view mirrors off oncoming trucks due to road width. Did not happen often, but did happen and with unpleasant results. Ah, the 50's !!!!!!!!!!!
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