Pony Bridge March 16, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges.add a comment
Here’s something I filmed for a project last year. It’s the historic Pony Bridge on old Route 66 near Bridgeport, Okla. The bridge was built in 1933 and is nearly 4,000 feet long.
Along Central Avenue March 15, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Highways, History, Signs.add a comment
Here’s an interesting video about the history and character of Central Avenue (aka Route 66) in Albuquerque:
A good chunk of the clip includes an interview with Robert Randazzo of Absolutelyneon.com.
Route 66 State Park March 15, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Museums, Towns.1 comment so far
A visit to the Route 66 State Park near Eureka, Mo.:
It’s the site of the former Route 66 town of Times Beach, which was evacuated permanently in the 1980s because of dioxin contamination.
Injured endurance athlete closes a chapter March 14, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in bicycling, People, Road trips, Sports.add a comment
Six month after nearly dying in an accident on Route 66 in Arizona, endurance athlete James Cracknell participated in an ultramarathon in Yukon Territory of Canada during severely cold temperatures, according to an excellent article by Chris Harvey for The Telegraph in London.
The Yukon adventure closed a chapter for Cracknell, who is still dealing with the brain injury that’s affected his short-term memory and strained his marriage. The Discovery Channel will air a trilogy of programs about Cracknell’s ordeal starting later this month.
The Telegraph article details how grave Cracknell’s injury was:
But at just after 5am, in the half-light around sunrise, Cracknell was struck from behind by the wing mirror of a truck travelling at 75mph. His race across the continent became a desperate fight for life. [...]
Turning back when he didn’t arrive as expected, the support vehicle arrived at the scene of the accident to find police lights flashing, blood on the road, Cracknell’s helmet cracked in two, and his cycling shirt, which had been cut off, lying on the ground. The truck driver had stopped and called for an ambulance. Cracknell had been conscious at the scene, but drifting in and out. The paramedics had sedated him and taken him to the local hospital, from where he was flown by helicopter to the neuro-trauma unit in Phoenix. [...]
Cracknell’s wife, the journalist and broadcaster Beverley Turner, was in America to support him on his ride. Only 24 hours earlier she had been telling the cameras, ‘I just want him to retire and become an accountant or something.’ She was in a hotel room in Las Vegas when the call came, summoning her to the hospital. ‘It was basically to say goodbye,’ Cracknell says. ‘For two days they weren’t sure whether I was going to live, and after that they were convinced that they had to prepare her for me not remembering who she was.’
Cracknell felt recovered enough a half-year later to drive his mountain bicycle in the Yukon Arctic Ultra, a 430-miler over harsh terrain and in subzero temperatures.
He would not reveal too much about what happened in the Yukon event, except that “I wasn’t ready for it and I would have been in the past. I definitely missed home in a way that I hadn’t before.”
Mining and Route 66 museum coming to Godley March 14, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, History, Museums.add a comment
An Illinois Route 66 Mining Museum soon will be established in the old City Hall building of Godley, Ill., according to a news release today.
Exhibits will feature the region’s mining roots, its ancient beginnings unearthed as the result of the mining industry, the Route 66 culture the evolved along the way, and other topics of local interest.
The project is made possible through a joint partnership between the grassroots group, Godley Red Carpet Corridor Committee, the Village of Godley, and the Route 66 Association of Illinois Preservation Committee.
Catherine Costello, executive director of the Godley Red Carpet group, said she hopes to have the museum open full-time by summer. The old City Hall building is at 150 S. Kankakee St. in Godley (map here).
However, the museum will open for the Illinois Red Carpet Corridor Festival on May 7-8. Costello said the museum will host Bob and Peggy Kraft, former owners of the Riviera Roadhouse in nearby Gardner. A fire destroyed the Riviera last year, but the museum will host a “Taste of the Riviera,” where Bob Kraft will make sweet cocktails, tend bar like he did for decades, and display memorabilia from the Riviera.
The Route 66 Association of Illinois Preservation Committee plans to hold a work day at the museum at 10 a.m. March 26 for interior and exterior construction and painting. A supper will be planned for work-day participants. Those interesting in helping should contact John Weiss at 815-458-6616.
Before the work day begins, a short ceremony will be held for those who died in the Diamond Mine Disaster in nearby Braidwood, Ill., in 1883. Forty-six workers remain entombed in the mine after it collapsed, despite weeks of rescue efforts.
Oklahoma House passes bicycle trail bill March 14, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, bicycling, Highways.1 comment so far
The Oklahoma House voted 71-20 today to advance a measure that would create a 90-mile bicycle trail on Oklahoma Highway 66 from Sapulpa to Edmond.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Lewis Moore (R-Arcadia), contained a few notable amendments before it was voted on by the House:
- The name of the trail was changed from “Historic Bike Trail” to “Historic Route 66 Bike Trail.” The new name obviously is more descriptive.
- The cost and installation of signs on the trail ”shall be provided from private sources.” Moore said in a recent newspaper interview he’d hoped donations would cover those costs, so he may have a source lined up.
- Although costs of a new shoulder along the highway for a bicycle trail are “contingent on funds available,” a fiscal analysis reports that the Oklahoma Department of Transportation already includes Oklahoma Highway 66 for shoulder improvements in the agency’s eight-year plan. So the trail, if enacted into law, may become a reality sooner than later.
The bill, HB2049, will go on to the Oklahoma Senate. The measure enjoys a co-sponsor in Sen. Andrew Rice, D-Oklahoma City. Because Rice is a Democrat, it seems likely the bill will pass in the Senate because of its apparent bipartisan support.
A road trip in 1961 March 13, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges, Highways, History, Road trips.2 comments
The YouTube description of this video:
This clip opens with my mom holding a little home made sign that says “California, here we come, Hugh, Ag and Jeff”. This was the first day of our trip west in 1961. We left from Caseville and traveled historic Route 66 the first few days. By late afternoon of the first day we were crossing the Mississippi at St. Louis and much of this clip is from that crossing. The soundtrack is Simon and Garfunkel’s “America”.
I’m pretty sure you see brief glimpses of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge in St. Louis: