State may provide grant for Santa Rosa warehouse February 21, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Gas stations, History, Museums, Preservation, Railroad.3 comments
A photo illustration of the proposed Route 66 museum inside the Ilfeld-Johnson Warehouse in Santa Rosa, N.M.
The New Mexico Legislature was set to give $325,000 to help revitalize the historic Ilfeld Warehouse in downtown Santa Rosa and create a Route 66 museum there, according to the town’s newspaper.
The Guadalupe County Communicator, in its print edition, reported that the legislation would “set aside the funds toward creation of a Route 66 museum in the old railroad warehouse,” along with several other county projects.
Now owned by the City of Santa Rosa but sitting on railroad property, the building is being eyed for a transformation into a museum, with officials hoping it would help bring new life to the economically troubled downtown business district. [...]
Historian Johnnie Meier, proprietor of the Classical Gas Museum in Embudo, N.M., is proposed leasing the Ilfeld, bring his vas collection of antique gas pumps and other vintage memorabilia to jump start a New Mexico Route 66 Museum modeled after other state museums along the old “Mother Road.”
One document on the Legislature’s website indicates only $150,000 for the Ilfeld Warehouse. However, that document is dated Feb. 10, and may not reflect later amendments to the proposal.
Both houses of the Legislature approved the capital-outlays package that contained the Ilfeld proposal. However, Gov. Susana Martinez vowed to veto any line item she deemed as “pork.” The governor has until March 7 to decide.
The city of Tucumcari, about 55 miles to the east, also is trying to woo Meier’s collection for its own Route 66 museum. Santa Rosa also applied for a National Scenic Byways grant to help fix up the warehouse.
The capital-outlays bill also contains at least $250,000 in improvements for Santa Rosa’s Blue Hole, which is a Route 66 attraction.
Roadie wins free Phillips 66 fuel for a year February 17, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Gas stations, Highways, People, Road trips, Television.add a comment
In November, we reported that St. Louis-based roadie Rich Dinkela of HookedonRoute66.com had entered the Local Legends contest sponsored by Phillips 66. The top winner would win $1,000 cash and free gasoline for a year.
This was his video:
The winners have been announced, and Dinkela finished third. He earned no cash, but he did receive a year’s worth of free fuel. Here’s a story by KTVI-TV in St. Louis, including a video:
Dinkela undoubtedly will use that free fuel to help him with his current project — marking obscure alignments of Route 66 with an on-road stencil:
Two Chevy Route 66 commercials shot on the Mother Road February 8, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Gas stations, Television, Vehicles.2 comments
In recent weeks, we learned that one of the candidates for the Chevrolet Route 66 commercial for the Super Bowl was shot on Route 66.
Apparently at least two others were shot on Route 66. One of the spots prominently feature the historic U-Drop Inn gas station in Shamrock, Texas, and a couple of great-looking Corvettes. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the spots created by Michael Brown Productions, based out of the Dallas area.
Alas, both of Brown’s ads didn’t make the final round.
Odell Station in miniature February 5, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Gas stations.1 comment so far
Willem Bor, a resident of the Netherlands who has created miniature versions of Route 66 landmarks, has finished a new one — the historic Odell Station in Odell, Ill., in 1/25th scale. Bor even made a miniature of the travel trailer that sits next to it.
More of Bor’s work can be seen here, here, and here.
Also, Bor’s Route 66 Art blog shows more of his work.
(Photos courtesy of Willem Bor)
A closer look at Ramone’s Body Art in Cars Land January 14, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Businesses, Gas stations, Movies, Signs.add a comment
The Disney Parks Blog posted this construction time-lapse of Ramone’s Body Art inside Cars Land at Disney’s California Adventure park.
Ramone’s resembles the historic U-Drop Inn along Route 66 in Shamrock, Texas. Disney says Ramone’s eventually will have neon lighting.
Cars Land was inspired by the fictional Route 66 town of Radiator Springs, depicted in the 2006 Disney-Pixar animated film “Cars.” Cars Land will open this summer; a more specific date will be announced later.
The blog post also contains a photo of the “Here It Is!” billboard, directly inspired by a similar billboard near the Jackrabbit Trading Post near Joseph City, Ariz. It also contains an image of the signs atop Lizzie’s store, the Radiator Springs Curios shop.
Tulsa’s Blue Dome District added to the National Register January 13, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Gas stations, History, Preservation.add a comment
Tulsa’s Blue Dome District in the eastern part of downtown has been named to the National Register of Historic Places, according to an email Friday from the National Park Service.
According to NPS, the listing was effective Dec. 13. The district includes Second Street, an alignment of Route 66 from 1926 to 1932.
The approximate area is bounded by Kenosha and Detroit avenues, Eighth Street, and the Frisco railroad tracks.
The National Register listing enables buildings to be eligible for more federal grants for their upkeep.
The Blue Dome District features the distinctive Blue Dome that was originally built as a Gulf Oil gas station in 1924. The above photo of the Blue Dome station is from 1949.
It’s not operated as a gas station for many years, but remains an architectural focal point.
The district has seen an upswing in activity in recent years, with interesting new restaurants, shops, and bars. This website shows and explains that revival fairly well. The district also plays host to the annual Blue Dome Arts Festival.
Dec. 30 will be declared Bill Shea Day in Springfield December 22, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Gas stations, History, Museums, People.3 comments
Bill Shea, longtime proprietor of a gas station museum along Route 66 in Springfield, Ill., turns 90 years old on Dec. 30, and is also marking his 66th year as a business owner on the Mother Road.
To mark the occasion, the City of Springfield is declaring Dec. 30 as Bill Shea Day, according to Alicia Erickson at the Springfield Convention and 
Visitors Bureau.
Shea has been a great ambassador for Route 66 for many years, even though he’s never driven the length of the road. He’s in the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame, and has been the subject of many Route 66 books and videos.
But what’s lesser-known is he’s also a veteran of the D-Day invasion in 1944. Longtime roadie RoadDog recently passed along this story that Shea told about his Omaha Beach experiences:
I mentioned about the LST-325 that is touring the Illinois River at the current time. Bill said he landed on Omaha Beach in a Higgins Boat, the one you see Tom Hanks on in “Saving Private Ryan.” He said that the guys running the boat would always drop that front end way out in the water so that the soldiers would be completely inundated when they stepped off it. That was particularly bad for him as he was short to begin with.
Making the disembarkation worse was that the Higgins Boat had stopped over some shell craters caused by the huge bombardment that preceded the landings.
He’ll never forget the guy from Louisiana who left the boat when he did. When the two managed to surface, the Louisianan sputtered, “This will be an even easier landing for the bastards behind us because I just drank half the channel.”
Mr. Shea still has sand taken from the beach on D-Day as well as some dragon teeth from an emblem from the German line and rocks from the cliff scaled by US forces at D-Day.
Shea’s military uniform also hangs at the museum. According to one blogger who interviewed him, that uniform also was worn by his son, his grandson, and even great grandson before they went off to the armed services.
A bunch more photos of Shea’s museum can be found here.
Bill Shea’s Gas Station Museum also has a Facebook page here.
Here’s a video of the museum. Alas, Bill wasn’t there that day: